A/N: so this is my first attempt at t7s fan fic. so bare with me.
Prologue
He sprung up from his cot, trying to block the images from his mind. He had the dream again. Every night he woke up in a cold sweat, praying that he could go back in time. It was too late to fix things, and now she was gone. Sam was gone, too. He couldn't bring himself to even look at her after what happened. After what he did to her. Was it only 3 days ago she was here?
He would do anything to bring her back, to show her he loved her. To see her smile again. To touch her and hold her.
He restlessly rolled back, hoping to find peace in his sleep, but the images of that night could not be blocked. They played over and over in his mind, torturing him.
"Hear that Hyde? We screwed her up so bad she's switching to chics! How awesome are we!"
Kelso and Hyde high fived as Hyde asked, "How many guys can say that?"
Jackie's eyes slowly filled up with tears as she quickly walked up the stairs. In the kitchen, she met up with Red, who was getting a beer out of the refridgerator. She didn't know that Hyde had followed her, wanting to fix things, to at least salvage some sort offriendship. When Red turned to her, Hyde hung back in the hallway, waiting for a chance to be alone with her.
"Oh, crap. What's wrong wih you? Do you want me to get Kitty?" His defeated tone quickly turned into a look of concern, sensing the despearation coming out of the little girl in waves.
She ran to Red, clinging to him. Her voice muffled by Red's shoulder and her own tears, butHyde still heard every word. "Oh, Mr. Forman, he never loved me at all, did he? I gave him everything, everything I had, and he never loved me, not even a little bit. When he said he didn't want to get married, he just meant he didn't want to marry me. What's wrong with me? Why doesn't he love me?"
"Is this about the stripper?" Red asked, pulling Jackie back so he could look at her face. "Steven's a dumbass. If he didn't love you, he didn't deserve you. I mean, sure, you're bossy and loud and annoying, but anyone could see that you adored him. One day, he'll see it, and he'll regret what he did. He'll hate himself."
"I, I don't want him to hate himself. Ijust want him to love me," Jackie said, in the smallest, most unsure voice Hyde had ever heard, and his heart broke.
Red rubbed her back, trying to sooth her. "Why don't you take a break from here? Whenever I'm upset, I go fishing, just to get away for a while. Why don't you spend the night in a hotel or something?"
Red, feeling very uncomfortable, turned her to the sliding doors and walked into the living room. That's when Hyde decidedreveal himself, saying, "Jackie, can we talk?"
"I don't think that's a good idea."
At her refusal, Hyde's temper flared. "Well, I guess it would just be a waste of time anyways. I need to call my wife."
"What, is she busy getting naked for other guys?" she bit back. "I'm sure she's dying to hear from her husband."
"Atleast she can get a husband."
Jackie's breath caught as a sob erupted in her throat. "You were supposed to be different. You were supposed to love me."
She ran through the sliding doors and started to cross the street, not paying attention to her destination or her surroundings. She just had to get away.Hyde came out just in time to see the car speeding down the corner. "Jackie!"
And then his world fell apart.
After spending the night in jail for beating up the drunk driver, he went to the hospital only to find that his Jacks, who was once so perky and alive, was brain dead. She would never open her eyes again. He sent Sam away, telling her that he would send her divorce papers as soon as possible. He sat with her, holding her hand as the Formans searched for her family. Her mother called, telling the doctor to pull the plug.
For the first time in his life, Steven Hyde sobbed openly. His Jacks, his beautiful, beautiful girl died without the love of family and with a broken heart, never knowing how much he truly loved her. He would give anything to have her back. Anything for her to just know.