Eric's yard was coming along nicely, and Jackie watched him as he went through each day with new eyes, understanding now why he pushed himself so hard all the time.

Their individual beds were now pushed together to make one bigger, double one, but they found that they didn't need the extra space anyway, preferring to lie close to one another instead, with his arms around her and her head in the hollow of his neck.

Eric slept so much better with Jackie with him, and the one night that he had jerked awake in torment again, she was right there with him, arms tight around him, calm and soothing. The shadows under his eyes were gradually disappearing, but the scars on his soul were deep and those would take much longer to heal.

One Sunday, she woke to find Eric staring down at her. She smiled up into his eyes and wondered how she could have ever not noticed their color before. This morning they were a soft, rich green.

"Morning, angel."

She leant up and brushed his lips with a gentle kiss. "Morning."

"We're going somewhere special today."

She sat up immediately. "Where?"

He gave her an enigmatic smile. "You'll see."

The drive there took about two hours, and after that it was another thirty minute hike through the woods. The forest itself was lush and verdant, filled with life, and crisp and green. Birdsong sounded through the trees and delicately patterned butterflies fluttered about her. It was magical, and Jackie loved every bit of it.

The rushing sound of water became clear only about twenty minutes into their hike. It grew louder and louder and rose into a crescendo as they made their way towards it.

Eric held on to her hand to make sure she didn't lose her footing and with one arm, swept aside the low lying branches of a tree to lead her into a rocky glade. Mists of water wet her face as she took in the elegant falling waters of a most beautiful waterfall.

It was stunning, a white cascade of water falling straight down into a large pool surrounded by rocks. She made her way to the rocky edge of the clear waters of the pool, drawn to the falling waters, and Eric followed closely behind her.

Her eyes were closed. He stood next to her, gazing at her beautiful face.

I love you. It was to him as clear as the skies overhead and the waters before them.

He loved her. With every broken piece of him and every part that she had managed to put back together. With whatever remained of him that he had lost and for the slice of heaven that she brought to him with just her smile.

I love you.

The sun shone brightly overhead, setting the whole glade alight with a soft orange glow and she lifted her face to it, a serene smile playing on the perfection of her lips.

"You like?" he asked softly.

Her smile grew. He watched as a fine spray of mist clung to the length of her eyelashes and coated the darkness of her hair.

"I love."

She opened her eyes to look deep into his. "I love," she repeated, linking her fingers with his. She looked at the pool and turned to him in question.

"It's safe," he said, reading her mind.

She giggled and immediately released his hand. Stripping off her t-shirt and shorts, she turned to face him in her bra and panties. He trailed his eyes over her body unabashedly, memorizing every dip and curve and hollow.

"You coming?" she called, before she tossed him an uninhibited grin and took a flying leap towards the waters. She pushed off the edge with one foot and executed a graceful somersault, courtesy of many hours of cheerleading practice, and entered the water with a loud splash.

Fighting a smile, Eric brushed some water off his hair and waited for her to resurface. She did a moment later, laughing giddily and treading water.

"Eric, come on," she called again.

He just smiled, content just to watch her. He leant down and started to unpack the lunch that he had brought along for them. She waited till he was done, then with a mischievous twinkle in her expressive eyes, she scooped her hands together and sent water splashing up at him.

"Come on, Eric!"

He rolled his eyes and gave in, pulling his shirt up over his head. She cheered.

She averted her eyes when he reached for the waistband of his jeans. As familiar with one another as they had gotten to be over the past months, Eric had always taken care to maintain a decorum of some sort with her that he never seemed to bother with when they were back at Point Place. As such, she had never seen him without his jeans or pants on, and he never stalked around their hut in his boxers either. That he was undressing in front of her now made her shy somehow.

A quiet splash alerted her to his presence in the water and she looked around to see him break the surface a moment later. He wiped water off his face with his hand and swam towards her with strong and sure strokes.

"Does the fact that we're playing around in our underwear strike you as odd in anyway?" he asked her when he was an arm's length away.

She laughed and bobbed her head. "A little. But whatever."

He grinned. "You've great taste in your underwear, Jackie Burkhart."

She harrumphed and tried to dunk him under the water. She lost her balance in the process and ended up coughing and sputtering with Eric thumping her back.

"I'm alright. I'm alright," she gasped, clutching his forearms for support.

"Not so graceful in water, are we?"

She erupted in giggles, which nearly sent her sinking underwater again if not for Eric's steady arm around her waist.

They floated around on their back for a bit, enjoying the sun on their faces, the waterfall behind them, and each other's company. Jackie had never felt so fulfilled and so carefree.

Her nails were gross and her face was bare. Her hair was a shadow of its past glory, and right now it was a wet and tangled mess floating out around her head in the water. She wasn't wearing makeup, but her eyes have never been more luminous or her cheeks so rosy. Her hair was not hot ironed to an inch of its life, but it was lustrous and healthy and her skin was golden from the sun.

She glowed. And she knew she owed it all to Eric.

Eric.

She looked over at him, floating peacefully beside her. His eyes were closed like hers were a minute ago and he was so handsome he took her breath away. Her eyes followed the strong lines of his face, the straight nose and beautiful mouth and she thought about how nothing could ever be as beautiful as who he was on the inside.

With the sun warm on their skin and surrounded by the peace and tranquility of the lush forest of the glade, she felt like she would be content to be there with Eric forever.

"It's the first time I've been back here since you arrived," Eric said, breaking into her reverie.

She turned to him quizzically.

"Why?"

"I didn't need to."

He didn't say anything further and she left it at that. He flipped upright, sending ripples in the water around them and she followed suit. Lifting an arm he pointed towards the straight falling waters behind her. She turned to look.

"There's a cave behind that, you know."

Her face lit up. "I wanna see."

He nodded. "Follow me."

They swam towards the bottom of the falls where the waters were the roughest. Navigating around the churning pool at the foot of the falls, Eric led her along the face of the rocky cliff.

Once they were clear from the force of the tumbling waters, he stopped swimming and reached out a hand to her. She grasped his fingers and they threaded their way slowly along the rocky surface until their feet found solid footing on the ground.

A series of large smooth stones led up to the mouth of a small cave in the rocky cliff. The entrance of it was well hidden by the cascading waters of the waterfall and anyone who didn't know that the cave existed would have missed it. It was wide enough for three people to stand in a row with their hands outstretched, and the ceiling was high enough for Eric to stand upright comfortably, with a good foot or two to spare.

Eric made his way carefully up the slippery stones and Jackie followed closely behind. He entered the cave first and looked around, as awed now by it as he was the first time he had discovered it. He turned around to look at Jackie, eager to see her reaction to it.

Jackie had never seen anything like it in her life. She made her way slowly inside, and spun around in a slow circle, taking everything in.

The walls of the cave were illuminated with a dance of light. Sunlight streaming in through the moving waters of the waterfall outside cast shimmering patterns the full spectrum of the rainbow along the walls and up onto the roof of the cave. The roar of the falling waters echoed in her ears and surrounded them in the cavernous space. It was beautiful and magical. She wanted to stay here forever.

She turned to face Eric with shining eyes. "It's wonderful," she breathed.

"It is," he agreed huskily, and he was having difficulty tearing his eyes away from her.

The black and nude lacy underthings that she had on under the modest t-shirt and shorts she had left the village with left almost nothing to his imagination. Now that they were wet, they were nearly transparent, and the cups of her bra moulded to the shape of her full breasts. There was a chill to the air in the cave, and though Jackie didn't seem to feel cold, her body certainly reacted to it and her nipples were clear and erect through the thinness of her bra.

Her panties offered almost no coverage at all. It clung to her hips like second skin, and the dark thatch of hair between her legs was clearly visible to him.

His reaction to her near nakedness was instantaneous, and he was rock-hard immediately. He forced his eyes away, and turned his body to the side to hide his arousal from her.

She spoke softly, her voice filled with wonder, running a hand along the sides of the walls, oblivious to the raging war going on inside Eric, and that with every step that she took towards him, he took two steps back and away from her.

"God, I've never seen anything so incredibly amazing before... Just how did you discover this—" she broke off and frowned, noticing that he was doing some kind of weird side step with half his body angled away from her.

"Eric? What're you doing?"

He half turned his body, but kept his eyes fixed on a point over her left shoulder. "What?" he said shortly.

Her frown grew more pronounced and she looked behind her to follow his line of sight. Seeing nothing, she looked back at him. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but here with her. She folded her arms under her breasts, disappointed and saddened that he didn't seem to be as content as she was that they were there together.

"Eric, what's wrong?" She looked behind her shoulder again and saw nothing there.

He was still avoiding her eyes. She took a step towards him and was stung when he moved away yet again.

The happy bubble that she was in deflated. She wrapped her arms more tightly around her middle and lowered her eyes to the floor.

"Jackie. You've got to stop doing that." Eric's voice was strained. He dragged his eyes away from her pushed-up breasts to fix on the flickering lights on the cave wall.

Jesus Jackie, stop that. God you're strangling me. Hyde's voice echoed in her head and she fought a sense of déjà vu.

"Doing what?" she replied almost mechanically, unconsciously using the same words she had with Hyde. She stared at his stony profile and felt ice start to creep into her veins.

It physically hurt him to move. She had come closer and he could smell the alluring scent of flowers and sunshine, and a hint of something mysterious and sensual that was uniquely hers. His senses went into overload. He throbbed.

The past several days following the night that marked a turn in their relationship were some of the best and hardest nights that Eric had yet to endure. Her physical closeness to him each night was intoxicating, and though he never wanted to let her go, it grew harder and harder everyday for him to have her so close and have to restrain himself from doing anything more. The satin of her skin called to him, and he wondered what the feel of her bare body would be like under his hands. Every time a lock of her hair brushed against his arm, he imagined grabbing fistfuls of it as he lost himself deep within her.

It had been difficult, but he had tried to keep that deep soul-searing kiss that they had shared that night out of his mind; with the sole intention of giving Jackie a free pass, and some space to sort out how she felt about him, about them — together. So far, she had seemed happy about their current situation, blissfully oblivious to his raging desire for her.

She had never once mentioned their kiss, nor expressed any inclination to move past the only ones that they had shared since: chaste ones that spoke of great affection and deep caring — the kind between true friends; but held nothing of passion or desire — the kind that existed between lovers.

At present though, there was nothing he could do about his raging hard-on, which the gentleman in him was trying his best to hide from Jackie. At least until he got it under control.

She wasn't helping him any, and he heard her moving closer. A second later, he felt her slender fingers close around his forearm. Eric tensed, his hands fisting at his sides.

"Is it... something I said?" she ventured in a low voice. Her fingers tightened over his arm, and he felt the wet material of her bra just above the back of his elbow. "Or... Or something that I did wrong?"

He didn't reply, and she saw his jaw flex. "Eric, please talk to me. Look at me. Please."

She reached up to cup his jaw with trembling fingers, and turn his face towards hers.

Jackie had expected to see ice in his gaze, had even steeled herself for it. It was fine, she would be okay, nothing could hurt as much as what Steven had put her through. So why did she feel as if she was slowly being ripped apart at her newly mended seams?

She was not prepared for the blast of fire in his green eyes when she finally saw them. Relief swept through her in waves. Confusion soon followed. Eric read them all on her face and understood.

"Jackie. You know how I feel about you." His voice was tight.

Did she?

Long heated gazes. Scorching kisses to innocent parts of her body. Her wrist. Her palm. Excuses to be near her. To touch her. Always touching her. Always looking out for her. Always looking at her.

Like she was the most precious thing in the world to him.

Her breath caught. She did. She knew. He was just waiting for her to respond in kind. To feel that way about him too. But she didn't know if she did. She had come to him to run from the mess that she was back in Point Place. From Steven. From the loneliness. From everything. To mend. To heal. And she had.

She couldn't look away from him. God she loved his eyes. She lost herself in them, eyes that had never hidden anything from her, and for the moment, there was just the two of them. Him and her. And everything that had seemed so wrong and complicated before was so simple and so clear to her now.

She nodded her head and moved into his arms. The green in his eyes burned. The top of her head barely came to his chin as she leaned her body into his. She felt his erection, hot and hard as it pressed into her tummy and her own desire rose swiftly in response.

"Hiding something from me?" she asked him primly. She trailed her hand across his bare chest and feathered them down the ridges of his hard stomach to graze her knuckles against him. A tremor went through his body.

"Jackie? Do that again and you'll be finding yourself in a very different position."

She smiled into his chest, then turned her face up into his neck and breathed him in. She jumped up to wrap her legs around his waist and he caught her effortlessly. Their mouths fused together in a flaming kiss that left her light-headed and giddy.

"God, you taste so good," he murmured into her mouth, and moved to press her back against the side of the cave. He slid his hands under the wet material of her panties and she moaned, involuntarily rubbing herself against the bare skin of his stomach. His fingers gripped the flesh of her bottom.

They slid to the floor of the cave together without breaking the kiss and he snaked an arm around her waist and hauled her sideways into his lap. His hands came up to unclasp her bra and she felt cool air hit her as he took it off and tossed it away.

"Eric," she murmured, suddenly self-conscious at the thought that he would be seeing her breasts for the first time. Donna had a great pair and though hers were full and perfectly formed, she was still smaller than Donna and for the first time ever, she felt insecure about them.

"Let me look at you," he said and before she could voice her insecurities, she felt his hot gaze on her bare breasts. "God I've dreamed about this for so long," he breathed and a rough hand came up to palm the flesh and rub against her nipple.

Her breath hitched and she leaned into him, sucking on his neck. "You're perfect," he told her and Jackie felt a thrill of pleasure run through her at his words. She reached around for his other hand to cover her other breast and she moaned again when he massaged them and pinched her between his thumb and forefinger.

His mouth trailed down and he took one breast in his mouth as his fingers moved further downward to stroke her through the material of her panties. She clung on to his wide shoulders and mewled and gasped as he laved the tip of one breast with his tongue and played with her through the cloth. She bucked her hips towards him, aching for more and he nipped at her nipple with his teeth. "What do you need?" he asked her huskily.

"More…," she panted, "Eric, I need more."

He pushed the delicate material aside and slid his fingers inside her panties, running them down her slick folds. She was so hot and so wet and he was harder than he had ever been in his life.

"Eric," she pleaded, "please."

He obliged her and ripped the panties at the seams, slipping two fingers into her tight heat. A shiver went through her body as Jackie literally drowned at his touch. He moved faster, rubbing his thumb in circles against the sensitive nub on the outside of her folds. She pushed against his hand and spread her legs wider. Eric inserted another finger, and reading her body knew she was close to coming. He gave her breast a hard suck and she shuddered into a climax.

He held her tightly, his nose buried in her still damp hair — always so sweet and fresh and pure with something that was essentially 'Jackie'. He wondered if this was why Hyde kept her in his life all these years and how Kelso even, could never seem to really let her go.

She shifted in his arms, spent from her earth-shattering climax and accidentally brushed up against his throbbing erection.

He inhaled sharply. "Right. You need to give me a little space right now."

She shook her head with her face still in the crook of his neck and wound her arms tighter around him.

He laughed softly and reached round to gently untwine her arms from his neck. Leaning down, he pressed his forehead against hers. His eyes were closed and his breathing was uneven as he said, "We need to stop."

"Why?"

He chuckled but didn't open his eyes. "Because I'm about this close to having my way with you."

Her laughter rang out as clear as a bell, and echoed in the cave around them.

He smiled in response, then continued matter-of-factly, "And you're not ready for it."

She wanted to protest, she really did, but it seemed as if Eric knew her better than she did herself.

She wasn't ready. Definitely not, to go all the way with him. She wasn't even sure what she really felt about him yet; her heart had recently been badly broken, and her feelings for him were new and unfamiliar.

She might disagree with it, or she might not even know it. But Jackie Burkhart was not the kind of woman who would sleep with a man she didn't feel deeply for.

Even if she didn't actually know this on a conscious level, Eric seemed to guess at it, or even understand it to some extent. And he would never pressure Jackie into doing anything that he knew she would regret after.