Disclaimer I own nothing. Don't own the show or the characters, or the song, or even the CD.
Author's Note: Hello All! this is just a little something that came to me after listening to the song one too many times on the radio. I swear I heard it like three times in one day, in the same station! But it's a good song. Anywooo thanks for reading, please lemme know what you think. Oh and a new chapter of Learning to Fly should be up on Friday, check it out if you have' already. Anywooo on with the story! Enjoy!
Here Comes Goodbye
It was a normal evening at the Forman house. Kitty, Red, and Hyde were sitting around the kitchen table eating the night's dinner as they made conversations on various topics. Well Kitty was, Red would have preferred eating dinner in front of the TV and something felt different to Hyde, so different that he kept his mind on it constantly. Something just didn't feel right, he wasn't sure what it was, but he knew it wasn't good.
"Steven?"
Hyde broke out of his daze as he heard Kitty's voice call his name. "Huh?"
"I asked you if you finished your letter for Eric yet. I wanted to send them all out tomorrow." Kitty informed with a slight frown. Her motherly instincts were telling her something was wrong. He hadn't said much since they'd been there, he'd barely touched any of his food, and his face seemed to have fallen all the way to the floor.
Red noticed his surrogate son's behavior as well, "Are you on dope?"
"Uh, no. No Red, I was just thinking." Hyde explained.
"It better not be about anything illegal."
"Red!" Kitty slightly scolded.
Hyde shook his head, "No, it's not. Um no Mrs. Forman, I haven't finished the letter yet. I'll work on it later on tonight."
Kitty gave a slight smile as she placed her hand over his. "What were you thinking about, honey?"
Hyde looked at the woman he'd considered his mother for many years. He wanted to tell her, but he couldn't, he couldn't explain it.
"Nothing." he lied causing the couple to frown.
"See Kitty, I told you he was on dope." Red stated as he shook his fork in the air.
"Oh honestly Red…" Kitty began.
Hyde knew the two were about to embark in a little spat. Though he enjoyed watching them, especially when Kitty would burn Red, he wasn't in the mood today. He looked down at his uneaten plate and began to smash the invisible lumps in his mash potatoes, with his fork.
Suddenly he heard a noise; a noise the Forman's obviously hadn't heard as the continued their argument. Kitty had just said something about Red never taking her out anymore. How the hell did that get in there? There was no point in Hyde trying to figure that out, the conversation was too far ahead for him to catch up. So instead he went back to the noise outside.
It sounded like tires driving up to the Forman's driveway. It was dinner time so it could be anyone. But he and the Forman's were here, Donna and Bob lived next-door, Kelso was in Chicago, Fez wasn't allowed to drive to the Forman's house since he almost crashed into the house a few months back, and Jackie…that's who it was Jackie.
But since when did Jackie drive so slowly? Not that she drove fast either. Now that he thought of it, since when did Jackie drive to the Forman house? She usually walked.
Hyde caught the sight of Jackie's blue Lincoln pull up to the side of the kitchen. Then he noticed something else that was different, there was nothing on the radio. No Donny and Marie, no Elton John, not even the lame-ass ABBA.
Hyde looked back down at his meal; he knew she would be walking inside soon and he didn't want her to catch him staring at her. He wanted to avoid eye contact as much as possible. Things hadn't been the same between them since Chicago, even with Sam gone, things would never go back to the way they were before.
A knock at the screen door interrupted Hyde's thoughts and put an end to Red and Kitty's argument.
The three people inside the house turned to look at the door. Each of them looked at the tiny brunette, who wore a slight smile along with her winter attire, with confused looks. The screen door was unlocked, heck they'd forgotten it even had a lock.
"Jackie, come on in, sweetie." Kitty said with a wave and a smile.
Jackie's smile grew only a few centimeters as she slid open the side door and walked inside and gave a soft, "Hello."
"Since when do any of you dumbasses knock?" Red asked as he looked over at the only one of his son's friends who he didn't see as a complete dumbass.
Jackie just shrugged. She was being too quiet and since when was Jackie Burkhart ever quiet?
"I'm sorry for interrupting your dinner…" she began to apologize only to have Kitty jump up and walk over to her.
"Oh don't be silly, Jackie. You didn't interrupt anything." she said leading her to the table so she could take a seat. A seat next to Steven. But Jackie didn't take it, she stayed standing. "Let me get you a plate…"
"Oh no Mrs. Forman, you don't have to do that." Jackie said, "I have to get going. I just dropped by for a little bit."
Those few words stopped Kitty in her tracks and caught the men's attention.
"Where're you going?" Red asked in a gruff voice.
"New York."
Jackie held her breath as she waited for their reactions. It had taken her awhile to come up with the decision and now she was pretty sure it was a good idea. She didn't really fit in with Point Place anymore. Nothing was the same here anyways, everything had change and not for the better. She was sure that if she left this town, no one would care or even remember after a week or so. But part of her wanted to know if she even would be missed at all.
Red exchanged looks with his wife who was already close to tears. Slowly all the dumbass kids were leaving their house, as he had always hoped. He always had a feeling that at least one of them would stay behind and part of him hoped it would have been Jackie only because he could stand her…well longer then he could stand the others. Now it looked like he and Kitty were going to be stuck with the foreign kid.
Hyde watched his ex-girlfriend carefully. Was she for real, she really was leaving? Just like that? She was gonna say goodbye and then just leave like that? Like they meant nothing to her? Like he meant nothing to her?
"Why?" Kitty squeaked out.
Jackie took a deep breath, "It's just something I have to do, Mrs. Forman."
Kitty was now on the verge of tears, there went Jackie's plan of leaving before the water works. Both Mrs. Forman's and hers.
Before Jackie knew it she was trapped in Mrs. Forman's tight grip, but she didn't try to pull away. Instead she gave Kitty's grip some competition by tightening her own grip on the older woman. Jackie felt the warmness of her tears as they slid down her face and onto Kitty's shoulder, just as Kitty's tears were damping her own shoulder.
"Jackie, I want you to know that you'll always be welcomed in this house." Kitty said as she pulled away slightly, "After all it's your home too."
"Thank you Mrs. Forman." Jackie said with her tears shinning in her eyes, "You've been more of a mother to me then my own. I'll never forget that."
Kitty pulled the tiny girl to her once more, still not ready to let another one of her babies go. "Oh I love you, sweetie."
"I love you too, Mrs. Forman."
Hyde watched as the only two women who ever truly loved him, hug each other tightly. As he watched the scene before him, he couldn't help but think back to a happier time, a time when he and Jackie's relationship was still in the 'honeymoon' stage…
"Say it."
"No."
"Come on Steven, you know you want to! You almost did!" Jackie pointed out as she followed her boyfriend out of his bedroom and into their gangs' hideout. "Just say those three little words."
Hyde turned around to face her, "Get out, Jackie." he said lifting a finger for each word, "There, three words."
"Steven, please." Jackie said with a pout.
Hyde frowned as he tried his best to resist that look. Her puppy dog eyes and her lower lip sticking out, she looked too cute…
"Jackie lay off it."
"You know you want to." she said teasingly.
"Whatever gave you the idea that I'd wanna tell that?" Hyde asked
"Tell me what?" Jackie asked innocently.
"I love you!" Hyde shouted not realizing what he'd said until he saw Jackie's eyes light up.
"Oh my God, you said it!" she yelped as she jumped off her seat.
"What?" he asked confused, "No…I said…you tricked me!" he stood up from his chair and pointed his finger.
Jackie smiled like a Cheshire cat. "You love me." she said in a singy-song like way.
"I didn't say that."
"Yes you did." she said as she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, "I love you too."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," Jackie said with a nod of her head, before leaning in to kiss the man she loved.
Many seconds into the kiss, Hyde pulled away slowly but keeping Jackie in his arms. He stared at into her mismatched eyes and saw an extra sparkle in them, adding to her beauty. She really loved him and now that he thought about it, maybe it wouldn't be too bad.
"I love you, Jackie."
Though he had said it softly, he knew she heard. She'd heard him even before he'd said it. The couple shared another smile before Hyde laid Jackie onto the old couch before joining her, recreating their lip lock…
The memory of that day was not something he wanted to think about right now. Or ever. He quickly pushed the thoughts of what had happened on that sofa that day, out of his head and watched Red slowly stand up and gently pull his wife off Jackie.
"Come on now, Kitty." he said softly as Kitty finally let go.
The two women smiled at the other. Kitty walked behind the counter leaving Red standing in front of, as he playfully called her, 'The Loud One.'
Jackie smiled at the older man, "I think I'll miss you most of all, Scarecrow."
Red cleared his throat, "Yeah, well…" before he could say another word the two embraced in a close hug.
"You be careful out there kid." he told her and she nodded her head against his chest. "If you ever run into any trouble, we're only a phone call away."
Jackie nodded again as she pulled away slightly.
"But that doesn't mean you can call us at three in the morning." he continued as he waggled his finger at her, before letting his expression soften. "Unless it's really important."
"Thanks Mr. Forman, thanks for being the father I always wished my father could be." Jackie told him before tip toeing and placing a kiss on Red's cheek.
Hyde stared at Jackie and Red, as they said their goodbyes.
Suddenly Hyde found himself not in the Forman kitchen but in the backyard. However the backyard didn't look like it normally did. There were floral arrangements, Christmas lights along the fence, and a group of well dressed people watching him. A group of people sitting in two separate sections, with some sort of white material between the sections.
Hyde looked into the audience of people that sat right in front of him, and began to search for a familiar face. He found two.
One was the scruffy face of Leo as he looked at his surroundings. When he eyes landed on Hyde he smiled and excitedly waved at him.
Hyde awkwardly waved back, still wondering where the hell he was. He moved his eyes to the rows closer to where he was standing and found in the front row, his surrogate mother.
Kitty looked over at him and gave a smile before wiping her eyes with her handkerchief.
Then he realized where he was at. A wedding. A wedding that from the looks of it was his. Hyde turned away from Kitty and looked to his right wanting to see who his bride was. Hoping it was her.
Instead he saw Donna standing in a light purple dress. She gave him a smile before letting it quickly disappear.
Following Donna's eyes, Hyde looked behind him to find Fez and Kelso. Both of them dressed in the tuxedos while slapping each others hands rapidly. Next to them stood Eric, who lifted both his hands and gave Hyde two thumbs up.
Hyde opened his mouth to ask Eric what was going on but then the sounds of violins that had been playing, changed to a familiar tune. Here comes the bride.
Slowly Hyde turned his attention back to the front and saw everyone stand up as they all looked to the other end of the aisle. There stood Red Forman smiling a small yet still proud smile, while escorting the bride down the aisle. The bride looked beautiful, more beautiful than any bride Hyde had ever seen.
She was wearing a dress made for a princess, holding a bouquet of white roses and underneath the sheer white veil was the smiling face of Jackie Burkhart. Soon to be Hyde.
Finally she and Red reached where he was. Jackie kissed Red's cheek before Red took her hand from his arm and placed it in the hands of her groom.
Jackie smiled at Hyde and he couldn't help but smile himself. He was marrying Jackie, the woman he loved.
"Hi, Steven." she whispered.
"Steven." Jackie called again, only this time she wasn't wearing the white gown or even her smile. And they weren't in the Forman's backyard. They were back in the kitchen. Back to reality.
"What?" he asked confused.
"She was talking to you, dumbass." Red informed him.
Hyde turned away form Red and back to Jackie.
"Oh. Uh sorry I was…"
Jackie sighed, "No it's fine Steven." She said shaking her head slightly. "Bye Steven."
Hyde frowned as he watched her turn away from him and over to Mrs. Forman. That was it? He missed his goodbye?! All because he was off daydreaming about something that would stay forever as a daydream. Especially now.
"I didn't know where they were and I really have to go, so I just wrote them letters." Jackie explained as she handed Kitty a small stack of envelopes.
"We'll take care of them, kid." Red said for his wife.
"Thanks." Jackie said softly, "Well I guess I better go." she announced as her eyes drifted over to Hyde.
But just as quickly as they had landed on him, they moved away as she headed for the door; giving Hyde no time to react.
"Jackie, wait!"
Jackie turned around, back into the kitchen and saw Kitty walking towards her. A plastic container, that no doubitibly held food, in her hands.
"Airplane food is just terrible." she said as she handed the box to Jackie.
Jackie smiled slightly and accepted the food before turning to look at Formans once again. "Goodbye Mr. and Mrs. Forman." she then looked to the left of the couple and over to Steven.
She wanted to say it, to say something, but she couldn't. The words seemed to be stuck in her throat and she didn't have the strength to make them come out. She was tired of it all. So she just lifted her hand and gave him a small wave.
Hyde lifted his own hand to give her a wave; but before he could move it, she turned back towards the door and he let his hand drop.
He watched the Formans walk out to the driveway and saw them wave Jackie off. He couldn't bring himself to take those few steps to the sliding door, to wave to her, to say goodbye. He just sat there in his seat until the sound of Jackie's car had faded away completely.
Red and Kitty walked back into their kitchen, but it wasn't until Hyde heard the door close that he looked up.
"I'll be in the basement." he mumbled as he stood up and brushed passed his adoptive parents.
He didn't want to talk about his feeling, like Kitty would want him to do. And he wasn't in the mood to be called a dumbass, either. He just wanted to be alone. After all, he was going to have to get used to it.
******
Hyde sat in his chair in the basement, a somber look on his face, his arms crossed and his heart aching. This was all his fault.
He was the one who couldn't give her a straight answer. He'd been the one to throw her into Kelso's arms. He was the one who ran off to Vegas. He'd married a stripper; he stayed married to the stripper. He had changed things; he had changed everything.
'Change is good.' That was a laugh. More than anything Hyde wished that things hadn't changed.
He wished that Vegas never happened, that Kelso wasn't living in Chicago, that Eric wasn't in Africa. He wished Fez wasn't such a ladies man, (how the hell did that happen?!) that Kitty's hair still had its curls, that Donna was still a redhead. He wished they were all still spending every free second with each other here in the basement.
Most importantly, he wished Jackie was here. That she hadn't left for New York, she never left to Chicago, that she was in his arms tonight. And for the rest of their lives.
Hyde sighed as he rubbed his eyes from underneath his sunglasses, feeling the small amount of moister that had gathered there. Tonight was gonna be a long night. Something inside of him told him it would just be the start of it all.
"You know if you took off those damn glasses, it might be easier to do that."
Hyde moved his hand away from his eyes and turned towards the wooden stairs where he found Red Forman walking his way.
"Nah. I've never been the one to do things the easy way." Hyde stated.
Red nodded, "I've noticed." he said taking a seat in the old lawn chair across from Hyde, "So, how are you doing?"
"Ok." Hyde said with a shrug.
"Good enough for me." Red commented, "But I don't think Kitty'll believe we had some stupid talk about damn feelings, in this short amount of time. Turn on the set and if she asks if we had a nice talk, smile and nod. Got it?"
Hyde nodded as he stood from his seat to turn the knobs on the television.
"Goodbye's funny word, isn't it?" Red asked once Hyde was back in his seat and the program was on commercial.
"Yeah, a real barrel of laughs." Hyde answered sarcastically.
"It is though." Red continued, "Goodbye is such a final word. You use it when something's over. You say goodbye to someone who's died, or to a person you'll never see again. It's a word you use when something's come to the end. When you want something to be over and done with, you use goodbye."
Hyde frowned with confusion. He had no idea what Red was getting at. Hyde then started to think back to the last time he'd made special brownies…nope it had been awhile.
"Goodbye's not an easy word to say either." Red went on, "You have to really want or need to say it, to actually say it. Especially when it comes to a person. That person must have done something really bad, for you to want out of your life." He paused as he 'tried' to come up with an example, "Something like marrying a stripper."
"Nice guilt trip, Red." Hyde commented, "Mrs. Forman's taught you well."
Red smirked and watched his surrogate son before speaking.
"You know what else is funny?"
"Kicking little puppies?" Hyde asked sarcastically.
"No." he said with narrowed eyes, before lifting his index finger, "The fact that Jackie didn't say goodbye to you."
"What are you talking about Red?" Hyde questioned with a frown, "She said goodbye to me. She said goodbye to all of us."
Red shook his head, "No son, she said goodbye to Kitty and me. She never said that word to you."
"Red…"
"And I'm willing to bet a full day of not saying 'dumbass', that in each of those letters there is at least one goodbye written."
Hyde sat up straight in his seat, "All that means is…" suddenly Red's words from before made sense, "She's not ready for us to be over. She's not ready to say goodbye to me."
Red nodded, "Damn straight."
Hyde stood from his seat and took a few steps closer to Red.
"So, what you're saying is…"
Red stood from his own seat and roughly placed his hand on Hyde's shoulder.
"Go get her, son."
Hyde nodded before patting Red's shoulder, as a thank you, and then heading out of the basement as fast as he could. Red shook his head as he watched Hyde disappear behind the door that led outside.
"The dumbass better not screw it up." He mumbled before climbing up the wooden stairs.
When Red reached the kitchen he was greeted by the sight of his wife's backside as she stood by the sink watching Hyde run off to his El Camino. Though he couldn't see her face, he knew she was smiling. Twenty-five years of marriage did that to a person.
Red took the opportunity to quietly walk behind her and wrap his arms around her waist, before kissing the top of her head.
"He's going to go get her, isn't he?" she asked with a smile.
"Yup."
"So, you two had a nice talk?" she asked looking up at him.
Red smiled and nodded, just as he had instructed Hyde to do a few minutes ago.
"Good." Kitty stated, "Now you can take out the trash."
Red's face dropped and he moved himself away from his wife.
"Goodbye, Kitty." He called over his shoulder as he made his way towards the living room.
Kitty frowned, "Red, that's not funny." She called after him before following him behind the swinging door.
******
Hyde drove through the small town of Point Place. He was trying to figure out where would be the best place to look for Jackie. It was late at night, with a light drizzle, not too late but late enough for most of the restaurants and stores to be closed. Unlike New York, Point Place slept; all the time.
The first place Hyde had thought of looking was the airport, but then he remembered Red's words and realized that would probably be the last place to look. There were several other places that came to mind after that. The mall, The Hub, even the water tower; but each of those options had a reason as to why Jackie wouldn't be there.
It seemed every place Hyde thought of had a bad memory for Jackie there. However, there was one that wasn't so bad. At least not so bad that it would make Jackie forget the good memory that had happened there. Or so Hyde hoped.
Driving to his destination Hyde passed the section of the woods that weeks ago, they'd all been in. Looking for Kitty's wedding ring and then Fez. Damn, he had been a jerk that night. Sure he was drunk but he was still a jerk. A dumbass drunk jerk.
But now wasn't the time to think about that. Right now Hyde had something more important to take care of. Turning the steering wheel to the left, he moved his El Camino into a part of the woods he hadn't been to in years. Not since that Veterans Day long ago.
And that's where he found a blue Lincoln with a tiny brunette parked on top of the hood.
Hyde assumed Jackie was deep in her thoughts, she never looked his way as he parked his car behind hers. It wasn't until he was a few steps away from her that she looked up from her hands.
"Steven?" she asked slightly surprised.
"Thought you were supposed to be in New York."
Jackie shrugged, "I didn't wanna fly if there was a chance of rain."
Hyde nodded as he took a seat beside her on the hood. Not close to her, but close enough. Jackie shivered at their closeness and Hyde noticed. However, he didn't know the exact reason for the shudder.
"Um, here." Hyde said taking off his jacket and handing it to her. "You don't wanna get sick if Mrs. Forman's not there with a hot bowl of chicken soup."
Jackie smiled slightly as she nodded and slipped her petite arms into the large sleeves. "Yeah, but knowing Mrs. Forman she'd probably fly over there anways."
Hyde laughed some, "Yeah." He paused for a few seconds and then became serious, "So you stayed cause of the rain?"
"Well that and because I still had a few more goodbye to say."
"Like mine?"
Jackie frowned and shook her head, "What are you talking about Steven? I said goodbye to you."
"No you didn't."
"Yes, I did Steven." Jackie said firmly, "It wasn't my fault you were off who knows where when I said it."
Hyde frowned, why was she being so stubborn? "Jackie, I think I'd remember the girl I love saying goodbye to me."
"I…what did you call me?" Jackie asked as her hostility disappeared and her softer side came out.
"Jackie?" Hyde asked confused.
Jackie shook her head, "No. No, you said the girl you love. Steven, do you love me?"
Hyde was silent for a few seconds. Jackie was quiet as she waited for the answer. The only noise was the thunder that had begun to roll as the rainfall became a bit harder. This wasn't going exactly how he planned…
Hyde opened his mouth to say something but before the words made it out, Jackie jumped in.
She lifted her index finger and looked him straight in the eyes, "And if your next words are 'I don't know.' I will kick you off of this hood, get into the car and run you over with it."
Hyde looked away from Jackie's mismatched eyes and down at the ground, he took of his glasses that now had rain drops on them.
"You sound like Red."
"You didn't answer my question."
"Jackie," Hyde sighed, "I don't know what to say."
"Try saying what you feel." Jackie instructed with crossed arms.
Hyde slipped off of the top of the vehicle and began to pace, "Alright Jackie you wanna know how I feel?" he asked and she nodded and he began to pace again as the light shower now started to pour down.
"I love you, alright. I've loved you for a long time. I never stopped." Hyde told her truthfully, "And I've missed us. I missed how we used to be. Before Chicago, before Vegas. You know I hate both those places now. Don't make me hate New York too."
Jackie just sat there, watching Hyde. She didn't care that her clothes was getting wet or that her hair would probably soon frizz out. He was finally saying those words she had wanted to hear for so long.
"I don't want to say goodbye to you, Jackie." Hyde shook his head, "I can't say it."
Slowly Jackie slid off the hood and walked over to Hyde.
"So then don't say it." She said as if it were that simple, "Say something else instead."
"Like…"
Before he could get another word in Jackie's lips came crashing into his. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he wrapped his around her waist. They stood there in the same place where they had had their first kiss. When they had claimed that they both felt nothing.
This time they felt something. And it wasn't just the rain pouring down on them. It was the tension, the hidden feelings, the love they'd kept to themselves for the past few months. Never again would they have to do that again.
Gradually Jackie pulled away and smiled tenderly at Hyde.
"Hi." She whispered.
Hyde smirked, "Hi." He said just as softly before capturing her lips with his.
It was time to make up for lost time. It was time to do what should have been done during that first visit here…or at least a few weeks after.
This was a new beginning. And to get there they had to say, to their past, goodbye.
The End
Author's Note: So what's you think? Yay or Nay? Please lemme know what you think! Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review, take care and have a nice day!