A/N: All right, I'm getting so many more reviews. That's a serious boost in my self-esteen bucket. Lol. Just kidding, but all these reviews do give me the fuel to continue on with this story. Well, I hope you all like this chapter (it's longer!)
Disclaimer: I do not own That 70's Show or any of the characters. I just own Louis and a few other original characters.
One Step at a Time
Hyde didn't know how much more of this he could take.
Going to all of those damn la maz classes with Jackie was pure torture. Although he enjoyed being that close with her again, he knew that it wasn't going to last long. She wasn't going to stay pregnant forever. She was going to have the baby eventually so there would be no need for the classes; she would no longer need him. It was strange, just that thought seemed to tear away at his soul. Ever since she came back to Point Place, he found that he would do anything for her. He was like some love sick puppy. He wasn't so sure if he liked that. He knew he had to stop.
But there was that sole reason why he knew he'd never stop. He was still in love with Jackie. He wanted her back. He wanted her back ever since she left, to which he felt like a fool to realize that he needed her right after she was gone.
However, he knew that he couldn't try to win her back just yet. He wasn't that stupid; he knew that right now she was trying to get over the death of her loved one while also coping with the fact that she was also pregnant. It was all so much.
"Steven?" Came Jackie's voice as she walked down the stairs to the Foreman basement.
Hyde automatically stood up from his chair.
"Yeah, Jacks?"
He had come to the basement to get his thoughts straight. He had done pretty well, but now that Jackie was here his thoughts were once again a jumbled mess.
"Hey." She said smiling at him, making his stomach clench with excitement. "Kitty says that the rehearsal dinner will be ready in an hour." She said and he raised an eyebrow.
"Okay…"
"I came down here to tell you that we're going to go shave your beard." She told him.
"What?" He asked surprised. "No way."
"Oh, come one, Steven. The wedding is tomorrow and you can't go all scruffy." She said putting her hands on her hips. He was about to protest but she cut him off. "Look, you can grow it back. It's just improper to be all scruffy at such a special occasion." She said honestly.
"I'm not sure…" He trailed off rubbing his facial hair.
"But I want you to grow it back, okay?" She suggested and his eyebrows raised once more." I mean, I've grown pretty fond of the beard." She said reaching out and running her finger tips through his beard.
Hyde felt a tight knot forming in the pit of his stomach. Just her light touch made him want to grab her and kiss her senseless.
Then Fez walked in and stopped in his tracks at what he saw.
"What is going on here?" He asked suspiciously. Jackie quickly pulled away from Hyde, much to his disappointment.
"Nothing." They both said at the same time. Fez's eyes narrowed in more suspicion.
"Oh really… cause it looks a lot like something."
This earned a glare and a slap across the arm from Jackie.
"Shut-up, Fez!" She said then grabbed Hyde's arm. "Let's go, Steven." She said then dragged him out of the basement.
. . . .
"Jackie, do I really need to shave it off?" Hyde asked as they walked into the barbershop.
"Yes, you're the best man so you need to look your best." Jackie said giggling at her own joke causing him to roll his eyes.
"Can't I just brush it? It'll look nice then." He suggested.
"No, now go get shaved." She said shoving him towards one of the seats.
The barber came over with a kind smile.
"Hey, Hyde, welcome back. What'll it be?" The man asked.
"Hey, Tom." Hyde greeted. He looked over to Jackie and she gave him a stern look. He sighed deeply. "Shave off the beard." He muttered grumpily.
"Really?" Tom asked taking out the razor. "You've been growing this one out for awhile."
"He needs to shave it off because he's going to be in a wedding tomorrow." Jackie chirped in joyfully and Tom laughed softly.
"Well, then we better shave this thing off." Tom said applying the cream to Hyde's face.
Hyde sighed deeply once more. Yet another beard shaved off because of Jackie Burkhart.
"Okay, everyone, dinner is served." Kitty announced placing a platter on the table.
Red and Kitty had set up the long table in the living room. Well… with the help from the 'kids' of course. Tomorrow the living room would actually be decorated. Today there was no point in decoration.
"The food looks great, Mrs. Foreman." Jackie said feeling unusually happy right now.
"Why thank you, Jackie." Kitty said feeling just oh-so-proud of herself for making such a fantastic meal.
"Yeah, Kitty, it looks great." Red also said. "But I don't understand why we need to have two dinners for this wedding. We didn't have two for our wedding." He continued and Kitty made an annoyed sound.
"Red, how many times do I have to explain this to you?" She asked. "It's a rehearsal dinner. We're rehearsing for Eric and Donna's wedding dinner."
"Are we going to forget how to eat tomorrow?" Red asked sarcastically.
"Oh, Red, stop being like that." Kitty demanded.
The dinner was enjoyable enough. However, most of the time they were all watching Jackie devour the food like some starved animal. No one had ever seen the petite girl eat like that… ever.
"So… did you enjoy the food, Jackie?" Kitty asked.
"Well…" Jackie trailed off now looking slightly green. "I liked it at first but now…" She trailed off once more. Donna knew that look.
"Come on, Jackie." The redhead said hurriedly. The two girls then rushed to the bathroom.
"Ahahaha." Kitty laughed after a moment of silence. "Those pregnancy hormones. Whoo!"
All of them stared at her oddly.
A few moments later Donna came back alone.
"Where's Jackie?" Hyde asked trying to hide his worry.
"She's back at my house crying." Donna said with a sad sigh. "She thinks that she ruined the dinner."
"Oh, the poor dear." Kitty said shaking her head. "See, boys, told you it's the pregnancy hormones."
"Kitty, we are men. We don't want to know." Red stated firmly.
"Speak for yourself." Fez said.
"Shut-up, Fez!" The rest of the gang said.
. . . .
Later on, Donna was back in her childhood home. It took her awhile to convince Hyde to not come in to check on Jackie. She told him that she could do it on her own.
Donna wasn't stupid. She knew what was happening. She knew that Hyde was becoming obsessed with Jackie now. The more he didn't have her, the more obsessed he became. She knew Hyde never stopped loving her best friend. She noticed how depressed he became when she left, but once she came back he began to lighten up little by little. However, no matter how happy he was becoming she knew this obsession thing wasn't healthy.
Donna walked into her bedroom to see Jackie sitting on her bed reading a baby magazine.
"Hey, Jackie." She greeted plopping down on the cot.
"Hey, Donna. I need to talk to you." Jackie said getting off the bed and sitting on the cot next to Donna.
"Okay." Donna said in a bored tone.
"I think I'm falling in love with Steven again."
"What!?" Donna nearly shouted.
"Donna, shut up." Jackie hissed.
"Sorry." The redhead suddenly whispered. "You're in love with Hyde again?" She asked curiously.
"No!" She said fiercely. "I said I think I'm falling in love with him again." She said with a huff and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Sorry." Donna apologized again. "What makes you think you're falling in love with him again?"
"Well, we've just been spending so much time together. We… we're growing closer and I'm not so sure if I'm comfortable with that." She said feeling disheartened.
"Why not?" Donna asked and Jackie stared at her oddly.
"For many reasons, Donna, but the main one is because my fiancé just died!" Jackie said somewhat angrily.
"I'm sorry." Donna quickly apologized yet again. "It's just… it feels as if you never left… and got engaged to someone else." She said feeling almost ashamed.
Jackie thought about it for a long moment. She supposed she could understand that. At times she almost felt as if she never left, but then those memories of Louis just came rushing back to her and she was reminded of some of the happiest times in her life. She then was filled with a sincere amount of guilt. She never wanted to forget about her Louis.
"I guess I can understand that." She whispered sadly.
"Do you think you and Hyde will get back together?" Donna asked curiously. She couldn't help but feel a bit excited about this. She wanted her two friends to be happy… with each other.
"I don't know." Jackie said then sighed. "With Steven things had always been so confusing… and painful. I don't know if I want to go through that again." She said honestly and Donna frowned.
"You guys are adults now though… I'm sure things would be better than before." Donna said hopefully. Jackie shrugged her slender shoulders.
"Well… I'm still trying to get over my Louis. I need time."
"Of course." Donna said with a nod.
"Well, I'm going to get some sleep now." Jackie announced. "I'm still feeling a bit woozy." She said walking back to the bed and snuggling in. Donna smiled.
"Goodnight, midget."
"Goodnight, lumberjack."
The fact was Jackie wasn't getting much sleep. She didn't really feel sick anymore but her body wasn't allowing her to get the sleep that she really needed. She tossed and turned, she counted sheep, she did anything but still wasn't sleeping.
With a sigh of annoyance, Jackie sat up in the bed. She saw Donna was sound asleep on the cot. She couldn't help but smile softly. Tomorrows your big day, Lumberjack. She thought proudly. Although, in the past she had said some mean things about him, Jackie considered Eric a good friend.
Jackie got out of the bed and tiptoed to the window. She smiled when she saw the Foreman basement window glow from the TV being on. She knew that Hyde was awake too. She looked over to Donna for a moment then she put on her slippers and tip toed out of the room.
The summer night wasn't cold, but Jackie found herself rushing to the basement door.
When Hyde heard the basement door open he was shocked to see that it was Jackie who came in.
"Jackie, what the hell are you doing here?" He asked clearly shocked.
"Oh, I couldn't sleep." She replied simply sitting next to him on the couch.
"Okay…" He said waiting for more of an explanation. He never got one and he rolled his eyes. "Are you still feeling sick?"
"No, not really." She replied. "It's weird, I'm tired but I just can't bring myself to fall asleep." She continued in annoyance.
"Hhmm. Yeah, I can't really sleep either." He said looking over to her then noticed that she wasn't listening.
Jackie's attention was on something else entirely. She was looking down at her hand. He looked down as well. She was fiddling with the diamond ring on her finger. It was her engagement ring. He hadn't even noticed that she still wore it.
"You miss him a lot, don't you?" Hyde asked. Well, of course she does, you idiot. He scolded himself.
"Yeah, I do." She whispered. She looked over to him and noticed him staring at her ring. "You wanna know how he proposed?" She asked innocently.
"Um… sure." He answered unsure if he really wanted to.
"Well," She started excitedly sitting up straight. "We had gotten into a fight that previous week. I was so upset, I didn't talk to people for awhile. So, one day I was on my way to work still really upset. Louis comes out of nowhere!" She continued to speak in excitement and making random gestures. "We just stood there in the middle of the sidewalk staring at each other. Then he says: 'Everyday I wake up thinking about you… I want to wake up every morning with you.' Then right there in the middle of a Manhattan sidewalk, he gets down on one knee and proposes to me." Jackie said with a dreamy look in her eyes. "It was really sweet."
Hyde just stared at her. He had a tightening feeling in her gut, it was practically suffocating him. She looked so happy when she talked about Louis. He couldn't win her back; he couldn't compete with the father of her child.
"Steven?" Her voice brought him out of his thoughts.
"Hmm?"
"I really am glad to have you in my life." She said suddenly. His eyes widened in shock.
"What?" He asked thinking he heard her wrong.
"Seriously, you've been such a great help to me, especially with those la maz classes. I don't think I would have ever been able to handle it with Fez or Kelso." She spoke honestly. "You've been really great to me lately." She said with a smile then she rested her head on his shoulder.
Hyde was frozen. He couldn't figure out if this was real or just some crazy dream. But Jackie's warm breath on the skin of his arm proved that this was no dream. He looked down at her and found that she was sound asleep. He smiled and put his arm around her.
Okay, maybe he did have a chance.
A/N: And whoop there it is. Please review. Thanks.
