A/N: This one took a little thinking outside of the box... Hope you like it anyway :-)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Episode 13 : Spread Your Wings

"Don't you have any clue where you hid the bag?" Jackie asked as she and Hyde continued to search high and low in Eric Forman's bedroom.

"If I did I wouldn't need help searching for it, would I?" came the sarcastic response from across the room.

It was usual for the ex-couple to bicker and burn each other, the surprise was more that she was actually helping him out with a problem in the first place! All Jackie could say was she was bored, and also that if the Formans found Hyde's stash again the repercussions were bound to affect them all. The truth of it was more that she still cared for him, even though she didn't want to since he married a stripper and broke her heart. She cared enough she didn't want to see him thrown out of his home at least and that was why she was currently wincing as she opened and closed each drawer of the cabinet, finding abandoned underwear, a pornographic magazine, and...

"Huh" she said with a frown as she came across an envelope that bore her name, "Okay, why would Eric have left me a letter in this drawer?" she asked as she pulled the item out and stared at it.

"How should I know?" Hyde rolled his eyes, continuing to search under books and behind GI Joes a moment longer before realisation hit home, "Jackie, don't...!" he yelled, spinning around, but it was too late.

Jackie had the letter out of its envelope and was half way down the first page already. By now she would know what it was and she wouldn't give it up til she was done reading, he was sure. Steven Hyde wasn't sure what to do for the best now. Bolting seemed like a plan, but he'd have to face her eventually and it was maybe better they cleared this thing up whilst they were alone. Still, he didn't handle talking about feelings well, that was why he'd written the damn letter in the first place. He couldn't deal with all that was going on inside his head and heart, all the emotions he hadn't known he could feel til he started dating Jackie and their relationship went through ups and downs aplenty. He'd spilled his guts out on paper a few months ago on a particularly freaky trip. From that day to this he'd forgotten all about it. Now he recalled the contents of the letter Jackie held in frightening detail and wished the world would open up and swallow him.

"That letter means nothing!" he yelled the lie, pointing at the page in Jackie's hand, "I was under the influence of something very illegal and... it's nothing!"

The part about the drugs was at least true, he'd come up to Formans room one night when the folks were out and Sam was already asleep in his bed. Of course, it was complete crap to say that the words he'd written meant nothing. They both knew he was lying, that was obvious as Jackie looked over at him, then back at the page as she read aloud a particular part of the letter.

"'I don't do sorry, but I have to now. I hate that I hurt you by marrying Sam. I'm so sorry, doll, you know you mean the world to me'" she read aloud as Hyde looked at the floor, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes, wishing he could turn back time so he didn't have to do this with her now.

"This... When did you write this?" Jackie demanded to know, waving the paper around in her hand.

"A couple of days after Sam showed up" he admitted as he sat down heavily on the end of the bed, "I was trying to feel better about everything but instead of helping me get happy my stash turned on me! It, I dunno, it turned me into a girl or something" he muttered and complained, feeling stupid about all of this.

He knew Jackie couldn't love him anymore, he couldn't expect her to. Still, as much as he'd tried to tell himself he didn't care for her either, he knew that was a lie. He loved her more than he ever knew he could love anyone, and there was nothing he could do to make it stop.

"Steven" she caught his attention as she spoke his name and he glanced over at her, "if you mean these things..."

"I don't" he interrupted immediately, getting to his feet and going for the door, "I didn't, I... Jackie, it doesn't matter okay?" he yelled in frustration, "Whether I meant it or not, it's too late now" he declared, hand going to the doorknob as he made to leave her softly spoken words behind him stopped him dead in his tracks.

"What if it's not?" Jackie asked, as he turned slowly to look back at her, "I mean, it's going to take more than some dumb high letter to fix this" she admitted, "but if you really wanted to try, I... I would too" she said, voice cracking with emotion, "You know I still love you, Steven, and I can't stop" she admitted, tears filling her eyes as she gazed across at him.

It had been awful these past few weeks, they'd been so awful to each other. Jackie had convinced herself quite easily that Steven couldn't love her, what with the marrying a stripper and being so mean. She tried to convince herself she didn't love him either but no matter how many burns were tossed at each other, how many awful things they each did and said, for her the flame never died. She could hardly believe the words on the paper in her hand, but she knew Steven, better than anyone else, she was sure of it. The look on his face now as he stared at her, no glasses to hide behind, no lies left to speak, she knew he still loved her, and he was about to prove it.

Hyde cleared the space between them in two strides, pulling Jackie into his arms and kissing her soundly. It was the easiest way to react, though in the long run it would cause problems. Sticking with Sam had seemed like the smart thing, but Jackie was right. The most honest he'd ever been was when he was writing the letter his ex currently held in her hand as he took her breath away like he had so many times before.

Jackie put her arms up around Steven's neck, determined not to lose contact as she kissed him back with as much passion as he had for her. Everything was forgotten for now, all the badness of the past few months. In this moment it was as it had been in the beginning, fiery and passionate, and yet they had been through so much together, there was no doubt in either of their minds that their hearts were in this as much as their bodies.

Falling back onto the bed, even Jackie couldn't care that she was making out somewhere that Eric Forman once spent time with both Donna and at other times a certain guy's magazine. She was too engrossed in getting as close to Steven as possible, she was hardly aware of the world at all. Unfortunately, the moment didn't last as Steven manoeuvred them both further onto the bed, pushing Jackie onto something solid amongst the bedclothes.

"Ow" she yelped, pushing Hyde to one side of her as she wriggled around trying to find what was digging into her back, "What the hell is this?" she asked as she finally pulled out what appeared to be a macramé owl!

"Hey, this is what I was looking for!" Hyde grinned as he rummaged around in the owl and pulled out the brown paper bag that had started this whole thing.

"Steven?" Jackie prompted when he got more distracted from her than she'd like.

"Right" he said, throwing the owl aside, stash and all, "One thing at a time" he smiled as he pulled Jackie close and resumed kissing her, much to the brunette's delight.

- The End -