Disclaimer: I own nothing. Seriosly, I'm a broke college student, what can I own? -.-
Chapter revised and corrected.
Ch 1. — Street Fighter Man
He was pissed off. She had been a pain in the ass earlier during the game. What was she thinking? Taking pictures with others guys, pretending she didn't know that caramel corn made him sick —he told her ages ago— and trying to make him jealous at every chance she got.
They were broken up for a month now, and it had been a living hell. Yes, that's right; Steven Hyde was not having a good time after his breakup with Jackie. At least he hadn't listen to any country music records yet... although Hyde suspected that if things continued this way, it wouldn't be much longer before Anne Murray started singing on the record player.
Who the hell she thinks she is!?He couldn't help but think with anger. She thought that this was hard just for her? It needed two people for a breakup, and she had been who ended things with him. Just because he couldn't promise he could see a future with her.
It wasn't an easy choice to do for him. He never had been good to made decisions under pressure, and Jackie had asked him to make the decision of his life in mere seconds. He couldn't do that. It felt like a threat. Jackie was practically making him choice between a life with her or without her. He never reacted well to threats.
The truth was that Hyde was scarred. He knew he didn't want to lose Jackie again, but there was no way that she would stick with him for so long without getting bored with him. All his life people who were supposed to care about him ended abandoning him. That was because he was Zen. Because if he let people in, it was too hurtful let them go later. Jackie had managed under his skin since the moment of their first date, and every time they broke up... it was more painful letting her go.
He was sick of people walking in and out of his life. Why he has to stick with that? Why couldn't have a normal life? He would never admit it out loud, but he envied guys like Forman and Kelso, whose both had two of her parents and establish relationship... well, at least Forman had.
Oh crap. Hyde stopped walking, and grimaced.
She was there. With her back against the pillar, her arms hugging tightly her body. Her head hung low and her black curls fell onto her shoulders. He couldn't actually see her face, but he guessed that she was crying. She had all the looks that she was, or she had been, crying.
He stepped closer. Almost instantly, he regretted his action.
She was, actually, crying. Tears ran down her face. Her makeup was obviously ruined but for once, she didn't seem to care. She let her knees drag her down on to the floor, while she melted in tears.
Hyde felt guilty. Because he was the reason she was crying. He felt sick.
He walked silently and quickly towards her. She didn't even notice his fingers wrapping around her elbow and picking her up the ground, bringing her into a hug. Although shocked at first, Jackie didn't put any resistance and surrounded Hyde's waist with her arms, crying on his chest.
"Stop trying to hurt me, Jackie." God, his throat was dry. The words almost didn't come out of him. "This is hard for me too."
Jackie sniffed his T-shirt. She loved how he smelled. Coffee, the dust from the basement, and smoke from a recent circle... all of that combined with his natural scent emanating from his body. God, she loved him.
"You sure as hell know how to cover it." She said bitterly.
"What'd you want from me? I'm not good with feelings." He swallowed the lump in his throat. "I'm not like you, Jackie. I don't cry." At least not in public... But of course, he wouldn't say that to her.
Jackie tried to compose herself and wiped the tears off her face. She pulled away from him just enough to look him in the eye.
"Why we broke up?" She asked in whispers.
"Because I'm an ass."
His intention was cheer her up and it worked because now he could see the little smile she gave him.
"Can I ask you something?" She questioned, and her voice was almost a whimper. He nodded. "It is true that you can't... you can't see a future for us?"
Hyde's eyes get lost in nowhere. His tongue licked his lips.
"It isn't really a fair question." He shrugged.
Jackie felt the tears wetting her eyes again.
"Don't do this, Steven. Please, don't do it again." She said brokenly.
No, please don't cry. Again, the guilt pressed his stomach. He stepped closer —she seemed to have moved away from him— and wiped the tears off her face with his thumbs.
"I'm really sorry." He repeated. "Jackie, I... I freaked out, okay?" He sighed. So, this was it. He was going to tell her every piece of his mind. "It's not easy."
"What's not easy?" Jackie looked at him with harsh eyes.
"This!" He motioned between them with vigorous hand gestures. "You and me... Look, never before in my life I have let anyone be this important to me. It made it easy, you know? When they leave. That way I wouldn't be hurt. That is Zen, Jackie. But then, you came up."
"You're saying it like I'm poison." She looked hurt.
"You're not." His words sounded hard and he regretted his tone of voice when she, once again, stepped out of his way. "Nobody before it's been under my skin like you are." He confessed in whispers. "And that scares me."
Jackie's expression softened and she took a step towards Hyde. She looked anxious to say something but she knew that if she spoke now, Steven would never say what he needed to say. And Jackie knew that Steven needed this moment, to take a lot of thing out of his chest.
"Everybody in my life left me." His voice was quiet, like he wasn't really aware Jackie was there, listen to everything he said. "How do I know you're not gonna leave too? How do I know you're not getting bored with me and leave me? We're not even together anymore!"
Is this because you're so insecure when I'm hanging out with Kelso? Jackie wanted to ask. She was dying to know but she let him speak.
"I was right then, don't you think? You got bored and looked for an excuse to breakup with me and making look like it was my fault, right? That way you'll be still the good and I'm the dumbass who can't stay with a chick longer than a year..."
"Steven, for god's sake shut your mouth." Jackie interrupted him. "It was never my intention to leave you. Do you understand how hard this is for me? We're both the victim here, Steven. I got scared too. Because I started to think about us as a family... and not the kind of family I thought I'll have if I marry Michael. With you, I started thinking beyond the money and the popularity... I started thinking as a family with kids, with love."
"If you think you're the only one who doesn't have love you are wrong, Steven. I never felt loved either, what do you think I kept coming back to Michael? Because I thought presents and compliment were love. You made me see how wrong I was. You showed me what real love felt like." Jackie continued. "And it's felt glorious. But when I started thinking in the future, and I thought you didn't want any of that... I got scared. Is what I do when I got scared; I try to get things my way by pushing."
They both stayed quiet for a moment. They didn't say anything, but they were both thinking about what the other just said. Finally, Hyde decided that the silence was too much for him.
"When you asked me if I could see a future with you... I had already my answer." He reveled.
Jackie's fear grew and her hands flew to her mouth. Was he going to say that he did see a future with her in it? Or he was going to crush her heart by saying no?
"But I got freaked out when you started pushing and... well, basically I chickened out." He said sincere. "Since last Christmas I've been thinking about it... it wasn't easy. Every time I freaked out and decided not to, but then I remembered all the good times with you, especially when we were doing it, and I..."
He stopped talking and his hand pulled out something from his jeans front pocket. A tiny, round object sparkling in the sunlight.
Oh my God. Jackie's eyes widened when she saw the little ring in Hyde's hands. He was gonna...? He was really going to...
Maybe a Packers game wasn't the most romantic place to propose. It wasn't candles, or horses, or a fancy restaurant where the ring would hide in a champagne glass. Hell, the groom wasn't even down on one knee! But it that moment, Jackie couldn't care less. All that matters was that Steven Hyde was in front of her, holding a diamond ring between the fingers, with the words Jackie desired to heard the most at the top of his throat.
"Marry me."
It wasn't even a question, but it was perfect.