Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THAT 70'S SHOW.

Chapter 25: Denial

Rating: Teen

The sun set slowly as the cool October breeze blew through the city. Leaves and small flowers that were once settled onto a blooming tree now floated slowly down to the ground creating a scattered pattern of red, brown and yellow.

Jackie stood watching the leaves fall from the branches one by one, the occasional gust of wind causing small clusters of leaves to loosen their last grip. She should have been inside of the cosmetic shop finishing her last tasks before going home, but she had decided to stop outside to get some fresh air and got so enamored with the trees that her break had extended to be a lot longer than she had planned.

Taking a deep breath, Jackie finally began walking back towards the store. She grimaced as she passed a line of eerie, candle lit jack-o'-lanterns that were sitting next to the building. Lillian had asked Jackie if she wanted to carve the pumpkins with her last night, but she declined. Pulling out handfuls of disgusting pumpkin guts wasn't exactly Jackie's idea of a good time.

She let out an annoyed sigh as a group of over excited children in costumes ran past her and into the store to collect candy, almost knocking her to the ground in their flurry. Lillian assigned an employee to stand close by and give out Halloween candy and children had been coming and going throughout the whole afternoon.

Finally with no more children barraging her, Jackie was able to walk into the store, it was fairly empty. The majority of customers were probably at their homes having scary movie nights, going to parties or attending haunted houses. Activities that Jackie had no interest in partaking in after leaving work, instead she was going to do the same thing she'd been doing for the whole month. Go home and sleep. She hadn't been in the mood to do anything over the past few weeks. Ever since her birthday she had become… depressed and confused, even more than before and she just wanted to sleep. A small part of her hoped that just maybe her dreams could give her solutions to her real life problems.

Jackie walked into the back office and sat at her desk. Closing her eyes and placing her hand lightly on her forehead, she silently begged the nagging voices in her head to stop. They told her that she needed to go out and have fun, that she should go out to the party that Lillian invited her to, that she should talk to Christopher who she hadn't spoken to in almost a month. And that she should go visit Kelso, call Donna and maybe even… Hyde.

She shook her head quickly and cursed herself for even thinking about him. But she was surprised that she hadn't heard from or seen him. Although that was what she wanted…wasn't it? She was sure that the answer was yes especially after their last encounter the month before.

"Happy Birthday,"

Jackie frowned at the man standing in front of her doorway. "What are you doing here Steven?"

Hyde gave her a small smile. "Happy Birthday," He repeated.

Jackie sighed with impatience. "Thank you, now what are you doing here?"

"I came to wish you a happy birthday. And…I know that the last time we saw each other…it didn't end too good. So I wanted to make sure that you were okay."

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" Jackie watched as Hyde's eyes tore away from hers and moved downward at the bitterness in her voice. She felt a sliver of guilt run through her for being so cold towards him when it seemed that he only wanted to make up, but she quickly pushed it away. "I don't understand why you keep coming here; don't you have a store you have to run?"

Hyde looked back up and studied Jackie for a moment, and then he nodded. "Yeah, I do, I also have people that work there and can take over for me whenever I need them too. But fine I can take a hint, sorry I bothered you."

Jackie had recognized the quick flash of pain in his uncovered eyes before he turned towards the exit. Guilt immediately swamped her once more and she took a step forward, calling his name quickly.

He glanced behind his shoulder at her, a frown mounted on his face.

"You can stay for a little...if you want." She said,

"Do you want me to stay?"

Jackie held her breath, their eyes connected for several silent moments as they both waited for her to respond. She could tell that he was trying to look as though he didn't care what her answer was, but his eyes gave him away. She saw the small glimmer of hope in them.

"Well I am alone, and you came all this way…. we could watch TV or something." She looked quickly to her left and out the large window in her living room. "And it looks like it's going to rain pretty badly." She concluded after seeing the force of the wind swaying the trees along with the droplets of rain that had splashed against the window. "And I don't—"

"And you don't like to be alone during storms," Hyde finished for her with a small smile. "I know."

"Yeah." Jackie said, shifting uncomfortably, letting the silence between them grow.

"So…TV?" Hyde said after noticing her discomfort.

Jackie smiled and nodded slowly. "Sure."

Forty minutes later the pair sat in front of the TV, and Jackie soon noticed that Hyde's gaze had left the television. He looked over and saw Jackie looking at him with question, he pointed towards the bookshelf to the right of the room.

"I was just wondering if you had any more sexy adventure books over there."

Jackie rolled her eyes and turned her head quickly away from his, trying to hide her blushing.

"Are you ever going to let that go?"

Hyde smirked, "No, can't. It's too funny."

Jackie attempted to control her blushing cheeks but failed miserably causing Hyde to laugh. She watched him closely for a while before speaking.

"Fine, if my humiliation makes you laugh, then I guess I'll have to remember to read smut around you more often."

"Yeah, and then I'll remember to burn you about it every day after."

Jackie frowned. "It was just a book Steven. You know, you should try reading more often."

He paused for a moment, looking at her as his smile faded slightly, considering his next words. "There are a lot of things I should do more often that I don't. Like tell you how hot you look with your hair all around your shoulders like that."

Jackie studied him carefully, "What are trying to do Steven?"

"Nothing, I'm just giving you a compliment." Hyde said, his face masked with confusion.

Jackie continued to stare at him with uncertainty, and then mumbled a quick thank you. She stood to get more soda and grunted in irritation as she bumped into the coffee table and the empty cans along with a few other items fell to the floor.

With her cheeks burning, she bent down to pick everything up and her heart began to pound when he knelt down to help her.

They leaned forward at the same time, their fingers intertwining as they both reached for the same soda can. Releasing a shaky breath, Jackie pulled her hand back and looked down, beginning to pick up the rest of the items quickly. She lifted her head when she felt him shift. His lips were dangerously close to hers and his eyes were heavy with desire, studying her mouth as if he were planning the best way to kiss her. He lifted his gaze from her lips to her eyes and he stared at her for a short moment before he sprung.

Everything fell from Jackie's hands as she wrapped her arms around his neck, their lips crushing. His weight pushed her forward until she was on her back, she couldn't think. She didn't want to think. His hands were raking over every inch of her body he could reach. Her own hands were fisted in his hair and their tongues danced with one another.

When his lips moved from her mouth to her jaw, she moaned quietly, arching up into him. Then he whispered her name.

Suddenly the reality of what was happening hit Jackie and her sexual urge was replaced with guilt. Jackie pressed her palms against his chest and pushed him off of her, quickly standing.

She tugged her shirt down and took a few steps back from him. He was breathing heavily, his hair more disheveled than usual. He watched her for only a moment before he pulled himself up to face her.

"What?"

"I…I don't think it would be smart."

"What wouldn't be smart?" Hyde asked, "You and me? Maybe not...but damn it Jackie, you know it feels right."

Because she knew he was right, Jackie only felt more determined to deny and push him away.

"No…no it doesn't feel right because it's not." Her eyes met his and she looked directly into then and took a deep breath. "Look, Steven, I might not know exactly what I want. But I do know that whatever this is that we've been doing…well…this isn't it."

Hyde shrugged. "Ok…so what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I don't want to do this anymore."

"Ok, so we won't. Jackie…just tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it." Hyde lifted his hand and brushed it over her cheek slowly.

She reluctantly stepped away from his touch and took another deep breath. "I want you to be my friend."

Hyde paused for a moment, his brows drawn together in confusion. "Your friend?"

Jackie nodded. "Yes, my friend. Things are different now Steven, things have changed. I don't think there's any way that we can go back to how they used to be."

Frustrated and starting to feel upset, Hyde watched Jackie, her eyes now avoiding his. "What the hell has changed? I mean, you told me you weren't serious about that other guy right? So you just let him down easy and you and me...we can...start over somehow Jackie."

"It's just not that easy Steven." Jackie replied softly.

"Why not?" Hyde shouted, his anger growing. "Whatever. You know what, I don't even care. I'll see you later Jackie."

Jackie watched him leave in silence not bothering to try and stop him.

Jackie hadn't spoken to Hyde since that day, he hadn't tried to call or see her, nor her him.

'Maybe it really is over this time, for good. And that's a good thing right?' Jackie thought to herself. She didn't need him in her life, he only caused her heartache and sorrow, and that was certainly nothing that a person who was trying to rebuild their life needed. So she was positive that it was a good thing…. sure it was…. almost sure….

A/N: Questions or comments? Please review and I'll be happy to respond to them. Thanks for reading! :)