Jackie stormed into the basement, her face determined. She had gone through the emotional stage of trying to win Steven back and now she was doing what she did best, she was showing him how better off she was without him. "Donna! Guess how many guys asked me out today? Two! Two guys asked me out. And they were rich and attractive. I couldn't choose between them so I said yes to both. Isn't being single great!" Each word was emphasized with excitement, of course it was all a lie but nobody had to know that.
"That's brilliant, Jackie." Donna replied with a bored sigh. She didn't want to get in the middle of this. She was a little pissed at both of them for hurting each other, so she was confused about who she should yell at.
Jackie immediately turned to Hyde with her eyebrows raised, waiting for his reaction.
"Am I supposed to care about this?" Hyde asked when he noticed her staring.
"What? Pfft, no." Jackie laughed as if the idea was insane. But really she was hurt. He didn't even flinch. What if he really didn't care anymore? "Whatever, I gotta go."
"Go where?" Michael Kelso asked as he walked through the door.
It all happened so quickly that no one really had a chance to register it. Hyde had lept out of his chair and punched Kelso round the face, aiming for the one place he got every time.
"Ow! My eye." Was the only thing that could be heard from Kelso on the floor, even Hyde seemed shocked at what he had just done.
"Oh my God! Steven!" Jackie gasped and ran over to Michael's side. She checked him over to make sure he was okay. Once she realized he was fine, she stood up to face Steven again.
But when she stood up, Hyde had gone and the basement door was still open from where he had left.
Jackie didn't hesitate in running after him. This meant something. If Michael's return had sparked a flame in Steven then that meant that he did still care. Which meant that maybe, he and Jackie still had a shot. Jackie knew deep down that Steven was her great love. You only ever got one of those. The love that heightens everything you feel. When you laugh with them, you laugh louder. When you cry for them, you cry harder. When your heart beats for them, it beats faster. Steven Hyde brought that out for her. He was her great love.
"Steven. Hey, slow down. My legs are too tiny to walk that fast!" Jackie complained.
"Hey, Jackie. Did you ever think the reason I'm walking so fast is to get away from you?" Hyde quizzed but slowed down all the same.
"That crossed my mind, but then I remembered that I didn't care." She shrugged. "What was that back there?" She asked when she finally caught up with him.
"Kelso had it coming, man." Hyde defended himself.
"I'm not say he didn't. But if you don't care anymore, then why did you feel the need to attack Michael?" She looked at him, trying to read his expression but it was really hard with those damn sunglasses on.
"Out of principal. He shouldn't have tried to sleep with my chick." Hyde grumbled.
"Steven, I wasn't your chick. We'd broken up." Jackie softly reminded him.
"Jackie." Hyde groaned. "What do you want me to say? You want me to tell you that it's all gonna be okay and we're gonna get back together? Because I can't tell you that. I don't know if we're gonna be a thing again. When I punched Kelso, all you did was run to him! It's Kelso! You knew he'd be fine, he's been punched plenty of times. But you'll always run to him."
Steven's words stung her more than they should. But her heart was unstable. She already felt as if she was being ripped into a million pieces. "Steven, please? I'm sorry."
Hyde had to look away from Jackie, he hated seeing her cry but he couldn't do this. Not now. "I'll see you around, Jackie." He mumbled and walked away from her.
Jackie watched Steven leave, silently begging for him to turn back. But he didn't. He walked away from her. But Jackie didn't cry. She had shed enough tears over him. She wanted to be strong. That stray piece of wetness on her cheek wasn't a tear. It was a single drop of rain.
Hyde was sitting in Grooves, his head reeling from what had just happened. Had he officially broken it off with Jackie for good? Why did he even care that he did? She had been a pain in his ass since he first met her and now he was shot of her. That was a good thing. He was single, free and he could go out and do whatever he wanted without getting kicked for it. Yep. Life was pretty sweet without Jackie.
Of course, Jackie took no part whatsoever in him listening to 'She's Always a Woman to Me.' Nope, he was just listening to Billy Joel so he could decide on what not to put in his store.
"Hey, I was wondering if you could help me?" A woman's voice asked, making Hyde snap out of his thoughts and look up.
"Sure, what is it?" Hyde tried to put on his best customer voice, which really wasn't much above his normal voice.
"I just wondered if I could get you to take me out?" The girl flirtatiously smiled at him.
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Hyde took it upon himself at this point to have a good look at her. She was blonde and scruffy. She was beautiful and almost the same height as him. Her biker jacket and Zepplin shirt told him all he needed to know. She was the opposite of Jackie and the exact thing he needed.
"Of course, do I get a name?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm Vic." The blonde smiled.
"Hyde." He returned. "Hey, how about I close up and we go and grab a beer?"
"That sounds great." Vic flipped her messy hair over her shoulder and walked over to look at some records while she waited for him.
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"Ugh! Isn't there anybody helpful around?" Jackie demanded to know as she saw only Eric sitting in the basement.
"You know Jackie, if you don't like me being here THEN LEAVE!" Eric ordered.
Jackie just rolled her eyes at him and plopped down on the sofa. She pulled her legs into her chest and rested her head on them.
"What? You're not gonna argue back?" Eric frowned, stunned that she hadn't insulted him at least a couple of times by now.
"I'm not in the mood, Eric." She muttered.
"This is weird. I don't like this. You and Hyde need to get back together before you attempt to become best friends with me. Insult me, dammit. Otherwise I'm gonna feel bad for insulting you." Eric rambled. "Actually, no I'm not. You're the devil."
"Whatever." Jackie shrugged.
"Jackie! There's a call for you in the kitchen." Kitty called, running down the stairs.
"What? Why are they calling your phone?" Jackie quizzed.
"Well, I guess they tried your house and saw that you weren't home so they called the only other place you hang out." Kitty laughed her loud laugh.
"Okay, thanks Mrs Forman." Jackie ran upstairs to answer the phone.
"Mom, what's going on?" Eric asked.
"Well, you know how Jackie's dad's in prison?" Kitty started.
"Yeah, the whole town knows that." Eric shrugged.
"Well, it's more serious than we first thought and they're moving him to Alaska." Mrs Forman explained.
"That's terrible! Jackie hates Alaska. She thinks it's full of Eskimos." Eric voiced.
"Oh dear. Someone needs to teach that girl geography." Kitty sighed.
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"Well that was fun." Hyde said as he and Vic walked into her parents place. They had intended to go to Fatso Burger, but they didn't make it past drinking beer in the El Camino before Vic offered to go back to her place.
"Yeah, it was. But my parents aren't home so we could make this even more fun." She mused. Hyde smirked at her in return and put his arms around her waist, pulling her into a kiss.
As it got hotter, Vic moved to take his top off and Hyde suddenly pulled back. "I can't do this." He stated.
"What do you mean? Did I do something wrong?" Vic quizzed.
"I wish, man. I'm not over Jackie. Dammit!" Hyde growled and punched the wall. "I'm sorry. I gotta go."
Vic just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Call me if you're ever over her."
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Jackie sat on the Vista Cruiser, just looking out at the night sky. Her dad was leaving. Of course, ever since he'd been sent to jail he'd been an awful dad. He couldn't buy her things anymore. But she still looked forwards to her weekly visit to him, she'd tell him about her week and he'd reassure her that he wasn't anybody's bitch. It was good. But Alaska? That was so far away. She'd have to get on a plane and everything. A few years ago Jackie had everything she wanted. That summer Michael and Donna was in California. She was happy. She had Steven, though she was unsure of what they were at that point, her dad was still there to buy her pretty things and her mum wasn't getting laid at every singles party around. God knows where she was now. Jackie hadn't heard from her in a couple of months. But at least she had the house. She wondered if Steven would care that she was alone again? It didn't matter so much now that she was a bit older, but it still sucked.
Jackie started crying again and she was so fed up of doing so. All she seemed to do anymore was cry. She wanted to feel better. The second that she started feeling strong again, something would come along and mess her up again.
Jackie didn't aim to go anywhere when she got up, she just knew that she needed to feel better. She walked into the basement and carefully closed the door. Before she could stop herself, she was sneaking into Steven's room.
To her surprise Steven was still awake and seemed deep in thought. He hadn't heard her come in. "Steven?" Jackie whispered, though her voice sounded so loud in the darkness.
"Jackie? What are you doing here?!" Hyde asked.
"I just…" Jacke choked on her words as a sobbed wracked through her body. "My dad's being sent away from me. And I-I wouldn't ask but I just- I really need to be with someone. And I s-swear it won't mean anything. But I want to be with you, Steven." Jackie stuttered. When she saw his hesitant look, she continued. "Just for tonight, please?"
Hyde sighed but moved over in his bed to make a space for Jackie. "Fine, but if Red catches you I'm saying I had no idea you were here. And you better not cry on me." He grumbled.
Jackie gave him a soft smile and wiped her tears. She took of her shoes and hid herself behind the door to get changed into Hyde's band top and some sweats. Once she was done, she crawled next to him and pressed herself against him. Though, if asked she'd blame it on how small the cot was.
Hyde wrapped his arm around Jackie's waist to keep her close. But that was just so that neither of them would fall off, of course.
And the fact that the both of them slept more peacefully than they had in weeks. Well, that was just pure coincidence.