A/N: Okay, so all fans of the J/H ship know that Season 8 was a joke, a very nasty joke on all of us. So, what to do about it? I'm pretty sure that for every episode of this sucky season, there is a way to get a happy J/H ending out of it. My plan - to prove my point, by turning each and every episode of Season 8 into a one-shot J/H story, and here's episode one...

Disclaimer: All recognisable characters from 'That 70's Show' do not belong to me in any way at all.

Ep1 : Bohemian Rhapsody

"So anyway, Forman" Steven Hyde said into the microphone Kitty held, "Ramble on, keep on keeping on, and most of all, my friend, rock on" he told his friend, sticking to his usual vague words that wouldn't mean much to anyone else.

Somehow he knew that Eric would understand his true meaning. He was missing him already, he loved him like a brother, and he wanted him to keep himself safe. All that sort of thing went unspoken between guys, and yet they knew they meant it. Sometimes Hyde wished it was so simple to communicate with women, this he was thinking as Mrs Forman rambled something about being cool or whatever, before excusing herself as Jackie walked in.

Here was the girl in question, Hyde realised, the one woman he was sure he would never truly understand, and who he would never be able to properly explain himself to. She thought he either didn't want to share his thoughts and feelings, or just didn't care. The truth of it was he just didn't know how to explain, how to talk about things. In his family, amongst his friends, it was all awkward silences or fighting. He understood cheating and lashing out and all those bad things. Love and commitment were scary and unreal to him, non-existant in his life up to now.

"Steven, I am so sorry about what happened in Chicago" Jackie told him as she took a seat behind him on the couch, and Mrs Forman did a less than stellar job of hiding in the den, "I was alone and I thought I lost you..." the brunette shook her head sadly, feeling wretched about almost sleeping with Michael.

Still, what she said was true, she had felt as if she'd lost Steven forever. She was lonely and vulnerable, Michael was being so sweet, and the idea of sleeping with him that night in Chicago wasn't completely awful. If she'd thought there was even a chance for her and Hyde she wouldn't even have gone away that night, but her boyfriend had given her not even the slightest inkling of an idea that he wanted to be with her anymore.

"Yeah" Steven nodded, "Well, I can see why you thought that" he admitted, knowing he ought to have been more forthcoming when she gave him that ultimatum, but also knowing why he hadn't been.

It angered him that she would force him into a decision that she ought to have know would be difficult for him. At the same time, he was overwhelmed by the feelings he had for her, and had no time to figure out what to do with them before she was gone. Before Jackie, he'd had one night stands and casual girlfriends. She was the first serious relationship of his life, the first one he could honestly say he loved and mean it. That was one thing that hadn't changed, even when he'd caught her with Kelso. That, he presumed, was why it hurt so damn much.

"Look, why didn't you tell me sooner you wanted to get married?" Jackie asked him curiously, apparently completely baffled by his behaviour.

"Because I wasn't sure I wanted to" he told her honestly, knowing a large part of his reason for not being ready was pure fear that he would never admit to, "Now that I've thought about it, Jackie, I'm right" he explained, "I'm not ready to be married yet" he said, caught half-way between anticipating and hating the response he knew would come as she picked up on the one part of his sentence that would be her focus.

"Yet?" Jackie grinned, realising what Steven had implied, but trying to play down her joy when he glared a little, "Oh, okay" she said, trying to force her smile down a couple of notches.

It was a step forward, however small. Before, Steven had been so anti-marriage it was untrue, now at least he was talking like one day would be their time, just not yet.

"Well there you have it, Eric" Kitty muttered into the microphone from her spot badly hidden in the den, "Steven's not ready to get married yet" she explained, though neither of the young people on the couch were paying any attention to her at all.

"Look, Jackie" Hyde began, hoping he could put this into words without either upsetting her or making himself look like a complete ass, "I never saw myself as the marrying kind, but then, I guess I never expected to end up with a girl like you either" he told her, and her expression showed she wasn't sure how to take that, "C'mon, man, you know what I'm saying. We're not exactly alike, and we fight so much"

"Steven, all couples fight" Jackie told him, sounding worldly-wise beyond her years as she went on, "And we'll fight again, and we'll make mistakes, and it won't always be perfect, but I don't care" she promised him, getting a hold of his hand with her own, "So long as I have you, so long as we have each other and love each other, that's all that matters"

It sounded good, even Hyde had to admit that to himself. A perfectly happy life spent with this woman who alternated between making him feel more complete than he ever had, and frustrated him to the point of a mental breakdown! She'd started out as everything he hated, and yet over the years had become everything he wanted. She was right, of course, it wasn't always going to be a bed of roses, but somewhere down the line, they might just make it. They stood as much chance as anybody else, he guessed. Unfortunately, Steven was always haunted by memories of his own family life and hers too. Their parents hadn't been faithful, his birth-father left before he was born, Bud walked out when he was nine, and neither his mother or Jackie's own had been able to stick to one man for any length of time.

"Just promise me that when we get older, we won't turn out like our parents" he said, with a half-smile that Jackie returned, so glad they got this whole thing figured out.

She was prevented from actually answering him though, as the doorbell rang, and Kitty ran from her less-than-great hiding place to answer it.

"Hi I'm looking for...Hyde!" exclaimed the tall blonde woman beyond the door as she spotted him in the living room and ran to him.

"Who the hell is this?" Jackie asked, less than thrilled by the interruption and the sight on a skanky blonde that apparently knew her boyfriend a little too well.

"This is Sam" Hyde told her, feeling a little shocked at the sight of her, "She's a str... an exotic dancer" he amended, "I met her in Vegas" he explained as he stared at the woman he'd never expected to see again after he left that town, "I'm sorry, what are you doing here, man?" he asked the blonde then, as Jackie and Kitty both waited for that same answer, all practically holding their breath.

"Well, I was headed this way to visit some friends, and I thought you might need this" Sam grinned like the air-head Jackie suspected she was as she handed over Hyde's wallet, "You left it at the hotel, silly" she told him.

"Hey, thanks" Hyde said gratefully, a little stunned that some stripper he'd met would bother to be so honest.

"Well, isn't that nice" Kitty smiled, letting out a burst of her trademark laughter, before hurrying off, microphone in hand, telling Eric how there was a stripper standing in her living room!

"It was no problem" Sam shrugged, her eyes moving to Jackie and an extra wide grin threatening to split her face in two, "Oh my God, you look just like your picture!" she enthused.

"What picture?" the brunette frowned, eyes dodging from Sam to Steven and back.

"The one in Hyde's wallet" the blonde said to rhyme with 'duh', "He must've shown me that photograph like a hundred times, pretty much every time he mentioned you, and that was a lot" she said with a wild gesture of her arm, "I think its beautiful how much in love you two are, I'm just so glad Hyde finally came home and worked things out with you"

Jackie was uncharacteristically speechless as she stared at her boyfriend. She barely heard a word as Sam apologised for running off so fast, but needing to get moving if she wanted to catch the connecting bus.

Left alone again, the young couple stood and faced each other, both a little stunned by the odd turn of events.

"You talked about me" Jackie smiled dopily, "A lot"

"What can I say, doll?" Hyde shrugged a shoulder, as he stepped forward and put an arm around her, "I love you" he told her softly and seriously, words seldom spoken and yet obviously meant even when unsaid.

"And I love you, Steven" she responded in kind, happy to go into his arms, "Always" she swore as they shared a kiss, unaware that Mrs Forman was still watching, still listening, and still recording everything!

- The End -