A/N Gah! Just watched 7x24. Hyde letting Jackie leave; Kelso driving Jackie to Chicago. I know where this is headed... It's already too painful.

Fix-it fic! Fix-it fic!

Sanctuary

The slam of the door was like a punctuation point. Marking the end of something.

The end of him and Jackie.

Fine. Whatever. If she'd been willing to leave Wisconsin (leave him) without even waiting for his answer, he was better off without her anyway.

If there was one thing Hyde had learnt, it was the importance of pushing people away before they could leave you.

The other way led to trashed rooms or endless questions when people found out you'd moved back in without them realising.

At least this way he was in control.

Screw Jackie, anyway. He didn't need her.

As had become customary after something annoyed or upset him, Hyde slouched his way to his room. To his cocoon.

He'd been furious when Jackie changed it. Things were fine as they were. More to the point, she'd invaded the one place he counted as his, had changed things without asking him first.

Hyde had grown up with very little, so he'd learnt to protect what he had. To pound on anyone who tried to take it away from him. Ironically, that had grown to include Jackie. Like him inviting her to share his bed when she'd been living alone. Something he'd never done with a chick before.

The woman really was freaking Tahiti. Insidious. Infectious. Inescapable.

Even here.

The room was working its usual magic, soothing and calming him, but at the same time, he felt totally keyed up. Jackie was everywhere. Her style. Her scent. She'd even put up pictures of herself!

He'd hated it at first. Hated all of it. These weren't things he needed – and they sure as hell weren't things he wanted. Then they'd started to weave their spell. The colours… the softness… the smell… Making him feel safe. Warm. Valued.

Hyde had liked his room before. Liked that there was somewhere to store his stuff that wouldn't be invaded or suddenly ripped away when the bills weren't paid. But it wasn't somewhere he spent a lot of his time, apart from sleeping... or doing stuff with Jackie. He'd come to realise other than his t-shirts and records and the High St sign, there was very little of the room that reflected him.

Then Jackie had put her mark on it, and he'd grown to love it.

It had become one of his favourite places to be. Going there was a way of getting comfort without asking for it. A way of having Jackie's presence when she wasn't there, without anyone knowing and thinking him weak for wanting it. He slept better there than he had anywhere in his life – aside from the months when Jackie lay with him.

His room was one of the few places he felt at peace.

Huh. Funny how something could go from being the last thing you wanted, to something you couldn't live without…

Ten seconds ticked by.

Hyde bolted from the room.

If he hurried, he could catch Jackie before she left.

fin