September 15, 1979
9:14 PM
Jackie takes a swig of her Manhattan, relishing in the buzz provided by the alcohol.
"Hiding out from your own going away party?"
"Hiding out from a party. What has the world come to?" The Burkhart girl laughs, turning to face Steven Hyde, who's making his way down the stairs.
He chuckles, and joins her on the couch.
"I can't believe I'm leaving Point Place tomorrow." She sighs, curling up against her boyfriend.
"Milwaukee isn't that far." He's a lot better at being reassuring now. She smiles.
"Far enough." Jackie says. "You know that we'll both move on after I'm gone."
He sighs.
She's been avoiding this conversation, just like he has.
"I know."
"We'll still be friends?" Jackie asks.
"Anything for you doll." He smiles and plants a kiss on the top of her head. It's bittersweet, he knows that there's no getting over her. She's the only girl he's ever loved, the only girl he ever will.
"Do you think I'll do well in college?"
"Marquette won't know what hit 'em."
"Thanks Steven." She says softly, planting a kiss on his cheek. He doesn't protest those anymore, not as frequently anyway. And definitely not tonight. He knows that she'll do great. She's matured a lot.
"I wouldn't have applied if you hadn't spent so much time telling me that I could do anything without a man."
"Nah. You already knew that."
"Yeah. Maybe. Thanks for helping me move my stuff there by the way."
"Whatever." He shrugs. He's still not entirely comfortable with an excess of emotion, so he occasionally relies on his Zen to communicate with Jackie.
She shakes her head fondly, sets down her drink, and presses a searing kiss to Steven's willing lips.
He doesn't complain, he'll miss this. He'll miss her.
"We're going to have to break up." She mumbles.
"We've still got tonight, doll." He counters, reclaiming her lips, and pulling her onto his lap.
"We should go to your room before someone comes down to look for us." She suggests. He's happy to oblige, and stands up carrying her along with him.
Her legs hook around his hips, and they stay embraced until they're too tired to do anything but sleep.
September 16, 1979
8:22 AM
He wakes up first, and watches her chest rise and fall peacefully. She definitely wasn't this relaxed when he found her last night downing a Manhattan, trying hard not to show how scared she was.
She was leaving. Actually leaving. The first one of her friends to make it out of the basement. He was proud of her. He really was. He always knew she was special. Now everyone else would too.
She stirs in her sleep, and he wonders if she's going to wake up. She doesn't, even though she needs too.
She'll miss registration. And he doesn't want that to happen. He doesn't want to hold her back. That's why he told her to go. Even if it's breaking his heart. Even if he's perfectly content to stay here with her.
She needs to go before she's trapped in this town forever. Before he looses his resolve and tells her that he loves her and doesn't want her to leave. He wouldn't do that to her though.
"Jackie." She whispers softly, shaking her bare shoulder.
"Mmm?"
"Time to get up."
"No..." she mumbles. She's never been a morning person.
"Jackie. You have to get up. You have to get going."
"Why?"
"Marquette." He reminds her.
Her mismatched eyes pop open comically, and she shoots up to a sitting position.
"Oh my God! I can't be late!" She springs out of his cot, scrambling around for her clothes.
"Where is my shoe?" She asks, slightly frenzied.
"Oh, to have a camera right now." Hyde chuckles. Jackie attempts to throw him a nasty look, but dissolves into giggles.
He'll miss that sound.
8:48 AM
Jackie is ready in record time, borrowing a spare toothbrush from Donna and running a comb through her hair. A few make-up touches later, and she declares herself presentable. Steven thinks she always looks beautiful, but he'd never say it.
Especially not now. She's leaving, and they're breaking up. She's not leaving him, she promised that when she'd told him about getting accepted to college.
She would still be his friend. She wasn't abandoning him, running out of his life. She was just going in a different direction.
She's saying goodbye to a weepy Bob and Mrs. Forman in front of her Daddy's pearly white Lincoln.
"You have to call." Mrs. Forman says, leaving no room to argue.
"I will Mom...I mean Mrs. Forman." She blushes hard. Steven knows that she thinks of the Forman matriarch as a surrogate mother, since her own is usually off drinking in foreign countries for months on end. The term of affection that Jackie let slip only makes Kitty cry harder, and Red has to pry her off the brunette.
Jackie chuckles and throws her arms around Eric's dad. Just this once, he hugs her back. She is his favorite after all.
Micheal and Fez both give her hug that turns into groping. Eric tells her to have fun, and for good measure tells her she's the devil.
Donna gives Jackie a bone-crushing hug.
"I can't breathe, you lumberjack!" Jackie says affectionately, hugging the closest thing she'll have a sister back anyway.
Steven is last to approach her, and he watches her eyes sparkle with excitement. He did the right thing, letting her go. It still hurt though.
"Go change the world, doll."
"Count on it." She says confidence oozing from her tone.
She pulls him into a hug, that he's less hesitant than usual to return. This might be the last time he gets to do it.
"Thanks for being so supportive." She whispers, voice cracking.
She pulls away and backs out of the driveway flashing one last smile and wave to everyone in her world that matters.
"Anything for you doll." He whispers. Everyone else goes inside, but he watches until the car disappears on the horizon. Until the only girl that he's ever loved is gone.
Thanks For Reading! Check out the sequels to this story; 1984 and Canada. Leave a review and tell me what you think! :)