Author's Note: Yes, it's been two weeks (and three days)

Author's Note: Yes, it's been two weeks (and three days). No excuses, just another chapter. Read & Review!

It's kind of long, which is good, right? Oh, and this chapter isn't exactly sunshine and joy, etc. but it gets rather angsty. Never fear, JH will always happen...it just might take awhile ;) And there's some language in this one, too.

xo Nat

Face to Face

--

"What?" Hyde asked in disbelief, his voice sharp from across the unusually quiet room. Fez. And Jackie.

Jackie and Fez...His Jackie with--with Fez! Foreign Fez, Needy Fez...The thought sickened him.

"You heard me," Jackie sighed sadly. "Now," she continued. "You need to stop."

"Stop what?"

"Stop this--this...just all of this crap!" Jackie yelled, sighing. "We made a mistake last night and it's over, Steven."

"We should talk," Hyde suggested. This couldn't really be the end. He always figured she'd take him back, but this? This isn't happening, Hyde told himself. "We need to talk."

"Dammit, Steven," she said softly, closing her eyes.

"Jackie..." he took a step towards her.

"Just leave me alone," Jackie said imploringly, looking up at him intently with her blue and green eyes. "Please."

"Jacks," he said quietly. "Just listen to me--"

"No, Steven," Jackie interrupted. Jackie let out a long sigh and ran a hand through her hair, walking towards her ex-boyfriend. "Steven, listen okay? You can't just decide when you want to get back together. You chose Sam over me. And now, I'm choosing and it's not you. You just have to deal with it," Jackie told him, hands on her hips.

--

"Well...who did you choose last night?" Hyde asked this almost patiently, without any bite or sting his comments usually produced: he just stated the fact. "It wasn't Fez."

"That was a mistake--and, I'm sorry...but it's done." Jackie grabbed his hand and gave it a small squeeze. "That can't happen again, okay?" Jackie asked slowly, biting her lip. Just tell him what he needs to hear, Jackie coached herself. She let go of his hand and walked away, leaving a disbelieving Hyde in her wake.

--

Jackie headed in to Brooke's bathroom and locked the door. The bathroom was Jackie's favorite room in Brooke's apartment because it had a real bathtub--one of those big white bathtubs with claw feet that rested on the opposite side of the room. Jackie opened the cupboard and took out the pink bottle of "Mr. Bubbles" and poured it in to the hot water that was filling rapidly in to the deep tub.

Jackie settled in to the hot water and bubbles, sucking in a breath as she dipped under the water. Jackie held her breath and began to count, seeing how long she could last under water.

--

Hyde felt like shit. Which wasn't exactly a new feeling for him. It was about the same way he felt when he found out he was married. Married.

"Well this sucks," Hyde said to himself, sitting down on the table nearest where he was standing. He put his head in his hands. Hyde couldn't let her get away again. And the thought that really scared him was that she would end up leaving...again.

Do something, man. Hyde got up suddenly and bolted towards the bathroom.

--

January 4, 1980 - Eric and Donna's Apartment

"This again?" Donna asked, sighing.

"They offered me a job in Chicago and I think I might take it. I mean, it would be good to get out of Point Place. You and Eric are in Madison, Kelso's with Brooke and--Steven!" Jackie said, quickly changing subject as her ex-boyfriend opened the door: "Hi."

"Hi," he said, in return, shutting the door behind him. "Did I...interrupt something?" he asked, feigning interest. He was standing outside the door listening to their conversation, his ears automatically perked when she said the word "Chicago", and figured he'd make his entrance before he had to listen about her and Fez. Disgusting.

"Uh, no, nothing," Jackie lied.

Hyde raised an eyebrow. "Hmm. Okay."

--

"Jackie." Hyde knocked on the door. "Jackie, open the door." He knocked again.

Inside the bathroom, Jackie was still submerged under the water, enjoying the quietness it provided. She was up to forty-seven seconds when she came up for breath again. She heard Steven knocking on the door and brought her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on them.

"Go away, Steven."

"Open the door!"

"No--go away!"

"Fine."

Fine? Jackie sighed. "Fine," she muttered back, closing her eyes and extending her legs so she could rest her head on the edge of the tub.

--

Finally, the lock clicked open.

Jackie opened her eyes and immediately and, startled, recoiled back to her fetal-like position. "Steven! Get out!" Jackie yelled, frantically making sure the bubbles hadn't completely dissipated.

"You said you wouldn't open the door, so I did," he said. "I know you always have these stupid pins lying everywhere." Hyde held up a bobby pin.

"You picked the lock?! And you went in my purse!" Jackie said. "God, Steven, you need to learn to keep your hands off of things that aren't yours!" she spat. Jackie grabbed her purple towel nearby and quickly covered herself, before continuing: "I'm not yours, this house is not yours, and stay away from my purse!" She stepped out of the tub. "You can't always have everything you want, whenever you want it. You can't just run away and disappear without listening to what I have to say and then just expect me to start listening to you whenever you feel like it! God, what happened to you?" Jackie vociferated. She pushed past him.

"Jackie, wait!" Hyde said, grabbing her arm.

"What is wrong with you, Steven?" She jerked her arm away. "You were always--always--jealous of Michael and, and now it's with Fez! You only always felt so inferior to them, and always felt the need to show that I was yours. But when you actually had me, Steven, you just let me go. Do you just leave someone you care about before they can leave you?" Jackie asked rhetorically. "Yeah, well I didn't make you leave, I didn't make you marry Sam: I wanted to marry you! I wanted to explain what happened in Chicago. Did you ever really want me or you just didn't want anyone else to have me because--oh, God forbid!, I actually find someone better than you," she said, so angrily she was almost shaking.

Hyde looked stunned, too stunned for words. He didn't respond but reacted by staring in to her, blue eyes flashing angrily: she could see him calculating the perfect, vengeful remark. Jackie prepared herself for whatever horrible insult he would throw at her.

"Yeah, you got me all figured out then, huh?" he asked, icily, almost calmly. "Well, congratulations, Jackie. Maybe I am all those things, but at least I know it. You act so perfect, well get off your high horse--you're just as fucked up as me. You're dad's in jail, Jackie!" he taunted. "And your mom, who knows where she is, maybe looking for your next dad on a beach somewhere?"

"I'm worse than you?" Jackie asked, spewing an almost uncontrollable rage, the suppressed feelings of last year coming so easy and volatile from her mouth. "What about you, Mr.-Run-and-Hide-From-My-Feelings? What happened to 'We should talk', huh? You can't even be honest with yourself, so don't feed me that crap that I'm on some kind of high horse. You automatically go on the defense whenever you think you'll get hurt. It takes so much for you to share something of yourself--"

"Yeah, well you obviously have had no problem 'sharing' several parts of yourself all over town," Hyde interrupted.

"You know what? I never know what I saw in you, you're such--"

Hyde couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed her and brought their mouths together in a bruising kiss. Jackie, although she knew better, found herself kissing back fervently, her tongue mingling with his. He pushed her against the wall, grabbing her hair in an attempt to bring her mouth closer to his. Suddenly, he felt himself face to face with the bathroom wall, Jackie quickly evading his grasp and moving out from beneath him.

"Jackie--what the hell?" he asked, annoyed at her sudden absence, which she responded with a small laugh.

"Do you ever listen to anything I say?" Jackie asked, almost amiably, shaking her head.

"Do you ever stop talking?"

"Oh, ha-ha," Jackie said sarcastically. "I'm going to change and then we really need to talk." She turned and paused at the door, leaning against its frame. She blew out a long breath: "I'm sorry I said all those things. I don't really think of you like that," she offered, half-heartedly.

"Yeah, you do," Hyde said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "I mean, you should. I was kind of terrible to you and..."

"And...?" Jackie probed teasingly as they walked towards down the hall.

"And...I'm sorry, I guess. I really am more fucked up than you," he admitted. Jackie opened the door to Brooke's room and crossed the threshold, facing him.

"It's okay," Jackie nodded: "Well, it's not okay, you were awful--but..we'll talk, okay?" She grabbed his hand and gave it a little squeeze.

"Okay..." he said slowly. "What if I don't want to talk?" he asked, leaning towards her, aiming to kiss her again.

"Well..." Jackie said, leaning towards Steven, looking up at him mischievously. "Too bad," she whispered, shutting the door between them.

Author's Note: So, what do you all think? Let me know! xoxo