It had been several hours since Hyde had left for Grooves. Jackie had wanted to do something nice for him, in appreciation of what he had been doing for her. Just a little something, so she called the store to see how things were going.

"Grooves"

"Hey. How's it going?"

Hyde let out a sigh. He wanted to be there with his girl, but he had to finish unpacking the latest shipment, since Leo never showed that afternoon.

"Lousy. Randy's working inside and I'm unloading boxes of records and doing inventory. Leo never showed. How are things there?"

"Fine. Just miss you, that's all. I wanted to tell you about school."

Hyde shut his eyes in frustration. "I want to hear all about it. Give me another hour and I should be there."

"Sounds good. I love you."

"Love ya too"

Hyde hung up the phone. He really hoped that he would be out of there in an hour. He wanted to give her the support that he hadn't been giving her in the past. He knew that this was really important to Jackie, and he wanted to be there. Right then & there. Hyde knew that he couldn't be with her every minute of every day. But damn, he wanted to.

As he opened another box, he smiled and couldn't help muttering to himself, "Man, you are so far gone."

Two hours later….

Hyde parked the El Camino in the driveway and started towards the basement. He had called Jackie to let her know he was on his way. Things didn't turn out the way he had been planning when he left the house that morning. Although, he did get to talk to W.B….

Hyde pushed the door open to the basement. He was so tired. And he was so surprised. He dropped his coat.

There stood Jackie, near the record player, wearing what appeared to be only one of his button down shirts. There were some candles lit around the basement. And she was holding, a Led Zeppelin album? If hard work made you delusional like this, he would have started years ago.

"Hey"

"Hey yourself" Hyde walked over to Jackie and gave her a quick kiss. He had to check this out further.

"Are you wearing anything under that?" Hyde's eyes were stuck somewhere between Jackie's shoulders & her knees. He was definitely intrigued.

"All in good time, baby….All in good time." Jackie pulled Hyde over to the sofa with one hand while trying to keep him from discovering what was under the shirt with the other.

"I have a surprise for you"

"I love the way you think"

"See" She was so proud. Right in front of Hyde on the coffee table, was some chocolate cake. Hyde laughed to himself. His doll, baking. For him.

"Don't worry, it turned out better than the cookies did. Mrs. Forman helped. I wanted to do something nice for you. Something that showed I was trying hard for our future too. Just like you have been."

"You're amazing." Hyde grabbed Jackie by the cheeks and gave her a deep kiss. As he started to deepen the kiss, Jackie pulled back, which troubled Hyde until he saw the smile on her face.

"Tonight is all about you. Now take your shirt off and lay on the couch, baby." Jackie had her hands on her hips. She was so freakin' hot when she was like this, Hyde thought as he pulled his t-shirt over his head. He sat on the couch and waited for further instructions.

"I said lay on the couch baby, and that's not laying down"

"but my cake…"

Jackie had put a piece of cake on a plate, stuck a fork in it, and placed it on the floor near the end of the couch. "There, you are literally going to have your cake and eat it too." They both laughed and with that, she pushed Hyde over so he was laying down on the couch. He maneuvered to make himself comfortable while having one arm and his head dangling over the side of the couch.

Jackie quickly went back to the record player, after she had made a selection that knew would meet with Hyde's approval – Led Zeppelin IV. She adjusted the volume and turned back around and walked behind the couch, as Hyde enjoyed his cake.

"You know, you're going to be making this cake a lot from now on."

"You really like it?"

"Yeah I do." Hyde didn't think it was the right time to tell her all the different ways he was dreaming up how to use that cake with her. Save those for later. Jackie had her own agenda tonight. So he kept eating.

After making her way around to the end of the couch, Jackie gently straddled Hyde and began to massage his shoulders and back, knowing that he had been having a rough day at the store.

Hyde groaned loudly. He needed this. He really did. After such a crappy day at Grooves, he didn't think he was going to have any energy for tonight. But that was quickly changing. "Oh, Baby. That's so good"

"and your arms. How are those feeling?"

"They need some extra special attention too. Just don't stop" Jackie smiled knowing that she was really helping to relieve some of the tension that he'd been having after dealing with all of those boxes. She got some more massage oil and began to work on those areas next.

Hyde thought he was going into sensory overload. His tunes, what had to be his favorite new desert, a massage and most of all, his girl – his really hot girl – straddling him wearing what he thought was only his shirt. Cursing the fact he still had his jeans buckled, Hyde rolled over while Jackie was working on his lower back.

"I'm not done with your massage yet, baby"

"….don't care. Just need you. All of you."

"This baby, this is what you need?" Jackie slid back down Hyde's chest, so she was directly on top of his hips. She started to unbutton his shirt she was wearing ever so slowly.

Keeping her tightly pressed to him, Hyde guided the two of them to a sitting upright position. Knowing they'd never make it to his room, he adjusted themselves so that he was lowering Jackie unto the couch. He looked down at Jackie; she was such an angel. Every day with her was another gift. One he willingly accepted, but certainly didn't deserve. He knew what he was going to do tomorrow. And it was the first stop he was going to make, before work this time. Just in case he got stuck there late again. She needed to know this. She needed to have this. Hyde kissed his way over to Jackie's ear.

Growling into in ear, "I love you more every day."

He placed more kisses on her neck and then went back to Jackie's ear. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me. And I'm going to give you everything you've ever wanted."

With that, Hyde moved back to Jackie's mouth, covering it with his. He looked up at his doll, who had a tear coming down her cheek. She wrapped her legs around his waist, as he kissed that tear away.

"I love you too. So much." Jackie wound her fingers in his curls. She let a smile creep across her face, knowing what she was going to say was going to do to him. "Right now though, I need you…"

As Hyde's trademark smirk crossed his face he groaned "Anything for you doll" as he started towards her mouth again.

It was going to be another long night.

One that had to be the most amazing night of Hyde's life.

During one of the few moments they weren't going at it like rabbits, Jackie told Hyde all about school, where her classes were, what she had to do to apply, and when she could start.

"Do you really think I can do this? I never really thought much about it before."

"I think you can do anything that you set your mind to do. And I'll help you out too. School costs money….So I'll help you out with that."

"What?! I don't expect you to do that…"

Hyde sat up and fought against every heartache that had ever happened to him in his life. He fought off the demons for both of them. He started tracing his finger around Jackie's torso as he talked, watching it intently. He was getting better at talking, but this was different.

"Jackie, baby, listen to me. Umm…The store is doing really well. And, um…Sales are up 10 this quarter alone. So, it's okay. And I want to. For us. And I checked with W.B. yesterday…and….."

"And what" She took his hand in hers and pulled it closer to her heart. She knew that this was big. He wouldn't be tripping over his words otherwise.

"W.B.'s going to stay in Milwaukee. He's giving me the condo. The condo fees are less than what I pay the Formans in rent. And then you wouldn't have to pay your rent, so… And I was thinking that, if you want, if you're ready, maybe you and your stuff could stay there. With me. Permanently." He looked up at her eyes.

"Oh my God….are you saying…."

"Well, I'm doing a pretty stupid job at it, but…you wanna live with me?"

"Steven…oh, yes, yes, I'll live with you." Jackie let out a squeal as she wrapped her arms around Hyde, pulling him on top of her, and then rolling on top of him. "That was so hot….talk about sales returns again…." She was all over him with kisses and guided her hands ever so slowly down his body.

Hyde smiled thinking about that memory, as he pulled his boots on. He was actually getting happy memories. He couldn't help himself. Things were definitely changing. For both of them. He leaned down to Jackie's sleeping form and gave her a gentle kiss. She started to stir slightly and then suddenly slid her arms up around him pulling him down to her mouth.

"Morning….roomie"

"Yeah…." Hyde smiled and leaned down and gave her another kiss. He would never get tired of her kisses. Never. But if he didn't stop her soon, he'd never want to leave. Want to, hell, he didn't want to leave now, but he was going to get there today. For her.

"I have to go make a couple of stops and then head into Grooves. Meet me for lunch?"

"Okay" She sank back farther into the pillow, her hair cascading down her shoulders. "around noon?"

"Sounds good." Hyde leaned in to give her one more kiss before he left. One more steaming hot kiss.

"Okay, I've really got to go here, or I'm never going to go." Hyde pulled away from Jackie, who started in on her trademark pout. Which still worked as good as it ever did.

"One more for the road" He muttered as he pounced on the tiny woman he couldn't live without.

After making out for twenty minutes, Jackie relented and told Hyde that he really, probably should head into Grooves. As Hyde headed towards the door, he realized something.

"Jackie, I haven't told the Forman's yet about us moving into the condo, so I know you're excited, but…"

She looked at him with knowing eyes. She was so amazed that they were actually doing this. And she knew how hard it was going to be to tell the Forman's about him, well both of them, leaving. "I'll wait for you before I say anything….but Donna?"

He smirked, knowing she was bursting at the seams. "You can tell Donna…"

As Hyde left, he could see Jackie's feet kicking in excitement underneath the covers.

Grooves 12pm

Jackie came strolling into Grooves wearing the same dreamy smile that she had on when Hyde had left that morning. Hyde lit up the second he saw her come in the store. As Hyde finished up with a customer, Jackie settled into the listening pit, smoothing her skirt and checking to see if she had managed to cover up the multiple marks Hyde had left on her from the two previous nights.

She didn't really care; most of the marks he left were covered by her clothing. It was the whisker burn that made her look like she had a sunburn on both cheeks, her neck and most everything else. She made it work though. Thank God it was summer. But it was all worth it. Every wonderful minute.

"You ready? Randy's got things covered for the rest of the day. So I'm all yours"

He pulled her up to him and she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Just the way I like it."

"Let's go"

They drove out to the place their first date was, after hitting the drive thru at Fatso Burger. They just wanted to be together. They had spent so much time apart; every moment was treasured by them both.

After a leisurely lunch and many more kisses in the back of the El Camino, Hyde was just holding Jackie, as they leaned up against the back window. He couldn't believe everything that had happened, in such a short time. They were going to live together. It was fast, but it was right. For both of them. Jackie had been talking about some of her plans to decorate and how Donna had been so happy for them when she told her the big news. Hyde promised that they could stop by and see what furniture W.B. was leaving on the way home. The rest of the day they just stared at the clouds in the sky talking about their future, or were catching up on some of the rest they didn't get last night. But they were always in each other's arms. The entire day.

As the sun began to set, Hyde kissed Jackie's head. "I've got a surprise for you"

"Really, what?" Jackie got a gleam in her eye. She still loved surprises.

"I'm going to tell the Forman's when we get back about us moving into the condo. I just want to start living with you as soon as W.B. hits the road."

"Oh, Steven…"

"But that's not your real surprise." He popped out of the bed of the car and grabbed something from inside the car. Jackie crawled out of the back following her love. She was surprised to see how serious he was when he turned to her.

"Before you went to Chicago, you told me that you needed to know if we were going to get married."

"Steven, "

"I know you don't like to talk about that. Neither do I. Just hear me out, okay." He wanted her just to listen, but not be worried about what he was going to say.

"alright."

"I know that this isn't going to make everything magically perfect. And that there are still things that you're working through. But, you need to have this."

Hyde pulled out a tiny box. Jackie wasn't sure if she was imagining things. But if she hadn't completely taken leave of her sanity, that looked awfully like a jewelry box. Jackie started to feel light headed and had to focus on her breathing.

Hyde couldn't help himself "Don't get your hopes up too much, this isn't what it looks like."

Hyde opened the box, which held a beautiful sapphire & diamond ring, the stones were shaped like flowers. The diamonds were the center of two flowers, and the sapphires were petals around the flowers. Jackie had never seen anything more beautiful in her life. Except for him. The day she woke up in the hospital and saw his loving face looking at her. And every day that she was in his arms. They had been through so much. But now they were working on it. Together. She looked at those beautiful eyes of his. So blue, but so full of love. For her. And this time, she knew it.

Hyde swallowed hard, "This is, well, a Hyde and Jackie ring. We're not ready for an engagement ring and…no one we know does well with promise rings. So I had to go with something different. But the meaning is just the same. And that someday, when we're ready, I'm going to ask you to marry me. And then I'll put the biggest diamond Point Place has ever seen on that tiny finger of yours…If you'll have me."

"Oh my god, baby, of course I'll have you. I'll wear your ring and anything else you'll let me." Jackie covered her mouth with her right hand and extended her trembling left hand towards Hyde.

Hyde took the ring out of the box and placed it on her finger. Hyde knew that he would never forget the look on Jackie's face as long as he lived. Shocked, excited, completely blown away, and love. So much love. She may have been the one who attempted suicide, but they both had scars from their troubled pasts. Scars that were starting to heal with each other's love and support. She was the world to him and he was getting a lot better at telling her that.

"Now whenever you see this ring, I want you to remember how much I love you, even if I say the wrong thing. Especially, when I say the wrong thing. I'm still me you know."

"Steven, are you really sure about this? I don't want you to think that I'm pressuring you in some way. I don't want you to do anything you're not ready for…" Jackie reached up and gently stroked his face. She wanted that ring more than anything in the world. But she wanted it on his terms. Not because she gave him an ultimatum. Look where that had gotten them.

"For me to be saying all this, I'd better be." They both laughed.

Hyde got very serious and took Jackie in his arms. "Jackie, I love you. I'll always love you. I just wanted you to know that I meant what I said. You are the best thing that ever happened to me. And I want to give you everything you've ever wanted."

Tearfully, Jackie grabbed Hyde and pulled him towards her mouth. "You already have" She kept murmuring in between kisses

"I love you so much Steven…I just want to make you so happy. Always. I want to make a real home for you….And take care of you. Just us being there for each other, like our families had never been. I want to be your family…and make our own family. Oh baby, I want to make you so happy."

As she talked, Jackie was pulling Hyde into the bed of the El Camino, wanting to show him how happy she was. This was making love. As Hyde slid his hands down the sides of Jackie's body and they leaned back into the bed of the El Camino, He looked her in the eye and told her the same thing she had told him,

"You already have….You already have."