jekyll & hyde | steven hyde

two | eric's birthday

She didn't know why she was freaking out so badly over a stupid outfit. It wasn't like she had anyone to impress, either, it was only Hyde, and he had seen her naked countless times when they were children and didn't know any better. She supposed it was different now, the dynamic had changed a lot. They were older, they were different, not so innocent. But underneath all that, they were still Jekyll and Hyde, and they were still best friends.

Giving up, Melissa pulled on a tank top and a long skirt, a fringe jacket added for warmth. She slipped on an old pair of wedges and took the stairs two at a time, coming to meet Steven in the kitchen, where he was pretending to like Janice's cooking. He faked a grin and waved politely as Melissa dragged him out the door, her aunt yelling a farewell.

As soon as the coast was clear, he began spitting out the cookies, a face of disgust causing the blonde to laugh. "Oh, c'mon, why do you keep up the charade?" She chuckled, watching as he wiped his mouth with the cuff of his sleeve.

"I dunno, your aunt is nice to me." He shrugged, leading her across the yard into Eric Forman's basement, where the gang was watching T.V.

Jackie stood behind the couch, playing with Kelso's hair, Eric beside the dummy, and Donna right in front of Eric on the floor. Fez, the new exchange student, whom the gang had adopted socially, was beside Eric on a lawn chair. Hyde crossed the room and fell into his chair, Melissa taking the one to his right. "Does it bother anyone else that these women live in Hooterville?" Hyde asked.

Eric spoke up, "Technically, Petticoat Junction is down the track from Hooterville."

Hyde rephrased, "Ok, does it bother anyone else that they live down the track from Hooterville?"

Melissa giggled, glancing over to Donna as the redhead voiced, "It bothers me that they bathe in the town water tank."

"With the dog." Michael pointed out in confusion.

"It isn't the drinking water. It is the water for the train." Jackie tried to argue.

Melissa shook her head, "It's still three naked women with a dog."

"I want to be the Hooterville dog." Donna and Melissa chuckled at Fez's statement and returned to watching the show.

Mrs. Forman came downstairs, a laundry basket in her arms. Melissa liked Mrs. Forman. Not having many memories of her own mother, Mrs. Forman was almost a pseudo-mother to her. Not to discredit her aunt Jan, but her aunt hadn't wanted to be a mother in the first place. Aunt Janice was always the cool aunt first, and only a strict parent when need be. Mrs. Forman often left a muffin or pie for Melissa when baking, since she knew how horrible Janice was at it. Although, Melissa recalled less than half the normal amount of eggshells in the last batch of cookies Jan had produced.

Having spaced out for a moment, the blonde was brought back to reality when Hyde clapped a hand on her shoulder as he laughed at something Kelso had done. Melissa joined in after seeing him crumpled on the floor. Who could resist the hilarity of someone falling, especially Kelso?

* * * * *

It was the day of Eric's birthday party, and Janice had been helping Mrs. Forman decorate and prepare, leaving Melissa to be on her own in the house. Donna and she were sifting through all of Melissa's clothes to find a nice outfit. Of course, they were arguing, because the blonde wanted a white dress and the redhead wanted a t-shirt and jeans. It was chaotic.

"Donna, I can't pull off the look as you do," Melissa whined, stomping her foot.

"Well, let's compromise. Here, wear this shirt and this skirt. There, are you happy?" The redhead was quick to settle the dispute, laying out a shirt from Hyde and a skirt Janice had given her.

Melissa nodded, then took notice of the shirt. She smiled fondly and dropped her robe, pulling the outfit on quickly, in case one of the boys was somehow perving on the girls. "Thank you, Donna. What would I ever do without you?" She praised, wrapping her arms around Donna's middle.

Her best friend laughed lightly, accepting the small girl's hug, "Probably run around naked, like old times."

"Hey, I was, like, really young! Plus, you did it too!" The girl cried in protest, smacking Donna with an open fist.

"C'mon, let's go over to the basement. I bet everyone else is already there." Donna started dragging Melissa out the door, watching her scramble to grab a present and lip gloss, applying it on their way out. She got halfway across the lawn before she realized she had no pockets, and shrugged, pushing the tube of lip gloss into her bra.

The two girls stopped momentarily in the living room to place Melissa's present for Eric on the table beside the others and to say hello to the adults politely, then they booked it for the basement. Sure enough, everyone was seated very awkwardly, stiff almost. Jekyll noticed they were all wearing nice clothes, at least by their individual standards, and she almost pouted, knowing she should have worn her beige dress. Whatever.

She fell onto the cushion on the floor, leaning against Steven's legs. She glanced around, noticing nobody saying anything, and stayed silent. Then, Mrs. Forman came rushing down the stairs, calling out for help from everyone but Eric. The gang booked it up the stairs, leaving the birthday boy sitting there, waiting for his chance to run. If only it were that easy. Red had anticipated Eric's attempt at escape and waited by the basement door.

Finally, Mrs. Forman called Eric into the living room, where they all shouted "surprise" at him, despite it being blatantly obvious that he had known the whole time. Melissa had him open her gift first, and she had given him a couple of records to add to his growing collection in the basement. He thanked her and promised they'd listen to the music soon.

She sunk into the background then, quietly sipping her soda as she watched the scene unfold. Hyde gave Eric some cassette tapes, even though Kitty and Red had given him an eight-track player. Luckily, Janice had gotten a cassette player to switch out with the eight-track player later when nobody would notice. Someone else gave him a hot shave dispenser, and Kitty made a point about her not wanting her son to grow up. Mel found it cute. She wished her mother were still alive at that moment.

Finally, the grown-ups left and the teens were left to their own devices. Laurie was almost out the door when the boys bombarded her, asking her to get them some beer. Melissa snorted at that. Laurie was sure as hell not doing anything for her brother's lame friends. Had Melissa asked instead of them, they'd maybe have a chance, but that was only because Melissa always kept quiet when she'd see boys sneaking out of Laurie's window. In return, Laurie was somewhat civil to her, nice even sometimes.

Sometime after the adults had all left, Jackie decided to haul Donna outside so she could gift Eric with a scented candle. The blonde thought the candle was a dumb idea. Sure, it was great to give in general as a gift to your significant other, but this was Eric they were talking about. He'd appreciate a lot more, like something to add to his collection of Star Wars memorabilia. Or a couple of records like Melissa had given him.

Anyways, while the two girls were trying to trap Eric into a romantic scene with Donna, Melissa snuck away to the basement, where she found a joint she had stowed away in Eric's secret money hiding spot. She lit the incense and the joint in one flick of her lighter and took a puff, sighing outwards. A feeling of calm washed over her and she closed her eyes, breathing in more smoke. Soon, she felt high and smiled, snuffing the joint out. She put it back where she had hidden it originally and let the incense burn a little more. She then returned upstairs to find the gang in the kitchen, spying on Donna and Eric. She arrived just in time for one of them to yell, "We can see you!"

The group ducked, Hyde, pulling Melissa down as well. "Is he kissing her?" Fez asked curiously in a whisper.

"We don't know, man, we can't see them," Hyde replied with a shake of his head.

"Eric?" Fez called over the counter, "Are you kissing her?"