"You almost knocked me over. What's the rush?" Hyde said, letting go of her. Jackie gave him a nervous smile.

"Sorry, I'm late for class."

"Yeah? How's school going?" he asked, in no hurry himself.

"It's fine. I like it. How are you?" she glanced away. This was so awkward. They were acting like strangers and it made her feel sad.

"I'm good. I'm glad you like school," he said, rubbing the back of his neck like he did when he was uncomfortable.

"Yeah, well," she looked away again, remembering the last time they'd been together on the fourth of July. As if reading her mind he cleared his throat.

"Look, Jackie. I-uh-I want to apologize for the way I acted at the Forman's."

Her eyes shifted back to his face then narrowed suspiciously. The words were right but the set of his jaw told her he didn't mean them. She sighed. " Whatever, Steven. I have to go."

Frustration swept across his face. "I'm trying to apologize here. Don't blow me off."

"Oh, please!" she bit back. "You're not sorry…"

"You know what?" His voice rose and she looked around. People were watching them. Normally she wouldn't mind the attention but this was just embarrassing. She tried to walk past Steven but he stepped in front of her and blocked the way. "You're right. I'm not sorry," he said in a quieter voice.

"Big surprise! I know you're not. You didn't care about hurting my feelings when we were together. Why would you care now?" She wished she didn't sound so bitter. She didn't want to be that hurt, angry girl anymore.

"Jackie. Jackie, look at me." There was a thread of anxiety in his voice. "I didn't want to hurt you. I just wanted to talk to you and I'm not sorry 'cause…I don't think you should get married."

Now she was really mad even though she felt a flicker of something in the area of her heart. Something she recognized as hope but she shoved it away and tried to keep her voice down. "Of course you don't think I should get married. You don't think anyone should get married. You don't believe in marriage or happiness or love or-or-anything except getting high and screwing slutty whores." She could hear her own voice getting screechy and she knew Steven hated that, which made her even madder. Why did she care what he thought? She took a deep breath and realized they were the center of attention and not in a good way. She blinked back the tears she could feel threatening and pushed past Steven.

"Jackie! Wait!"

God, he was following her. She sped up but he caught up to her quickly. She made a mad dash for the exit to the parking ramp, bumping into an older couple. Her soda slid from her hand but she didn't stop even though some of the cold liquid splashed onto her shoes. Her new, expensive shoes, damn it, but she kept going. Behind her she could hear Steven throw an apology at the couple she'd run into. She looked around frantically for her car and then remembered she'd parked in the last row. Why had she parked so far away? She heard a pounding noise and wondered if it was Stevens' running footsteps or her racing heart. Why was she running? She knew he would never physically hurt her. Somewhere between the exit and her car it hit her. She was running because he still had the ability to hurt her heart-which meant she still cared-and that scared the hell out of her.

"Oh my god, oh my god," she was panting when she reached her car and had to rummage frantically in her purse for her keys. He put his hands on the roof of the car, effectively trapping her between the car and himself. Her fingers found her keys and she tried to unlock the door.

"Damn it, Jackie. Will you just listen to me for a minute?" he growled in her ear and despite herself, a shiver of excitement ran down her spine. She took a deep breath and told herself to relax-don't let him get to you. If he knew she liked the feel of his chest pressing into her back and his breath on her cheek he would use it against her somehow.

"Are you okay, miss?"

They both looked over their shoulders at the security guard standing a few yards away. Jackie felt Hyde tense behind her. It would be so easy to say no. He would be dragged off and she could get away from him. Then again he might just take a swing at the guard and then he'd really be in trouble.

"Yes, I'm okay," she answered.

"Is this guy bothering you? Do you know him?" the guard asked and Jackie could hear the concern in his young voice.

"Yes, I know him…" she began but Steven cut her off.

"I'm her boyfriend, asshole. Now get lost." he snapped, hostility radiating off him. When the guard stepped closer and reached for his walkie talkie Steven turned around, fists clenched at his sides.

"What? You gonna call your fake cop buddies for backup? Go ahead, loser…"

"Steven!" Jackie grabbed his arm. "Stop it!" she hissed. She would have been thrilled with his saying he was her boyfriend in that possessive way when they were going out. She threw the guard an apologetic look. "We're fine. Just a little spat. I'm sorry if we bothered you."

"That's okay, miss." He nodded at her, gave Hyde a suspicious glare and walked backwards to the mall entrance. "Jerkwad," Hyde muttered and turned back to Jackie. She had unlocked the car and slid in to the driver's seat but he grabbed the door frame so she couldn't pull it closed.

"Steven!" she protested. "I have to go! I'm late for class."

"So just skip it," he grinned and she couldn't help but laugh. He sounded like the seventeen year old boy who used to convince her to cut class so they could make out under the bleachers. She shook her head, a smile crossing over her pretty face.

"Jackie, seriously, I want to talk to you." He leaned into the car.

"Since when?" she scoffed. "You used to say talking was for people who have something in common."

"That was because I had other plans for that gorgeous mouth of yours," he smirked.

"Steven!" she swatted at him but the twinkle in her eye told him she was wasn't offended . "Can I get in?" he asked so she shifted over to the passenger seat.

"So what did you want to talk about?"she asked.

He wished she hadn't moved. He liked her little body close to him, remembering when she used to snuggle against him in the camino, her hand on his thigh and her head on his shoulder.

"Steven?"

"Sorry, I was just thinking." He rubbed his neck nervously. This had seemed like a good idea when he saw her in the mall. She was looking out the passenger side window and her voice sounded far away when she said "About what?"

"About us," he said. That got her attention but not in the way he'd hoped. When they were dating she would have been over the moon if he wanted to talk about their relationship. Now she just frowned at him.

"It's a little late for that, don't you think? Two years and a stripper too late."

"About that," he turned in his seat to face her.

"You know what, Steven? I don't care about that anymore." She shook her head and he wondered if she was trying to convince herself or him.

"Damn it, Jackie. Just hear me out, okay? I should have said this a long time ago and I wanna say it now. Okay? Please?"

She shrugged and looked away again. " Fine. Whatever."

He cursed himself for ever teaching her how to be zen. She'd gotten too damn good at it. "The thing is-I'm really sorry about that whole Chicago/Sam mess." He paused when he saw her flinch. He reached over and took her hand. Her engagement ring scraped against his palm and he hesitated but only for a second. This was important and long overdue. "I overreacted when Kelso came into your hotel room in just a towel. I should have beat the crap out of him and then I should have listened to you."

Her eyes were downcast, long lashes dark on her cheeks. She nodded but didn't say anything. She wasn't going to make this easy for him apparently. He rubbed her knuckles with his thumb. "That whole business with Sam was a real cluster fuck. I was drunk and I don't even remember most of it but I know that was no excuse for letting her stay. I guess I was trying to get back at you…"

"Even though I didn't do anything wrong?" her voice was soft.

"Yeah, well, you know me. Act first, think later. I was mad and hurt. You left me…" he held up his hand when she would have spoken. "I figured I could get back at you if I let her stay then everything just snowballed and I didn't know how to get rid of her. By then it was pretty obvious you hated me and I just…" his voice died away and they sat in silence for awhile, ignoring the cars and shoppers coming and going around them. When he finally looked at her, her eyes were wet with tears but she didn't let them fall.

"I still loved you. I would have taken you back," she whispered.

He felt the pressure behind his eyes and looked down at their hands, still entwined between them on the car seat. "I-I didn't know. I thought I blew it for good. After Sam left I thought maybe-but it seemed like you had moved on. You and Fez…"

The laugh that came out of her sounded more like a gurgle. "Yeah, poor Fez. I guess I was afraid of being alone and he was so good to me."

"Cause he wanted to get in your pants." he scowled.

She tossed her hair and he had to smile. "Can you blame him?" She didn't wait for his answer. "You were so mean to me. You were always making fun of me."

He squeezed her hand. "I was pissed. I didn't want you to go out with him. I wasn't ready to get married for real so I didn't think you would want to get back together."

She pulled her hand away. "It was never about getting married."

A crack of laughter shot out of his throat. " Says the girl who used to try on wedding dresses for fun."

"Well, okay, I did want to get married. Someday. Not then! I just wanted to know you saw that for us someday," her voice shook a little.

"Christ, Jackie. I might have thought about it but…"

"You thought about it?" her amber eyes lit up.

He shrugged. What the hell, he had nothing to lose. "Yeah, sure."