For their second date, Collin took Liz out to a nice dinner. Liz had told her mother about her previous date with Collin, but they both agreed it would be best to leave Red out of the loop for the time being.
"Are you girls sure I look okay?" Liz asked Donna and Jackie as they helped her get ready for the date.
"Okay? No. You look great." Jackie affirmed.
"Quite stellar." Donna agreed.
"I'm nervous. It's like a fancy date. I'm not fancy. What if I make a fool out of myself?" Liz fretted.
"You've eaten before right?" Donna asked. Liz nodded but was confused. "Then I think you'll be okay. All you're doing is eating dinner. You do it every night." Donna assured her. Thinking of it that way did make Liz feel better.
"Just be ladylike. Don't burp in front of him. Make sure you don't have food on your face or in your teeth. For God's sake, use a cute giggle." Jackie ordered. Liz nodded, wide-eyed. "You'll be fine." Jackie told her confidently.
"Alright, I think I'm ready." Liz said, looking at herself in the mirror one last time. She was wearing a burnt-orange-colored dress that ended just under her knees. She had on brown boots, earth-toned eyeshadow with burgundy lipstick, and her hair was pulled back with a headband.
"You look great." Donna encouraged as they walked down to the basement to wait for Collin.
When Liz stepped down into the basement, Hyde was somewhat mesmerized. Sure, he had seen her dress up before, but never for a date. It was different this time.
"Oh, my goodness, Liz. You look beautiful." Fez complimented.
"Thank you, Fez." Liz smiled at him.
"I wish I was the one taking you to dinner instead of Collin." Fez pouted, making Liz chuckle.
Hyde found himself wishing the same thing. Hyde wouldn't mind taking Liz to dinner all dolled up, especially if he got to kiss her at the end of the night. Hyde knew it was dangerous thinking, and he wouldn't be able to afford taking her to a fancy restaurant.
"Hey, Liz. Looking pretty good there." Kelso said flirtatiously and threw an arm over her shoulder. Liz pushed him away and Jackie hit him on the arm.
"He's not wrong, Lizzy. Collin's in for a treat." Hyde winked, making Liz blush.
"You guys are such creeps, that's my baby sister." Eric chastised.
Just then, they heard a car horn from outside.
"Oh, that must be Collin. I told him to knock on the basement door." Liz said disappointed.
"Hmm, what a nice guy, doesn't even come to the door to sneak you away on a date." Hyde said sarcastically.
"Yeah, you'd think the stranger you met at a disco would have better manners." Eric joined in. Liz rolled her eyes.
"Wish me luck." Liz smiled nervously at the girls.
"Good luck." Jackie said.
"Have fun." Donna smiled encouragingly.
"Please do not fall in love with him." Fez begged.
"Show him a good time." Kelso said suggestively, making Jackie hit him again.
"What, he's buying her dinner?" Kelso asked confused.
"So?" Jackie asked angrily, hitting Kelso another time.
"Bring me some leftovers." Hyde requested, not looking up from his magazine. Liz scoffed.
"Be safe. Seriously." Eric said, grabbing her shoulders lightly.
"I'll be fine, Eric." Liz assured him. "Bye everybody!" Liz waved and walked outside to Collin's car.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2
"My, my. You're looking extra pretty tonight." Collin complimented as he opened the car door for Liz.
"Thank you, you're looking fairly handsome yourself." Liz giggled. Collin closed her door with a smile and walked over to the diver's side.
Liz didn't much care for Collin's driving. He drove a little too recklessly and it made her feel unsafe- truthfully, it was worse than when Laurie was learning how to drive. Collin's taste in music was also pretty lame.
When they reached the restaurant, Liz sighed in relief. Now if she could just listen to one Queen song, she'd be great. Collin came around and opened the car door for her and helped her step out of the car.
The restaurant was called Fiero's and it was one of the fancier establishments around. It was halfway between where Collin lived and Point Place- about a 20 minute drive from Liz's house. Collin must have gone there fairly often because the staff knew his name and gave him one of the nicer tables.
Liz hadn't had a chance to look through the menu when the waiter came to take their order. It didn't matter, however, because Collin chose for her. Liz was surprised but not too bothered by it. She wasn't very picky, but she would have liked to have had enough time to read the full menu and see her options.
Collin had ordered her the chicken alfredo, which Liz didn't particularly care for and came as a rather large serving. It looked like Hyde would be getting leftovers after all. Though Liz tried to push the thought out of her head, she couldn't help but wish it was Hyde across from her instead of Collin.
Collin was pleasant but boring. There wasn't anything about him that excited Liz. She did enjoy how charming he was- he obviously liked her, he was attractive, and Liz wasn't having a horrible time. It was only their second date, so Liz thought maybe she just needed to get to know him better. He had no problem talking about himself, so it wasn't hard to find out things about him.
When Collin dropped her off at home, Liz decided to let him kiss her again. She wanted to see if it was just first-date jitters that made their previous kisses so lackluster. While this kiss was an improvement, it still didn't compare to her kiss with Hyde.
"When will you be free for another date?" Collin asked her before she went inside.
"I'll let you know." Liz answered smiling.
Liz had a crush on Hyde for over a decade, and she had only known Collin for a couple of weeks. If she gave it a little more time with Collin, Liz was sure things would pick up between them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3
As expected, everyone was still in the basement when Liz walked in. Jackie immediately ran over to Liz.
"How was the date? How much did he spend? Did he kiss you again?" Jackie asked in one breath.
"Again?" Eric, Fez and Kelso asked shocked.
"They kissed after the drive-in movie." Jackie explained. "What'd he say about how you looked? Did he drive a different car? Did he wear a suit?" Jackie bombarded Liz with another set of questions.
"Jeeze, Jackie. Give her a chance to breathe." Donna chided. She patted the arm of the couch beside her. "Sit down, tell us about your night." Donna prodded.
"He took me to Fiero's." Liz began, earning oohs from everyone. "He must go there a lot because the staff knew him by name. I had barely any time to look at the menu when the waiter came over, but Collin ordered for me." Liz continued. Jackie clapped her hands joyously, but Donna looked a little disgusted.
"What, did he not think you could read the menu or something?" Hyde asked cynically.
"Right?" Donna and Eric agreed with Hyde's criticism.
"I don't know. I'll admit it was a little weird, but he ordered okay- chicken alfredo. We talked a little. He plays sports in school. His dad's a lawyer. He's not fully set on which college he's going to yet. Then he drove me home, and we kissed." Liz finished.
"And?" Kelso asked.
"And what?" Liz questioned.
"Was it good?" Hyde asked bluntly. He noticed he was afraid to hear the answer.
"Uh, it wasn't bad." Liz answered.
"Well, what does that mean?" Jackie asked.
"Um, just that I've had better." Liz explained vaguely, peeking over at Hyde and quickly looking away.
Hyde sat up straighter and tried to suppress the proud grin that fought to overtake his face, knowing he was the only other guy Liz had kissed.
"So you did not fall in love with Collin?" Fez clarified.
"No, Fez, I am not in love with Collin." Liz confirmed with a chuckle.
"Is it because he is a bad kisser?" Fez asked.
"I didn't say he was bad. I said the opposite." Liz corrected.
"But you've had better." Donna added. Liz nodded.
"So he was bad." Eric said with a smirk.
"I didn't say that." Liz countered exasperated.
"You're not saying he's good either." Kelso pointed out.
"I... I'm going to change. I don't want to be in this dress anymore." Liz stood up and walked towards the stairs before remembering she still had the leftovers. "Oh, Hyde, these are for you." Liz handed him the food and took off upstairs.
"Rad." Hyde said excitedly.
"I wonder who else she's kissed." Kelso thought out loud. Everyone voiced their wondering as well.
"Yeah, it's a mystery." Hyde said with a hidden smirk.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4
After Liz changed, she went back into the basement. Luckily, everyone had dropped the topic of Collin's kissing skills. The seven friends hung out for only a little before most of them had to go home.
"So, Liz, who else have you kissed?" Kelso asked as he, Jackie, and Fez walked to the basement door.
"What?" Liz asked wide-eyed.
"Besides Collin, who else have you kissed?" Kelso asked again.
"Go home, Kelso!" Liz pushed him outside behind Jackie and Fez and shut the door.
Eric walked Donna home a few minutes later, leaving just Hyde and Liz in the basement.
"Are you going on another date with him?" Hyde asked suddenly.
"I don't know, probably." Liz answered with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Why?" Hyde questioned.
"Why not?" Liz countered.
"Because you don't even like him enough to enjoy kissing him." Hyde pointed out. Liz didn't know how to respond.
"So?" Liz retorted.
"You're putting up with bad chemistry when you know there's better out there." Hyde shook his head in confusion.
"I just need to give it more time with Collin. It'll get better." Liz responded.
"But why?" Hyde exclaimed, making Liz jump at his outburst. "You've had better, yet you chose the worse option. It doesn't make sense." Hyde continued.
"Because Collin likes me!" Liz replied.
"What?" Hyde asked.
"He's the only guy I've been interested in that actually likes me back. He doesn't play games and make me question if he likes me or not. I know where I stand with him. So what if he's not the best kisser? At least he makes it clear that he wants to kiss me!" Liz was getting annoyed. How dare Hyde play with her feelings and then make her feel bad for being with a guy that actually chose her?
"Well-" Hyde began.
"What does it matter to you anyways?" Liz cut him off. Hyde just stared at her silently. "Until you can answer that, why don't you just leave me alone about Collin, okay?"
"Fine." Hyde said through gritted teeth.
"Fine." Liz replied and stormed up to her room, slamming the basement door as she ascended into the kitchen.
Hyde slammed his hand on the table in aggravation after Liz slammed the door.
Why did it matter to him? Hyde was jealous, but he didn't know why. He kept telling himself that he didn't like Liz, but at times like this, he really questioned himself.