April 20, 9:33pm, Mount Hump

The gang had all been practicing their talents for almost a week. But for right now Jackie sat on the hood of her car in thought. Memories of her and Hyde here only a few years ago flooded her mind.

"And you're wondering, how can I open up to her? When everyone I have ever loved abandoned me? Am I even worthy of love?…. Well you are Steven, you are"

Hyde starts sobbing,

"It's okay Steven, It's okay. Know what, let it out. Just let it all out."

"Okay" he says.

He blows a raspberry.

Quickly, Jackie is rolling her eyes and bad nicknames she can call him comes to her head. Until she finishes the memory…

"Lets go home." Jackie says jumping off the hood of the car.

"Oh, come on… I'm kidding. No this is alright. We can hang out here for a while. God. Here have some of my pop…"

"Sure." She says gazing up lovingly at him.

Jackie quickly scoots closer to him and puts his arm around her.

"Okay." He says shortly.

The frown that was once on her face has now turned into a genuine smile. She touches her lips and remembers the feeling of when Hyde kissed her for the first real time. She stopped herself from thinking any further. Remembering when she told him that she hadn't felt anything was one of the hardest things she had to do.

She knew that he hadn't wanted to go on the date. She thought if they had gotten into a relationship then she would fall so in love with him…. but that he wouldn't fall for her. And she knew she wouldn't be able to deal with the heartbreak.

Made sense.

But she couldn't help herself the second time he came around. She wonders sometimes what her life would be like if she hadn't met Hyde.

But then she thinks she would have been even more miserable.

Of course, next thing you know, a car pulls up.

Jackie squints her eyes to block the bright headlights. When it is turned off Hyde and a tall blonde come out of the car. They walk to the hood, but Hyde freezes when he sees Jackie.

"Hey." He says.

"I was just about to go." Jackie says jumping off the hood.

"Why, did you make plans with another guy and he ditched you."

She just looks to the ground. For once she didn't feel like coming up with a comeback.

"Yeah just like your stripper wife…"

Well it doesn't hurt…

"You were married?! UGH! I'm so out of here!" The blonde says.

Hyde didn't even turn to face her, and when she walks away he doesn't turn back. His eyes never leave Jackie's.

She is now crossing her arms with tears in her eyes… but she didn't know why.

"Guess you still like your skanks served blonde."

Yes she did…

"Yup. And you wonder why we never worked." He says smirking.

"No I figured that word problem out… you got married." She started walking away, but stopped when his words hit her.

"Your ass must be jealous of all the shit that comes out of your mouth."

She turns to face him, "Just remember Karma's a bitch."

"Since when did you change your name to Karma…" He says grinning.

"Call me a bitch all you want! The bitches are the most beautiful."

"Please, you are not all that." He says emphasizing on each word.

She gasped, surprised and hurt at the same time.

Then she smiled and says "Says the ass who turned Medusa to stone."

"Jackie if you are going to be a smartass, first you have to be smart."

"Well you definitely learned the dumb, in dumbass."

With each insult they came closer to each other. Each comeback hurt more and more for Jackie, even if they were minor.

"At least I'm not an insecure whore, that forces my girlfriend to marry me for a confidence booster!" He yells.

That wasn't minor…

There was a brief pause between the two and a tear fell from Jackie's right eye. She didn't move to wipe it away though, she just stood there. Watching him. Watching him tackle her with abuse.

"Is that what you think?" She said really wanting to know the answer.

"Just telling you what I know doll…" He said crossing his own arms.

She pursed her lips to hold a sob in. Another tear falls.

Hyde keeps his zen as best as he can. He knew this was killing her, but he couldn't stop with her. He never could.

"Steven.." She started.

He loved when she said his name… just not like that.

"You're right… we never worked. And we never will." She whispers.

Almost immediately she is out of sight.

But definitely not of of Hyde's mind.

Forman Basement, 1 hour later

Jackie had been crying all the way on the drive to the Forman's. She hadn't cried this hard since Sam showed up. Well, that's not true… nothing was worse than when Sam showed up.

When Jackie opened the door she hadn't expected the whole rest of the gang to be there watching late reruns of Gilligan's Island. All she really wanted to do was find Donna cause she wasn't at her house.

"Oh um hi." She said with a sniff trying to cover up her tears.

"Wow you don't look so good." Kelso said clearly not realizing she had been crying. "I knew I made the right choice running to California…" He whispered to Fez.

Fez rolled his eyes in response.

"Jackie are you okay?" Donna asked with genuine concern.

Jackie paused… usually she would run to people telling them about her problems, but now she hesitated. The person she always ran to wasn't here right now.

"I'm fine." She smiled.

She really did want to blab about it to Donna, but not in front of everyone else.

Donna caught on quickly and they all returned to watching the show together.

Soon enough, the last member of the gang walked through the basement door. He paused when he saw Jackie and then sat in his usual chair. Jackie had never raised her eyes from the television, knowing it was him.

Since he sat down he kept looking at her. Puffy eyes, red nose… she had been crying. Although, to him she still looked amazing. It almost annoyed him that she never looked bad.

Then feet were heard coming from the stairs.

"Jackie, sweetheart, there's someone on the phone for you." Kitty said.

She turned around to face her, "Who is it?"

"He says his name is Alastair."

Jackie was confused. Did she know an Alastair? Probably some guy that hit on her…. best to get rid of him.

While she was getting up she noticed Hyde tensing up in his seat. She silently smiled at his jealousy.

When she picked up the phone she said "Hello?"

"Jacquelyn Burkhart?"

She paused. The voice sounded very deep and dark. She didn't recognize him.

"Speaking."

"How are you?"

"Um fine." She bit her lip. "Who is this again?"

"Alastair."

She rolled her eyes, "Mind if I get a little more info than that?"

She heard the man chuckle… She would be lying if she said she was glad she picked up the phone.

"But that's not what you need to know."

"What do I need to know?" She asked a little creeped out now.

"Tell your friends to stop working with Conway."

"How did you-"

"Just do it. Or else."

"Or else what?" She said challenging him.

He laughed again…"Nice blue sweater."

Then he hung up.

Jackie looked around at the door and the windows…. and then at her sweater.

Someone was watching her.