Again I own nothing. Song by Big Star. Enjoy, ;)

Downs

The sun streamed in Jackie's bedroom window hitting her squarely in the eyes. She sat up and stretched. Today was a new day. The first day of the rest of her life.

She got up and quickly showered. She needed to move out of Fez's apartment. After getting dressed, and making sure her hair was perfect, she went down to the kitchen and called the first moving company in the phone book.

"Yes, as soon as possible…Today would be great, thank you."

She hung up the phone and grabbed her purse. Today was going to be a busy day.

She drove her father's car to the Piggly Wiggly. She really needed her own car, she thought again. She really needed something.

She walked to the nearest cash register,

"Excuse me, I need some boxes." The girl at the register headed off to the stock room. Jackie leaned against the wall and waited.

"Hey, what do you need the boxes for?" It was Steven again.

"Are you following me?" She looked at him sassily. He had to admit he liked it.

"No, of course not. Mrs. Foreman asked me to come get some bacon. I was up early…" he let his voice trail off. He wasn't really up early; he had never been able to fall asleep at all. He had tossed and turned on his cot all night, thinking about her. "So, uh, what are the boxes for?"

"I'm moving back into my parent's house." She said it nonchalantly. He looked at her in shock.

"Jackie, you can't move back into that big empty house. If it's too awkward to live with Fez, I could ask the Forman's if you could move into Laurie's old room."

"No, no Steven. I'm fine. Jackie Burkhart does not need help."

"Jackie, damnit. What the hell has gotten into you?"

But she was saved from a response by the cashier bringing her the boxes she had asked for. She thanked the girl, and hurried out the door, leaving Hyde to stare at her retreating back.

Isolated as far as you go

I'm well versed in the walls of worst

Hyde hurried into Donna's room. She had delayed her departure for school, because of Eric's return, now it was time to leave, and Eric waited in the Foreman driveway to drive her to the bus stop. She sat on her bed, taking a last look at her bedroom. Now that the house had sold, and her dad was moving to Florida, it would be the last time that she sat here on her bed. The room held so many memories. Jackie living with her, Eric spending the night, Fez hiding in the closet.

She looked up as Hyde entered. He looked very un-Zen.

"Donna, something's wrong with Jackie." She looked at him somewhat surprised. Lately Hyde hadn't seemed to care very much about Jackie; in fact the two had been at each other's throats for the better part of the last year.

"Hyde, nothing's wrong with Jackie, she's fine. Things just didn't work out with her and Fez, it's not a big deal, they're still friends." She wasn't sure what this was all about but she really had to get going if she was going to make her bus. Jackie had only just called her to inform her of the abrupt end to her 'relationship' with Fez.

"No, Donna, you don't understand. She's moving out of the apartment. She's moving back to her parent's house. And well…she said that…she said…she said that every one disappoints her. You should have seen her…she's different, somehow." Donna of course already knew all this, as Jackie had extended an offer of her house as a place for Donna to stay on the weekends. Now that her father was moving to Florida, Donna would need someplace to go to in the summer and on her weekend trips home. Jackie's house was the perfect solution.

"Well, no offense, Hyde, but it hasn't really been an over night change. Jackie's been re-evaluating lately. When things didn't work out at the TV station, she really started to think about what she wanted. I'm sure this whole moving out thing isn't a big deal." Truthfully, Donna was slightly concerned. It wasn't like Jackie to just move back to her parents. Every one knew that it was lonely at her parent's, and that Jackie didn't like to be alone. She would feel better when the semester was over and she could move in with her petite friend. But Hyde had given up the right to care for Jackie a long time ago, and she wasn't going to share her concerns with him.

"Donna, I just wish you would talk to her before you go." He paused, trying to regain his cool, and then continued, "I mean, I don't really care, but I just think, you know, that she would appreciate it."

"Hyde, maybe you should talk to her. You were always able to understand her family situation a lot better than me, and maybe, I don't know, it would be good for you guys to talk. Any ways, I really have to go, I'm heading to the bus station. I really need to go right now if I'm going to be able to start classes on time." Hyde just nodded, defeated.

"Well, umm, good luck at school, and I guess we'll see you on the weekends and stuff?" Donna just nodded, and Hyde headed out the door, barely hiding his frustration.

Coast to Coast

High cool 'cept when I lie with you

Naked on a southern love

Hyde sat in the basement, having his very own little circle. He thought about Jackie, about their lost love. He didn't often let himself dwell on what had happened. They had both made mistakes. If he was honest with himself, he had made the worst one of all, namely Sam. But it wasn't like he and Jackie would have stayed together any way. She would have realized that he wasn't good enough. She would have left him, just like his parents.

Maybe, though, just maybe she would have been the one to never leave. Because she knew what the being left felt like. If any one he knew, aside from himself, what it felt like to be left behind, it was Jackie. Truth be told, she probably knew a little more about it than he did. At least he had had some semblance of family life with the Foreman's. Kitty was more of a mother figure to him than Jackie had ever had. At least when the going got rough he had been able to turn to them. Jackie hadn't even had that.

Wise and prosperous

That I am

Flustered and erratic

Jackie walked down the long halls of the prison, following the prison guard, Kelso close behind her.

"Thanks for coming with me, Michael. I don't like to come here by myself."

Kelso just nodded, looking around uncomfortably. "No problem, Jackie." He was nervous and fidgeting, but she tried to act like she didn't notice his uneasiness.

She kept walking; her head held high, her heels clicking on the stone floor under her feet. The jailer led them to the room where she would meet with her father.

"Michael, you can wait out here." She kissed him on the cheek, "I'll be right back."

She entered the room, like she owned the place. She sat in the chair, and her father was somewhat taken aback by the woman his little girl had become. There was something new in her eyes; she was not the girl she had been when he had gone to prison two years before. After greeting him warmly, she told him what she was there for.

"Daddy, I need some money. I was wondering if I could have access to my trust-fund." No sense in playing nice. Her father had always appreciated a straightforward attitude.

"Well sweetie, I'm just not sure if that will be possible. The papers I drew up state that you can't touch that money until you're married. I thought you would have met a nice rich man by now, who could give you all the things you need."

She sighed testily, then squared her shoulders and held her head high.

"Then you're going to have to give me something else. I've moved back into the house, I'm going to take care of it until next fall. Then I'm going to go to college. So I need the money. I need the money for school, and I want to buy a car, to get to college."

Her father put his head in his hands, thinking about how to handle this new Jackie, who didn't pout, and who obviously wasn't going to back down from this. He could lie, tell her the money wasn't there, but she would know better.

He looked up, defeat on his face. "Call my lawyer, Jackie. Tell him how much you need, and he'll get the paper work together. Are you sure this is what you want?"

She smiled, and nodded her head.

Give downs

Rub downs

Lie downs

Any downs at all

Jackie sat on her bed, a joint in one hand, and an ashtray in front of her. She had bought it from some guy behind The Hub. She didn't even need any one to provide her 'film' for her any more. It felt so good to be in control. To take control. She had the one thing that allowed a girl to feel fully liberated; her daddy's money. After her call to the lawyer tomorrow, she wouldn't need anyone any more. And she would go to college, so that after her dad's money was gone, she would be in a position to make her own money.

"Jackie Why don't you earn your own money and buy those things yourself?"

She would show them all that she could do just that. She would show him.

But on nights like these, when she was alone, and the smell of smoke filled the room, it was all she could to do not to cry. She was wearing the Zeppelin shirt he had given her for her 17th birthday. It made her feel close to him, the smell in the room and the feel of his shirt. It helped to remember what it had been like to be loved, even if that love only existed now in her sensory memory.

Take downs

Things sinkin' with a melody

Somone's gonna ask if you graduated

But as for you

Throw down

He sighed heavily, enjoying the feeling of the cigarette between his fingers. He stared up at her room, and her silhouette on the bed. From his vantage point it looked like she was smoking up, but he didn't think that could be possible. He could tell she was holding her knees, in a position he knew so well. It occurred to him that there was something wrong with a girl so beautiful having to hold herself, and it looked like she was trying to keep herself from falling apart.

That used to be his job.

He threw the cigarette down, and walked away. It was enough that she was safe at home. At least it was enough for now.