Three days later, Angie came into Grooves Records to see Jackie and Hyde standing behind the counter.
"Hi... you're back to work, that's good... and you look like you feel better..." she said hesitantly.
"I'm fine." Jackie nodded.
"Look, about what happened... Jackie, honest, I didn't want that to happen..."
"I know that, Angie." Jackie said with a shake of her head. "It's whatever. You feel guilty- which you should, but it wasn't your intentions, so... you're off the hook."
"You forgive me?"
"I said you're off the hook; don't push it."
Angie nodded. "Right... So... you gonna get your DJ job back?"
"Well, they said I could, but Steven offered me a job here."
"Here?" Angie frowned. "Doing what, exactly? Making out with him on the couch over there?"
"Hey, how we spend coffee breaks is none of your business. Besides, I like having her around, and she's good with customers." Hyde said, putting an arm around Jackie's waist. "I already filled the paperwork out."
"Without asking me at all?"
"Yeah, considering, I didn't think I had to."
Jackie held her hands up in a T. "Time out. That's enough, you two. It's over, you're going to have to figure this out, because I don't want it rehashed over and over- I want to forget it happened. It was awful..." she said, a small shudder going through her petite frame.
Putting an arm around her, Hyde opened his mouth to argue, but, Kelso and Eric walked in the door with Donna and Fez.
"Hyde!" Eric said quickly. "They found the guy, arrested him."
"Hey! I was gonna tell him!" Kelso pouted.
"So... what happens now?" Jackie asked, clutching to Hyde's shirt.
"Unless he can make bail, he's locked up until his court date." Eric explained to her.
Jackie nodded, leaning against Hyde, who tightened his grip.
"Kelso... get me into that jail?"
"Steven, no!" Jackie said.
"I just wanna talk to him... just a minute."
"No, you want to beat him up."
"Yes, yes I do..."
"Hyde, Kelso would get fired and you would get arrested yourself, plus it could screw up his sentencing if the judge considered it police brutality considering Kelso let you." Donna said logically, patting him on the arm.
Hyde sighed, rubbing Jackie's arm gently. "Okay... fine."
"Besides, Steven... we have a wedding to plan; I already had sent the invitations out, so the date is still the same, and we're a week behind."
"Oh, yeah... we haven't even gotten a place yet..."
"Don't worry about it; we can crash at my mom's until we find something, she's not even there." Jackie dismissed.
"Hey, what about Betsy?"
Jackie raised an eyebrow at him. "What about her?"
"Well... could she be the flower girl?"
"Micheal, she just learned to crawl... I don't think that's a good idea..."
"Come on, we can put the basket around her neck like those barrels on the St. Bernard's..."
"She's a baby, not a dog, Kelso..." Donna said, shaking her head at him.
"But, that would be funny..." Fez argued.
And, just like that, everything started to fall into step of normalcy again, and Hyde could feel that it would be all right, as he heard his friends joking and bickering back and forth.
"No, Donna, you are not wearing pants in my wedding!" floated past his ears, and he smiled, holding Jackie even tighter still.
Everything important to him was right here in this room- right here in his arms, and he would never let her go again...
-End-
