Sequel to Confession.
Prologue
Steven Hyde sat silent, 30,000 feet in the air, flying to the otherside of the country. They'd been flying for an hour. Sitting side by side . Yet they hadn't said a word. Nothing since he kissed her. She'd stared out the window the whole time. The only acklowledgement of his presence; her hand holding his. He'd never been good with words, he'd always preferred silence, but now he wanted her to talk.
"You haven't said anything." He stated. He knew why she was silent. But he couldn't stand it.. He wanted, needed, her to talk. About anything. To chew his ear off about ABBA or Donny Osmond or shoes. Anything. He just needed to hear her voice.
"I don't want to have this conversation on the plane. I want to wait until we're in California and at the apartment. And if I talk now. About anything. We'll end up getting into it. I don't want that."
He knew she was right. And a little part of him scoffed at the thought. He'd never really given her enough credit. She was so much smarter than any of them gave her credit for. And caring and compassionate. He, of all people, should have known that. And yet he'd allowed himself to believe that the shallow mask she wore was who she really was. He still wasn't sure why he'd done it. He suspected it made it easier for him to be without her. If he believed that she really was all the things he hated, ignoring that he knew different, he could hate her and no longer being 'Jackie's boyfriend' wouldn't hurt so much.
He'd honestly never realised how much pain he'd been causing her. How hurt she was. He had convincingly tricked himself into believing the act she played. And he was angrier with himself than he'd ever been before for allowing everything to get to that point. For things to get that bad.
He had no disillusions about their future. It was rocky and uncertain. He knew that when they arrived in San Francisco, he'd be spending the night and all that followed for the foreseeable furture, on the sofa. He knew Jackie would yell and scream and probably even cry. He knew that she would want answers and he knew that it was going to be the hardest time in their twisted relationship. But he also knew, they'd come through the otherside strong. He respected her wishes and he stayed quiet. Opting instead to work through the last few months in his head and search for the answers she was bound to need.
So Steven Hyde sat silent on the plane to California and squeezed the hand of his ex-girlfriend. Whom he finally knew, without a doubt, he wanted to be his wife.
TBC...