"Ain't no sunshine when she's gone. It's not warm when she's away. Ain't no sunshine when she's gone, and she's always gone too long any time she goes away.
Wonder this time where she's gone. Wonder if she's gone to stay. Ain't no sunshine when she's gone. And this ain't no home anytime she goes away.
And I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know.
And leave the young thing alone, but ain't no sunshine when she's gone.
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone. Only darkness every day. Ain't no sunshine when she's gone, and this house just ain't no house anytime she goes away.
Anytime she goes away. Any time she goes away. Any time she goes away."
-"Ain't No Sunshine," Bill Withers
Hyde sat on his bed, in his room, in his apartment, watching the door, as he had been for the past hour.
Another hour ticked by. He had barely breathed. And yet another.
He couldn't stand it. Gone.
She wasn't supposed to leave him. He'd been left alone before, but it had never felt like this before. Like leaving was really the end. At this point, the feelings of how Bud and Edna had left him had disappeared, and he could hardly remember how it felt. But this, this seemed to overtake him. His whole existence was focused on this now.
"Steven, I can't deal with it anymore- you and your little outbursts! Anytime you're in a bad mood, I'm the one that has to deal with it! Anytime you're upset, you take it out on me! And I can't stand it, because I know that I love you, but I also know that it shouldn't be like this!" she had shouted at him last night after dinner. He had deserved it, which only made it hurt more.
She had gone back to her apartment- in the same building- and he'd stayed in his. The next morning, he went down to her apartment, and saw that everything was gone. The landlord was in there, directing someone on sweeping the floor.
"Where is she?" he had demanded.
"She left," said the landlord. "This morning. I thought you knew."
Hyde shook his head slowly, backing out of the room, and half-running back to his apartment.
And there he stayed, staring at the door.
He awoke the next morning on the floor, aware that he had fallen asleep on the ground, watching the door, watching for her to come back.
He spent the whole day walking around. The TV was turned on at one point, and the radio at another, but it was all just background noise. He could hardly even hear it- the pounding of his heart in his head was too loud.
He couldn't stand it. Day after day, just this moping around. Eric and Fez and Kelso had continuously come by, but he couldn't be roused from his grief.
He had no idea where she was, where she had gone, or how to get ahold of her. She had left no number, no forwarding address, hadn't called, hadn't mailed anything. It was like she had just dropped out of his life.
And it was the worst possible thing he could imagine.
There had been a time in his life when he would have loved to have Jackie Burkhart drop out of his life completely. But now, it was the one thing he couldn't stand.
Rain clouds gathered outside, and a storm brewed. He smirked. Ironic. This was Jackie's favorite weather. He loved it too. Or, used to love it. Now it resembled his life- dark and grey and angry and sad.
"Donna!" he shouted through the rainy downpour.
"Hyde? Oh my gosh, what are you doing out here? It's pouring!" Donna shouted back at him.
"Gee, thanks, Donna, I didn't notice," he said sarcastically.
"Well, come on, get inside, stupid," she said, ushering him into her apartment. Once they were safely inside and out of the storm, and wrapped under blankets, she asked him, "So, what are you doing here?"
"You know where she is," he said simply.
"What? What do you mean?" she asked.
"I know you know where Jackie is," Hyde replied. "Maybe she wouldn't have told me, or Foreman, or Kelso, or Fez, but Jackie wouldn't have left town without telling you where she was going."
Donna nodded. "Hyde, she left for a reason, you know," she said gently.
"Yeah, I know, but I can't stand it," he said. "And I know it's my fault, but I have to make it up to her, Donna. I have to try."
She nodded. "Okay, but Hyde, before I tell you, you have to promise that it won't be like this anymore. She's been telling me what's going, and I really- I wish you would stop doing all of this!" she said.
"Well, don't worry, Donna, I won't be," he said. "Honestly, the only reason there was any of that was because I was nervous about this." He pulled out a little ring boxand flipped the lid open. "Do you think she'll like it?"
Donna's eyes lit up. "Oh my gosh, Hyde! You're gonna ask her to marry you!"
"Yeah, I was, but it's a little hard when your girlfriend's missing," he said. "So, you wanna tell me where she is?"
"Sure," said Donna, grinning.
"Jackie!" he shouted. The rain was pounding down even more heavily now. "Jackie, I need to talk to you!"
She opened up the door, and a smile lit up her eyes. "You came."
"Of course I came," he replied.
"Come in," she said, taking off his jacket for him. "Geez, it's really raining now, huh?"
"Yeah," he said, nodding. "Pretty much." He took a seat on the couch. "So what did you mean 'you came?'" he asked.
She shrugged. "I was waiting for you to come. I knew you would. You always come," she said, grinning at him.
He shook his head in disbelief. "How could I not?" he asked, smiling. "Listen, Jackie, I know I've been a real jerk lately, but, well, this is why." He pulled out the box, and took her gasp as a good sign, and continued. "And I know I've messed things up, but I'm trying, Jackie, and I'm gonna keep trying, because I can't lose you," he said. "Never again."
She beamed at him. "Oh, Steven!" she said, throwing her arms around him.
He laughed. "Is that a yes?" he asked, chuckling.
"Of course!"
He grinned, looking at the rain outside, glad to see overcast sky for the first time in days. Because he didn't need sunshine in his life anymore- because he had Jackie.