A/N : I haven't been in a That 70s Show fic writing place for quite a while, but I got the email to say my Season 8 DVDs have been dispatched from the USA, which led to me rewatching certain eps of Season 7, which led to this little idea! What can I say? Any excuse for some J/H happiness... Disclaimer: All recognisable characters from 'That 70's Show' do not belong to me in any way at all. Say Anything (An alternate end scene to the ep 7.12 'Don't Lie To Me')
"Please, Steven! Please just say anything besides 'I don't know'! Anything else!" Jackie begged her boyfriend, knowing he was unlikely to say anything she could use, anything she really needed to hear.
She should've learnt by now that it was almost impossible to make Steven Hyde say or do anything he didn't want to, but she couldn't help wishing that at some point things would change. She hoped that one day he'd realise he wanted the same things she did, that they could live happily ever after. It was a hell of a long shot, but she just couldn't give up on the dream. She loved him so much, but his constant indecision and aloofness about everything was killing her. She needed some kind of commitment, however small. She needed to know he did love her and that one day he'd want her for a wife.
Hyde stared down into Jackie's wide eyes, less innocent than they once were and yet the little princess that wanted a fairytale story book ending with Prince Charming was still in there. Hyde only hoped his fear of this situation wasn't so clear in his own eyes or was at least somewhat masked by the tinted glasses he wore.
The very word commitment made him feel nauseous, as images of shackles and the like flashed through his mind. Every young man had a fear of being tied down, of being stuck to one woman, one place, one life for the rest of time, but this was different. With Hyde it wasn't a fear so much of those things as it was a fear of himself.
His own father had split when he was a kid, and though he was back now and a great guy, it didn't change the fact he'd left Edna pregnant and alone once upon a time. Then there was Bud, Hyde's supposed father, who had left not once but twice, abandoning the child he believed to be his own. Hyde didn't know what the future held, nobody could predict it, and his biggest fear was turning out like either of his fathers, his mother, or too many uncles to count.
To tell Jackie all that was impossible. He didn't have the emotional capacity or the words to explain, and he wouldn't try. Still, she needed something, any words that weren't 'I don't know'. Unfortunately, Hyde only had three to say, and he just hoped they were enough for now.
"I love you" he told her, the words seeming less alien in his mouth than they once had.
It was the only promise he could make and the only phrase he had to share. He loved her, that part he knew for sure, and whether that was enough or not, it was all he had right now.
Jackie was a little astounded by the declaration, that much was obvious. She could count on one hand the number of times Steven had said those words to her, and he only ever did when it mattered. Somehow it didn't make her doubt his love for her, rather she felt it more deeply when he did remind her like this. As mad as she wanted to be at him, as much as it still mattered in her heart that he wasn't proposing marriage, the pain lessened.
Maybe one day she would be a bride, and on the other hand maybe she wouldn't. It hurt to think it might never happen for her, but it hurt more to realise what she had been about to do. To walk out on Steven now would be the stupidest thing she could ever do, after all he did love her and she loved him. They had time to wait for everything else.
There were so many things Jackie had tried to trick Steven into, and it never worked. That kind of thing had been easy with Michael, nagging him into buying gifts or doing what she wanted, with Steven it got her next to nowhere, but in his own sweet time he would turn around and do something even more special than she'd been expecting, she just had to wait it out. It frustrated the hell out of Jackie, but it was also one of the main reasons why she loved her boyfriend so much.
A mix of emotions passed through her and showed on her face, as tears welled in her eyes and she launched herself at Steven Hyde, wrapping her arms tight around him.
Hyde was pleasantly startled by the reaction. There was never any way to tell how Jackie would take his words, and as cool as it was to be able to read people as he often could, he kind of liked that his girlfriend could still surprise him. Maybe that was one of the reasons why he loved her, though Hyde suspected it was just one minor point in a whole long list of reasons that he'd never be able to explain.
Holding onto her just as tightly as she had a hold of him, Hyde enjoyed the closeness and peace he only ever really felt when he was with Jackie. She sighed a happy and contended sigh there in his arms and then whispered in his ear.
"Thank you" she said softly, "That was all I really needed to hear"
-The End-