Here's another chapter! I'm not so sure about this one, but I didn't like the last one either and all of the reviews were great so maybe I shouldn't trust my judgement. And I'm too tired to fix anything that's wrong with it so if I don't like it, it's my own fault. Either way, I don't think Hyde is going to be too popular in this chapter. Enough with my rambling. Go. Read.

CHAPTER 10

Jackie yawned. It was too bright, even with her eyes shut. She reached up to rub them, trying to forget the awful dream she'd had. Her and Steven getting arrested and the scary old guy and the gross gray color of the walls. She shuddered and reached her arm across the bed to turn on the lamp on her bedside table.

But instead of the hard wood, her hand hit a broad, warm chest. Her eyes snapped open. She turned over slowly, heart thumping loudly in her ears, expecting the worst. Jackie sighed quietly in relief when she saw Hyde lying next to her with his eyes closed (and fully clothed). Carefully, she crawled out from under the comforter and stepped out of bed. Without a sound, she tiptoed out of her room and closed the door behind her. 'What the hell happened last night,' she thought, trying so hard to remember. 'I called Red, he drove us here and-'

"Oh," she mumbled out loud, a flush rising in her cheeks. Jackie ran her fingers through her hair and tried to force the image from her mind. She couldn't remember ever being more embarrassed than she was now. Did she really cry like that in front of him? Jackie shuddered. 'God, he probably hates me even more now,' she thought with a groan. Her head fell back against the door with a thump.

"Get a grip, Jackie," she muttered under her breath. "He's probably not surprised. He always thought you were an immature little girl who cries about everything." She sighed again and made her way down the wide staircase into the kitchen. The cupboards were all nearly empty and all of the food in the pantry needed to be cooked. She exhaled loudly and settled for a banana and a piece of stale toast.

Jackie hated when her dad went on business trips. He always gave the help a vacation whenever he wasn't there, leaving his daughter to take care of herself. Jack Burkhart seemed to think he should only pay for a cook and a maid if he was there to be served, which he rarely was. Jackie had gotten used to eating small helpings and living in a slightly dusty house over the years, but the loneliness still bothered her. When her mother had still lived with them, she made her father hire a full-time nanny to take care of Jackie. She chewed on the banana thoughtfully, trying to remember that woman's name. It was something pretty, she remembered that much. Something she had loved to say. Jackie shrugged when it didn't come to her. It's not like it mattered much anymore. The woman had died at least eight years ago and by then Pam decided her daughter was old enough to take care of herself. The only thing her parents had ever agreed on was that Jackie didn't need them. And they were both so wrong.

I could use a hero…

Hyde opened his eyes with difficulty. He couldn't remember ever being this cozy, this warm. Had his cot suddenly transformed overnight into a cocoon of comfort? His eyes finally focused on the wall he was facing. He squinted in confusion. When did his walls turn pink?

And then everything came back to him. The yelling, the arrest, the bail. And Jackie. Jackie crying into his shoulder on the front porch of her mansion. Jackie's legs wrapped tightly around his waist as he climbed the curved staircase. The feel of her hot tears burning the skin on his neck, even after he laid her down on her bed.

Those eyes.

He'd never seen anything like that before. Complete and utter misery in the eyes of a sixteen year old girl, daughter of the richest man in town. What the hell had happened to her to make her look like that? He didn't even want to know. Because he already knew that the reason he was in that bed, the reason he chose to climb in next to her and hold her against him until her tears stopped, was because what he saw in her eyes was what he felt. What he'd been feeling since his parents had left him. And that scared him more than anything in the world.

Groaning, Hyde swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. After a quick glance around the room, he found his boots and put them on. He looked curiously back at the empty bed. 'When did she wake up?' he wondered. Hyde stepped out of the bright pink room and his jaw dropped.

He had never seen a fancier house in all his life. The clean, white carpet must have been at least three inches thick and there were small chandeliers on every few yards of the ceiling lighting up the hallway. The walls were covered with rich gold colored paint, shimmering slightly in the light. Hyde felt extremely out of place with his wrinkled Rolling Stones t-shirt and scuffed boots. He awkwardly walked down the hall, trying not to stare at the detailed oil paintings hung on the wall. "How did I not see any of this last night?" he muttered to himself.

Hyde jogged down the stairs, taking two at a time. He crossed the marble foyer in awe, wondering how many times his old house could fit into the entryway. But his amazement with the house was interrupted at the sight of its only inhabitant sitting alone at the kitchen counter with a piece of toast in her hand. Hyde inhaled sharply. Had she always been this beautiful?

You could steal me…

Jackie spun around when she heard heavy footsteps approach the door. She blushed slightly at the sight of him, still embarrassed by her display the night before. But he didn't look annoyed or angry. He was smiling. Small, yes, but a real smile, not his usual sarcastic smirk. She couldn't help but smile back.

"Hey. Do you want some breakfast?" she asked, gesturing to the half empty bag of bread in front of her.

"No thanks," he said. "What are you doing eating toast, anyway? Shouldn't your gourmet chef be preparing you some fancy omelet-type thing?"

She chuckled. "There's no help when my dad's out of town. And I had a banana earlier."

Hyde frowned. "What do you mean there's no help when you dad's not here? Shouldn't somebody be here with you?"

"You're here."

"No, Jackie, I mean-" but he didn't know what to say. She seemed to think it was completely okay for her to be living by here by herself.

"Look, Steven, I'm used to it, okay? My dad doesn't want to be paying people for taking care of the house when he's not even here," Jackie explained, as though it were the most rational thing in the world. Hyde stared at her like she was crazy, but before he could say anything, she spoke up again. "Hey, I just want to say that I'm, uh, sorry. For last night and everything." She looked at the counter as she spoke, tracing invisible patterns on it with her finger.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for, Jackie." He said those words so softly, so sincerely, Jackie finally glanced up at him.

"I didn't mean to make you-"

"You didn't make me do anything. What did you want me to do, just leave you there? I couldn't do that."

"I don't even know what I was upset about," she said, shaking her head. "Everything just seemed like too much, you know? Like I couldn't handle it."

"Yeah, I know." The honesty in his voice made her smile. How was it that out of all the people in the world, this person, was the one to understand her? Even when she didn't make sense to herself, he still knew what she was trying to say. It amazed her.

Hyde sat down next to her and broke off a corner of Jackie's half-eaten toast. He tossed it into his mouth and ate it before continuing to talk.

"So, you never finished what you were saying yesterday," he said. Jackie looked at him, confused. "In jail, you were asking me how I felt about you and I asked why you wanted to know, so you started talking about how you feel about me and you never finished."

"You were actually listening to me talk? Wait till everyone finds out, they're gonna freak!" Jackie said jokingly. Hyde smirked.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm sure they will. But when you're not going on and on about stupid things like hair care and this season's fashion, you actually say some pretty interesting things."

Jackie smiled at him. He smiled back, and she suddenly decided to take a risk. "Look, Steven, I don't really know how I feel about you. Whenever we're together, I think I'll die of frustration trying to talk to you, but then you'll say something. Something so simple and perfect that makes me think you really, really know me and it's like everything I ever wanted is dropped in a pile at my feet with a big red ribbon on top. I mean, last night was the most amazing night of my life because I felt whole, just being with you, with your arms around me. And it's completely ridiculous that I feel like this, right? Like I don't ever have to say anything to you because you already know. And the only thing I can say to describe how you make me feel is that, when I'm with you, I'm home." Jackie looked into his eyes, hoping he could hear what she wasn't saying. Hoping he wanted the same thing.

You could even heal me…

Hyde was absolutely stunned. Nothing anyone had ever said to him made him feel so much at once. Right now he was confused, ecstatic, annoyed, exhilarated, terrified. He couldn't think. This was too much. 'She shouldn't be saying this,' he thought frantically. 'She shouldn't think of me this way.' He jumped up abruptly.

"Jackie, I'm not the kind of person you want to be with," Hyde said, instinctively putting his zen back in place. "I'll just end up hurting you, or leaving you or something, okay? So just, don't think of me that way anymore." Jackie stood up as well, with fire in her eyes.

"I knew it!" she shouted. "I knew when I told you, you would get scared and run away! God, for once in your life, Steven, could you just tell me how you feel? Could you just let your stupid defenses down and trust me? I'm not going to hurt you, I'm not going to abandon you like your parents did, like my parents did. So would you please, just tell me how you feel?" Her eyes were wide and glistening with unshed tears. Tears she wouldn't cry because she had too much pride. Hyde wanted to open up to her more than he'd ever wanted anything in his life. But that would mean risking too much. Not only himself, but her. Because if she didn't hurt him, he would hurt her. He knew it.

And that scared him more than anything else.

"Jackie, I can't," he said quietly, not looking at her. He heard her take a shaky breath.

"Then you should just go," she replied.

"No, wait, I didn't say I wanted us to stop being friends or anything, I just-"

"I can't be just friends with you anymore. You haven't been just a friend to me for a long time," she whispered. Hyde finally looked at her. He took a step towards her, reaching his hand out tentatively in apology. But she wasn't looking at him anymore. Jackie was staring at something over his shoulder. Her eyes had widened in shock.

"Mom?"

Hyde spun around at the word she had uttered and saw the one and only Pam Burkhart standing in the kitchen doorway, with a wide smile on her face and a suitcase in her hand.

So...what do you think? Am I just an idiot for not liking it? Am I totally right and should be tortured for letting anyone else read it, it's that terrible? Let me know!