The Boys of Summer

By: lovetaker101

Disclaimer: I don't own anything so don't sue.

This is sort of and alt universe fic about what would have happened if Jackie and Hyde hadn't gotten back together after their break up in season 7. Please please read and review. This is my first fic ever so be gentle!

He never thought it would last. There wasn't even a reason for them to break up. No one had cheated on anyone or anything. And it's not like he was being a jerk to her. Not at all. I mean, come on. Just because he wasn't jumping up and down at the prospect of marriage that didn't mean he didn't care about her. That he didn't love her. But of course, she had to go and blow things way out of proportion. So, they hadn't been happy in a while. Big deal. He was lucky to have a place to live. Happiness was a luxury he wasn't too worried about.

Nobody on the road

Nobody on the beach

And it's not like it really mattered if she loved him or not. Sure, it was nice but he could live without love. Hell, he had for the first seventeen years of his life. Yeah. Yeah, he should be happy about this. Now he didn't have to worry about her, didn't have to go to stupid parties with her, didn't have to risk getting hurt.

I feel it in the air

The summers out of reach

Hyde sat up in his chair. This was a good thing, he thought to himself again. And for a while, he believed it. But old memories were haunting him. He couldn't close his eyes without seeing her face. Sometimes he saw her happy, but those visions faded as more recent ones replaced them.

Empty lake,

He was seeing the way she looked at him when he told her she couldn't talk about marriage anymore. She had brushed it off, but he could see how hurt she was.

Empty streets

He was seeing her face when he told her to lower her expectations of him. Hyde still couldn't believe how much emotion showed in her eyes when he said that. Disappointment, sadness, anger, but most of all, frustration. For some crazy reason, Jackie thought Hyde was worth something. She thought he could be more than the angry guy in the basement, and she was pissed that he always disagreed.

The sun goes down alone

I'm drivin by your house

He was seeing her crying at the football game. Hyde had stared in shock. There was no way she was crying over him, was there?

Though I know you're not home

But I can see you-

He was seeing the way she had looked at him this morning, three weeks after their breakup, with sadness and pride and hope. Hope that he would change, that he would get up and fight for her. That he would finally tell her exactly how he felt about her, how much she made him feel.

And every time she left the basement, the hope faded from her eyes.

Your brown skin shinin in the sun

Seeing all of these things again and again, every night is what scared him the most. That not only did she make him feel, he had made her feel just as much, if not more. When he finally realized how much she had cared about him and loved him, he stopped pretending she didn't matter.

At least with himself.

With his friends, he was still Hyde. Uncaring, government-hating, master of zen Hyde.

You got your hair combed back and your

Sunglasses on, baby

When he couldn't sleep, he drove. He couldn't bare to not sleep another night just to relive how unhappy she was with him. He drove and thought about what he had lost. A few times, he drove past her street. If he had been brave enough to drive up to her house, he would have seen plenty of things that would immediately shock him out of his stupidity and fear. He would have seen Pam stumbling out of the house, already drunk, in an elegant outfit to a waiting car full of fake, rich people. He would have seen Jackie sitting on her lawn crying and alone, looking up at the stars. Every night he told himself to just do it, turn left at her street, you don't have to talk to her, just see if any lights are on. But he never had the nerve.

Hyde didn't know that she couldn't sleep either.

And I can tell you my love for you

Will still be strong after the boys of

Summer have gone

When he did sleep, he dreamt about their summer. Most of the dreams started out as actual memories and things they did to make their boring summer more interesting. But the memories always changed in his dreams. The details were fuzzy, but he always woke up after she ran out the door, tears streaming down her face, while he stood motionless and let her get away.

I never will forget those nights

I wonder if it was a dream

One night they were alone in the basement. Jackie was trying to have a polite conversation with him. After his third grunt, she gave up and stood to leave. When she got to the door, she spoke. "It doesn't have to be like this." She said it so quietly he almost didn't hear her. "Well, what do you want me to do?" It came out harsher than he intended, but the pain in her voice surprised him. Hyde was sure she had moved on. "I don't know," he heard her whisper, and didn't move until the door closed. Only then did he let out the breath he had been holding.

Remember how you made me crazy?

Remember how I made you scream?

Jackie graduated from high school. He didn't want to go. He couldn't bring himself to go back to the place that was the home of so many memories. Memories of his mom serving lunch (if you could call it that) and of detention and of Jackie. Before everyone found out about them, they had a lot of secret make-out spots on the campus. But the idea of seeing her happy was intoxicating. Before he had time to think, Hyde got into his car and drove to Point Place High School. He stood at the back and watched her accept her diploma, a real smile on her face that he hadn't seen in a long time. He left before anyone knew he was there.

Now I don't understand what's happened

To our love,

Another summer was starting. Hyde was suffering. He hated summer, always had. It was to damn hot to do anything but sit in Forman's basement and watch TV. Sure, there was no school, but school in this town was such a joke anyway, it hardly made a difference. Summer made him think of her. Summer was what made him love her. The first time they kissed on that disgusting couch, he knew it was more than a fling, the way the instant her lips touched his, a burning streak shot through his entire body and made the already stifling air around them almost unbearable. But he was addicted and kept coming back for more. Every day he told himself it would be the last time, but then she would come down the stairs and smile and he was lost in her again.

But babe, I'm gonna get you back

I'm gonna show you what I'm made of

Jackie started getting her acceptance letters from colleges. Every day she ran into the basement beaming with a ripped envelope in her small hands. Hyde didn't even know she had applied to so many places, but, then again, they hadn't had a real conversation for six months. He was surprised he had lasted so long without her. She was the only one who really knew him. No one else would ever be able to understand him like she did. He wondered if she still knew exactly what he was feeling the way she had before.

I can see you-

Your brown skin shinin in the sun

He tried to talk to her. Really, he did. But every day was torture. She was busy trying to choose one college among the many that had accepted her and she seemed so intent on getting out of the small town for good. She was so happy and excited to be leaving. He didn't want to be the one to hold her back. Every college she had applied to was at least two states away. Hyde tried not to think about the fact that in one month, he could see her for the last time.

I see you walkin real slow and you're smilin at everyone

Jackie was leaving for Columbia University in a week. Hyde tried to be happy for her. He went to a bar and told himself it was better this way. He didn't remember anything after that until Eric half carried him, half dragged him into the Vista Cruiser. They sat for a long time before Eric said "Why didn't you just tell her man?" Hyde looked out the window. Eric started the car when Hyde answered. "I didn't think she'd want me to." They drove back home in silence.

I can tell you my love for you will still be strong

After the boys of summer have gone

It had been one year, one month and eleven days since he had last kissed her. The basement was empty now. Eric went off to Africa, Kelso moved to Chicago, and Jackie was in New York, just like she'd always wanted. But even so, the remaining three were closer than ever. They spent all of their time either at the radio station with Donna or at Grooves with Hyde. None of them could bear to be alone. Kelso came down to visit every once in a while but they were brief stays. His new job and Betsy took up most of his time. Donna kept dropping hints to Hyde about Jackie but every time she mentioned her name he walked out of the room. He had stopped speaking to Donna for a few days when she played Built to Last on the radio, with a dedication telling him to grow up and go after her. Donna knew that was the song playing during their first time. Hyde was too stubborn to consider that Donna might be right.

Out on the road today I saw a deadhead sticker

On a Cadillac

A little voice inside my head said, don't

Look back. you can never look back.

She came down for Donna's birthday. Hyde stopped breathing for a moment when he saw her. She stared back at him in Donna's living room, even more beautiful than she had been when she left. The awkward silence was broken by a very drunk Kelso and Fez bursting through the door from the kitchen. When Jackie turned away from Hyde to greet them, he left.

I thought I knew what love was,

What did I know?

That day he drove Kelso to Chicago. Just because he would die if he tried to drive himself (When Fez proposed the idea of a pre-party before Donna's birthday, Kelso couldn't resist). Hyde told himself he was only doing this for his friend. It had nothing to do with Jackie showing up and making him feel in an instant more than he had felt for over a year.

Nothing at all.

Those days are gone forever

I should just let them go but-

Hyde stayed with Kelso for a few days. He went out to dinner with Kelso, Brooke, and Betsy the first night, but the happiness of the makeshift family suffocated him. When he was sure Jackie would be gone from Point Place, he returned. But even though she wasn't there, he still saw her every night.

I can see you-

Your brown skin shinin in the sun

You got that top pulled down and that radio on baby

Jackie was fed up. She had waited for Steven for over a year. She knew he wasn't good at talking about his feelings, but she figured he had cared enough about her at some point in their relationship to talk to her while she was visiting. He was acting as though she had meant nothing to him, and Jackie wasn't about to let that go. So she told Donna to tell Steven she had gone back to New York.

His room was the same. She looked around slowly as the memories came back to her. The candles were still on the nightstand next to the bed, which was covered with the goose-down duvet comforter. It was getting late. Without really meaning to, Jackie crawled into the cot and buried her face in his pillow, breathing him in until the basement door opened. Her head shot up and looked in the direction of the bedroom door. She stood facing it.

And I can tell you my love for you will still be strong

After the boys of summer have gone

Hyde didn't usually like surprises. But walking into his room to see Jackie glaring at him like she always did, the anger as apparent as always in her voice was the greatest surprise he had ever had.

"Steven. We need to talk."

I can see you-

Your brown skin shining in the sun

You got that hair slicked back and

Those wayfarers on, baby

I can tell you my love for you will still be strong

After the boys of summer have gone

To be continued…