Title:  Between Us Girls

Author:  Harper

Email: Xfjnky2@yahoo.com

Rating:  NC-17

Fandom:  That 70s Show

Pairing:  Jackie/Donna

Spoilers/Background:  Yes, but I don't know the names of the episodes.  If you want to remain spoiler-free, STOP READING NOW.  It's from the ep where Donna is forced to ask Jackie if she wants to stay at her house.  Jackie’s folks are missing again, her mom has disappeared and I don’t know what was up with her dad (jail?  I don’t watch the show that much).  Jackie had been staying with Hyde in the Forman’s basement, but gets the boot.  After realizing that Jackie is her best friend, Donna humbles herself to ask her if she’d stay with her (after totally bungling the first attempt).  Jackie agrees to, on the condition that she’ll teach Donna how to be popular.  Also, for the following ep, where Jackie makes the payment on Donna's engagement ring when Eric can't afford to.

Archiving: www.realmoftheshadow.com/harper.htm, with the rest of my stuff.

A/N:  Like always, this is un-beta'd.  I merely caught the episodes and thought I'd like to write this.  If you'd like to provide feedback, I'd love to get it.  Good, bad, you name it.  I'll be at Xfjnky2@yahoo.com

Summary:  It doesn't count, between us girls…

“Donna?”

The redhead groaned, fighting the urge to smash a fist into her pillow and pretend it was Jackie’s cute little face.  They’d finally gotten settled in, and Donna was exhausted.  Exhausted and just a little uncomfortable, because she wasn't quite used to the whole slumber party atmosphere, and didn't feel up for girly-girl chatting deep into the night.  Not to mention that having someone that close to her, especially the brunette, who’d more often danced on Donna’s nerves than anything else, was unsettling.  She wasn't really a sharing space kind of girl.

Rolling her eyes, sure the darkness hid the move, she snapped, “Yeah?”

There was a momentary pause, and for a split-second, Donna almost felt bad about being so sharp with the other girl.  After all, Jackie was going through a rough time, and probably didn’t need to add friends with anger management issues to her list of woes.  She didn't feel bad for too long, though, because she didn't have to delve too deeply into her memory to remember any number of times Jackie had been less than sensitive about her feelings.  In fact, that afternoon had been a prime example, and her pride was still recovering from the groveling she'd done to make sure Jackie ended up staying with her.  Which really, if she thought about it, was like fate kicking her in the teeth twice.  Not only did she not want Jackie there in the first place, and only managed to somehow be guilted into inviting her, but then had to prostrate herself at the other girl's feet to maneuver her way around a wall of pride that, quite frankly, didn't have much of a foundation on which to stand.  But Eric's mom had made her feel guilty, and she'd gotten to thinking about it and really did, on some level, feel sorry for Jackie.  Her own parents might be annoying and highly dysfunctional, but at least they cared, which was more than she could say for the other girl.  And so maybe she had been less than tactful the first time she asked, making it clear that she was doing the other girl a favor because she felt sorry for her and essentially humiliating her in front of all their friends, but she'd more than paid for that.  Flattery and lies didn't come easy, especially when they were the hot air blowing up a massive, already over-sized ego.

All in the past, though, and if she didn't try to consciously push it from her mind, her brain might just bake inside her skull from the resulting steam.

There was a rustle of bedsheets, and then Jackie was standing over her, shadows hiding her expression and body an odd, nearly ethereal and vaguely ambiguous form.  For a moment, Donna felt a sense of panic.  She didn't feel comfortable, prone and looking up at what appeared to be, from what little she could see, a hesitant and shy Jackie.

"I, uh, just wanted to say thanks, you know," Jackie said, voice tight and uncomfortable, and Donna squirmed, not wanting to find herself embroiled in any messy, emotional scenes.

Rolling up on her side, squinting even though it didn't help her see more clearly, she rasped, voice almost a whisper, "It's no problem.  Really.  I mean, don't get all sappy about it, okay."

Jackie shifted on her feet, shuffling from side to side, hands coming together in front of her to clasp nervously.  Donna could almost hear her swallow repeatedly and watched, with no little apprehension, as her head dropped down and to the side, hair spilling carelessly from behind her ear to fall over her face, hiding her eyes from view.  "I, uh, wanted to apologize too," the brunette said, and Donna could barely make out the way she was biting her bottom lip anxiously, dimples deepening and disappearing as she struggled to get the words out.

Jumping in quickly, desperate to forestall whatever it was the other girl felt she had to force herself to do, Donna said tersely, "Nothing for you to apologize for.  Go back to bed, Jackie, before I make you sleep on the couch."

But, the other girl didn't go back to bed.  Instead she sat down, hands obsessively smoothing down the front of her nightgown, eyes downcast.  Donna inched over to the side, feeling the imposition of a sudden very heavy tension between them.  It seemed to weigh her down, trapping her in its hot, heavy grasp, and she squirmed, needing to put a little space between herself and the other girl.

Fingers slowly drifting from her nightgown to the sheets, fingers plucking at the top cover anxiously, Jackie followed Donna's retreat, easing her way even further onto the mattress.  "No," she said, tone contemplative, "I think I probably have a lot to apologize for."

Feeling distinctly unsettled, not quite sure what to do with this apologetic and introspective Jackie, Donna struggled to a sitting position, propping herself up against the wall behind her bed.  Eyeing the other girl warily, she waited, not quite sure what her role was.

"I'm not very nice to you," Jackie said abruptly, nearly shocking herself with the uncharacteristic admission.  "I'm not very nice to you, and you still lied to me, just to make me feel better."

Donna surged forward, a protest on the tip of her tongue, but Jackie put a finger on her lips, silencing her.  Scooting forward a little more, the distance between them growing smaller by the second, she whispered, "I know you did it for me, and I let you because it made me feel good.  It still makes me feel good, that you would do something like that."

There was an odd light in the brunette's eyes, like they were burning with something she was trying to suppress, and Donna felt her stomach tense, felt her body shift into flight mode.  She didn't know what was going on, and didn't like the weightless uncertainty of limbo.

"You're beautiful, you know."  Jackie's voice was low, embarrassed, and even in the barely there light of the moon streaming in through the window, Donna could tell she was blushing.  "The things I say… I don't mean them."

Unable to take her own silence anymore, the redhead pulled back, eyes narrowing as she looked at the girl sitting mere inches away from her.  "Look Jackie, I don't know what kind of a game you're playing, but go ahead and mark a one in the win column and leave me alone, okay," Donna said harshly, nose wrinkling in anger.  "I don't need this bullshit."

But, Jackie didn't move.  Dark eyes still unfathomable, she leaned forward infinitesimally, a soft smirk on her face.  "Just because I act like I don't know what's going on doesn't mean it's true," she said, voice tinged with amusement.  "And just because I can be a spoiled, selfish brat doesn't mean I don't know exactly what I'm doing.  I say those things because it's what I'm supposed to do."

Growing increasingly frustrated, Donna pressed back into the wall behind her, distressed to find she had no more leeway.  "Fine.  Great.  You don't think I'm a big, giant freak.  End of touchy-feely talk."

"Hello… I'm trying to apologize here.  Could you just shut up and let me do it?" Jackie shot back, shaking her head in exasperation.

Brows lowering in indignation, Donna replied irritably, "And you're severely encroaching on my personal space.  Think you could back the hell up?"

Exhaling angrily, Jackie crossed her arms over her chest.  "You know what, forget this.  It was a stupid idea, and I was stupid for thinking of it."

Feeling slightly chagrined for reasons she couldn't quite pin down, Donna sighed.  "Look, I'm sorry.  It was nice of you to apologize, and I accept it, and we're not going to mention this ever again, right?"

"Right," Jackie said decisively, nodding her head emphatically.  Then, nostrils flaring and brows contracting in what looked to be anger, she muttered, "Oh, forget this…"

Donna didn't even have time to ask what they were forgetting before Jackie's lips collided with hers.  Eyebrows flying upward in surprise and confusion, she sat completely still, uncomfortably aware of the softness of the lips on hers, until Jackie pulled back, eyes hooded, dark, and unreadable.

"What the hell was that?" the redhead asked crossly, slightly breathless.  Her tongue flicked out unconsciously, shocking her when she realized she was tasting the remnants of the other girl's lips on her own, and she stopped, eyes suddenly wide and guilty.

Even white teeth were biting at Jackie's lower lip again, and she ducked her head as she said, "I would think that's fairly obvious."

Still incredulous and quite frankly baffled, Donna accused, voice full of nervous excitement, "You kissed me."

There was a short snort of laughter, and then a dry, "I know.  I was there too."

Almost jittery, feeling trapped and completely thrown off kilter, Donna gestured wildly with her hands, tone high with frenetic energy, "You kissed me.  You totally just kissed me.  What was that?"

Sighing again, words slow as if explaining something to a toddler, Jackie said, "I felt like kissing you, so I did.  Don't freak out about it.  Did you not like it, or something?"

Thrown completely for a loss, Donna merely gaped, eyes blinking slowly and mouth moving soundlessly.  "Not like it?  Jackie, I can't… You've obviously lost your mind.  I'm with Eric."

As soon as she said it, Donna realized just how poor of an argument it really was.

Shrugging her shoulders, struggling to seem far more comfortable with the situation than she really was, Jackie said nonchalantly.  "What's the problem?"

"What's the problem?" Donna echoed disbelievingly.  "What do you mean, what's the problem?  If Eric kissed another girl, I'd…  I don't know.  Kill him or something.  Or maybe just maim him.  Cut off his lying little tongue and…"

"Don't worry, Donna," Jackie broke in, cutting off the other girl's increasingly less relevant ramble, tone frighteningly reasonable.  "He'll never find out.  Besides, it doesn't count when it's between us girls."

It was, at best, highly flawed logic, but Donna didn't have the mental wherewithal to refute it at that exact moment.  In fact, all ability to reason had fled, leaving her brain as nothing more than one great, giant receptor, aware of little more than the soft hand sliding up the bare skin of her inner thigh.  She wasn't quite sure how it had gotten there, and she didn't exactly know what to do with it, and could only look at Jackie with wide, confused eyes.

"Let me do this," Jackie said soothingly, seeing the befuddled and, if she were honest, utterly adorable look on Donna's usually sharp and rather hostile face.  "Just, you know, lay back down and relax."

Donna meant to protest.  Really she did, but that hand was sliding up under the elastic leg of her panties and slim fingers were already easing past surprisingly swollen and excited labia and part of her brain told her she had absolutely no idea how to deal with this situation.  The other part contented itself with arguing that things had already gone too far, and there was no use in stopping them.  After all, that part said in quite the persuasive voice, the damage had already been done.  And maybe, it wasn't really real.  It didn't feel real, that she'd be laying there, body in a half recline as Jackie looked over at her with dark, slightly predatory eyes, agile fingers teasing past her clit to play at sliding inside of her, only to pull back at the last second.  Maybe it was just a dream, a very surreal and disturbingly real dream, but a dream nonetheless.

"It's very normal.  Very natural," Jackie was muttering, and Donna didn't quite know who the other girl was trying to convince.  She wanted to ask, but those entirely too skilled fingers were moving faster, and her hips were jerking up slightly, on the verge of losing all sense of rhythm and control, and her breath was coming in harsh pants.  Her hands slid across the sheets, searching desperately for something to hold onto, fingers finally digging into the pliable sides of the mattress.  Jackie was watching her, and she felt a little wild and not quite coherent.  And then her back was arching, head falling back, and shivers were running down her spine.  A whimper eased past her lips, her only verbal concession to the orgasm that had just ripped through her, and when she looked back up, it was to see Jackie licking her fingers clean.  It was oddly too intimate and overly erotic at the same time, and then those still sticky fingers were patting her on the cheek and the brunette was looking at her sympathetically.

"It's just between us girls, Donna," she was saying, and there was perhaps a hint of sadness in the words, but Donna's heart was beating too fast for her to be able to focus on it.  Then, much to her surprise, the brunette just smiled and stood up, hips swaying as she covered the few feet separating the twin beds from one another, sliding under the covers and presenting the redhead with her back.  "Talk to you in the morning."

Not quite sure how to respond, Donna grunted a somewhat pained, "Yeah."  But, unlike Jackie, it took her hours to fall asleep.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, she'd nearly convinced herself it had all been a dream.  Jackie was up and in the shower by the time she got up, cranky and irritated and not at all happy.  As they passed in the hallway, the other girl merely smiled at her, made fun of her hair and suggested investing in a pair of tweezers, and then she was gone.  It was childish, but Donna stuck her tongue out at the brunette's retreating back, feeling just a tiny bit better as she did so.  Then, finding herself just a tad bit embarrassed she'd ever done it in the first place, she made her way into the bathroom, closing and locking the door, nearly collapsed against the back of it when she found herself blissfully alone.

She stood naked in front of the still fogged mirror for nearly fifteen minutes, scrutinizing every inch of her flesh.  Nothing looked different, at least not that she could see.  There were no signs of anything amiss, no scratch marks or bruises or bright green glowing letters etched into her skin, so she wrote the whole thing off as a clearly delirious dream and climbed into the shower, ignoring the small twinge of awareness between her thighs.

Much to her chagrin, she discovered Jackie's scent was everywhere.  The shower smelled like the other girl, her room seemed to have absorbed her perfume, and even her own clothes carried a wisp of her.  It put her in a foul mood, or even more foul than usual, and she snapped at Eric and nearly made Fez cry.  Jackie seemed oblivious, though, smiling up brightly at Hyde as if he'd just invented cellulite reduction cream, ignoring Kelso in a way that made sure the other boy couldn't quite ever forget she was there.  And Donna's parents and Forman's parents smiled that conceited, mockingly benevolent smile they'd perfected and reiterated, for perhaps the thousandth time, just how nice it was for her to share her room with Jackie, how maybe it could turn out to be just the right bonding experience for the girls.

Jackie didn't say anything, didn't do anything other than what she always did.  She once again snickered and called Donna a giant, as if it was the redhead's fault that the other girl could barely top 5'3", and dissected her outfit down to her shoes.  Then she chose to ignore her, eyes dripping with disdain, and Donna thought that maybe she was going insane.  Thought that none of it had happened, that she'd dreamed it all and tricked herself into thinking it had, and was confused and embarrassed and highly unsettled.  When Eric tried to kiss her that night, she turned away, stomach clenching tightly when she remembered the feel of dream Jackie's lips on hers.  She told him she didn't feel well and fled, needing more than anything to be alone for a little while, to have some time to figure out what the hell had happened.

Only, she couldn't be alone.  Her room wasn't just her room anymore, and when she got there, Jackie was laying in bed reading a fashion magazine, trim little body barely covered by an almost translucent nightgown.  And once again, Donna wanted to run, but this time she didn't.  She refused to be kicked out of her own room by anyone, much less Jackie, so she scowled and scooped up her pajamas and stomped into the bathroom to wash her face and change.  When she got back, Jackie had laid her magazine on the nightstand and turned off the light.  She was lying on her side, not even bothering to hide the way she watched Donna pick her way through the dimly lit room to her bed, and Donna felt the scrutiny as if it were a physical touch.

"What?" the redhead asked irritably, intensely aware of a sense of discomfort she just couldn't take.  She felt vulnerable and, strangely, rather shy, and was not at all happy about any of it.

"I don't like it when you wear your hair up," Jackie said conversationally, rolling off her bed to stand.  Donna shrank back as the other girl approached, tunneling down into her bedding, but remained silent, wary.  "You have beautiful hair.  You should always leave it down."

"I thought you didn't like my hair," Donna said guardedly, eyes narrowing as she attempted to piece things together.  Jackie was standing beside her bed again, and she winced as she felt a little jolt of excitement run through her.  She wanted to deny it, wanted to pretend like it had never happened, but she could feel the wetness start to gather between her thighs, body denying her the opportunity to trick herself into believing she wasn't somehow affected.

Idle fingers pulled the top cover back, revealing Donna's long legs, pale skin luminous in the darkness.  Jackie sat delicately, as if she were arriving for tea, and trailed her fingers up the length of one long thigh, smiling softly when she felt the other girl shiver.  "I thought I told you I didn't mean the things I say," she said, a hint of amusement coloring her tone as her fingertips slid up and over the soft cotton of Donna's sleep shorts to hook in the elastic they found there.  She gave it a gentle tug, inching the fabric down slightly to reveal the softly rounded contour of a bare belly, and Donna inhaled sharply, hips squirming slightly under the other girl's touch.

Voice guarded and eyes suspicious, she asked, "What are you doing?"

Jackie ignored her, choosing instead to finish crawling up on the bed, not stopping until she was straddling Donna's thighs, hair tumbling down over her shoulders in a dark wave that hid her face in shadows, obscuring her expression.  "I'm going to make you feel good again," she said, her voice a mix of seduction and matter-of-fact intent, and Donna shook her head no, the movement sudden and violent.

"Not tonight, Jackie," she said, voice rough.  "I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but I'm not falling for it again."

Peeking up, eyes round and innocent, the other girl said softly, "Game?  There's no game.  Just you and me and a little fun.  Fun like last night.   You enjoyed last night, didn't you?"

There was conceit in her voice, and Donna felt herself blush even as she grew even more angry, frustrated and on the edge of rage.  So Jackie had made her cum… it didn't mean anything, and it didn't give her any rights.  But, the brunette obviously felt it did, because she was tugging Donna's sleep shorts and panties down her thighs, short nails scraping along tender flesh.

She opened her mouth to speak, but Jackie beat her to it, voice a compelling sing-song whisper.  "Don't fight me, Donna.  Just let it happen.  I won't tell anyone.  Don't worry… it's just between us girls.  It doesn't matter."

"How can it not matter?" Donna asked, somewhat helplessly.  She didn't like feeling helpless.  It wasn't a natural state for her.  She was the aggressive, proactive, seize destiny by the throat kind of girl, but this… this was too, she didn't know… too something.  Too beyond the scope of her experience, too fantastical to actually be true.  She didn't know what to believe, didn't know how to handle it, and couldn't think of a single reason why she didn't just push Jackie away and leave.

She didn't push her away, though, just looked up, eyes wide and a little lost, mind torn in a thousand different directions.  Jackie was sliding her shorts and panties off, was leaving her bare and open, was bending down so that long, soft hair was brushing against her abdomen.  She was smiling and smirking at the same time, and her fingers were combing through the soft red hair between Donna's legs, and Donna wanted her to stop and wanted her to never stop, but couldn't articulate either.

Instead she simply groaned, then hissed, then brought one hand down to weave through that too soft brown hair as a hot, velvety smooth tongue tasted her.  When she moved to push the other girl away, she instead found herself tightening her grip, bringing her legs up so her knees were bent and spread wide, and suddenly there were small hands against the back of her thighs pushing them up and Jackie was licking her like a cat with a bowlful of cream.  Her stomach muscles were clenched, thighs straining against the pressure holding her, and she could feel her spine tightening all the way up from the small of her back to the back of her neck, the pressure gripping her in a deliciously intense vise so severe she felt her temples begin to ache.  She thrashed and bit her lip, and nearly screamed when sharp teeth raked over her clit and she exploded.

She came down to the feel of soft lips brushing against her own, still slick with the taste of her own arousal.  It was oddly comforting, something she was used to from years of cleaning her fingers after exploring the contours of her own body yet somehow distinctly different on the lush curve of the other girl's bottom lip.

When Jackie pulled away she was smiling, that ever present and knowing near smirk she almost always wore.  She pressed a slim finger to Donna's lips when the other girl tried to speak, eyes hooded and hypnotic in the darkness.

"If you talk about it, you make it real," she whispered, then slipped out of Donna's bed and back into her own, slim shoulders once again turned so that she was facing the wall.

The third night Jackie stripped away Donna's pajama top along with her shorts, lips and tongue teasing full breasts and taut nipples until the redhead thought she might scream.  Jackie liked the way her borderline rough touch turned pale alabaster skin an irritated red, and she spent more time on the activity than was perhaps prudent, but didn't really care.  She didn't give the affair much thought at all, other than the memories that popped to mind every three seconds or so.  Thinking about it gave it power and substance and weight, and she didn't particularly want to be bothered with any of those things.  So instead she buried herself in flesh she'd never admit she wanted, and to hell with anything else.

A little over a week after the first night Jackie had come to her, Donna looked down to see one hand wrapped through the silky dark locks of a head that now seemed almost as at home between her thighs as it did anywhere else.  The hard edge of the diamond caught a shaft of moonlight, and she rubbed her fingers together, sending a beam of white light across the bumpy popcorn finish of her ceiling.  She thought back to the day before, to Eric looking sheepish and embarrassed, admitting that his dad wouldn't let him get a job and that he wouldn't be able to make any more payments on the ring.  She thought about Jackie, sitting over on the other bed engrossed in a magazine as if she weren't even paying attention to what was going on, and then of Eric again, storming into his kitchen where she was hanging out, accusing her of buying back her own ring.  Like the ass he could sometimes be, he'd made it half way through his little boy tantrum before he realized he'd made a mistake, that as much as she loved the ring and wanted it gracing her finger forever, she certainly hadn't gone to the store and made the payment.  Neither had his dad, nor his mom, and it was a mystery until Jackie broke in, a blithe explanation falling easily from her lips.  Just wrote a check, she said, and Donna felt something inside her grow giddy and nauseous at the same time.

She shifted, running her hand down to cup the back of Jackie's neck, feeling a hoarse grunt fighting to move past her lips, and the ring twinkled again, a single star in a sea of black.  It hit her, at that moment, that in essence, both of her lovers had given her the ring.

The thought and the flat scrape of a soft tongue took her over the edge, the orgasm perhaps one of the most intense she'd had.  She pushed comparisons to the side, though she knew she'd make them anyway.  Between Eric, sweet as he was, who worked and worked and looked up at her with nervous puppy dog eyes, wanting to know if he'd pleased her.  And then there was Jackie, who never asked because she always knew, and never thought that any other outcome would be forthcoming.  She'd make Donna cum because she knew how to make Donna cum, because she'd always made her cum.  It was a de facto conclusion to every evening, and something she took for granted.

Barely aware that Jackie was rolling away again, Donna still managed to reach out, wrapping her fingers in the other girl's soft cotton nightgown.  "Don't go," she whispered, struggling up on one elbow, the other hand far too busy pushing all that chaste cotton up and out of the way until she was looking at toned, tanned, and marble smooth skin to be of much help.

Jackie paused, interest in her eyes, and waited.  She leaned back when Donna pushed gently on her shoulders, moaned with contentment when the redhead stretched her long body out to cover every inch of dark skin, and thought she might cry when soft, sweet lips met hers for the first kiss not initiated by her.

She shuddered when those lips kissed down the line of her throat and over her chest to nuzzle at a pert nipple, when sharp teeth bit down just a little too hard.  When long fingers slid deep inside her, she moaned, and when she came, she raked short nails down the length of Donna's back, leaving her mark in eight bright red parallel lines.

"Shh," Donna was saying as she drifted back into awareness, comforting her as her heartbeat returned to normal, as the blood stopped rushing past her ears.  "Don't worry.  It doesn't count, not between us girls."

And, as the redhead watched her fingers sift through silky dark hair, the diamond sliding, hiding, and finally catching the light, she wondered just how long it wouldn't count until… well, until it did.

The End