"Come here. Let me fix it"

Hyde had seen a lot of crazy things in his life, but the sight that greeted him when he walked in the basement after work really just took the cake.

"Jackie, what the hell are you doing?"

Jackie whipped her head around, equally as surprised to see Hyde. Don't know why. Not like I live here or anything.

"Steven! I thought you wouldn't be back until-

"Leo let me leave early," he said, crossing the basement to sit in his chair. "So, what exactly is going on here?"

Jackie was surrounded by pieces of one of Eric's spaceship models and that extra-strong glue he used on all his toys.

"I guess Eric just….left some of his nerd stuff out! We should probably put it away before he gets home." Jackie was already sweeping her hands over the pile, trying to stall the situation before Hyde could get any more jokes in.

"Jackie," Hyde was reveling in this. He so had her. "Eric finished this model last weekend. But it looks like now it's been….broken? Who would do such a thing?" he asked in mock surprise. Jackie opened her mouth to respond, but then slumped her shoulders in defeat.

"Fine, you caught me! But you can't say anything to Eric, okay?" she started toying with the model pieces again. "I got here early and he left it on the floor, okay? It's not my fault he's irresponsible!"

"But what are you doing with it now?" Hyde's curiosity was piqued. The Jackie he knew would've laughed, then stomped on the model a few more times, just to make sure it was good and broken.

"Well, I have to put it back together!" Jackie huffed. "Eric doesn't….I mean, he works really hard on these things and…." she muttered something under her breath that Hyde couldn't hear.

"What was that last part?"

"I feel bad!" she rolled her eyes, grabbing the glue. "God, I'm not a total monster, you know."

Hyde watched as she carefully lined a piece with glue, pressing the wooden ends together with her tongue sticking out. He had to admit; it was pretty damn cute. As the two pieces she had tried to attach fell apart, Jackie groaned.

"How does he do these things? It's impossible," she was grumbling to herself. Hyde felt that familiar twist in his heart, the one that meant he was about to do something against his better judgement.

"Come here," he sighed. "Let me fix it." Jackie looked up, shocked at his suggestion.

"I've seen him put enough of these things together," Hyde explained defensively. "And besides, between the two of us, I'm pretty sure we're smarter than Forman."

They spent the rest of that afternoon bickering over tiny model parts, glue all over their hands. It wasn't exactly how Hyde had planned on spending his afternoon, but as Jackie stuck the last piece onto the stupid thing, he had to admit: it hadn't been that bad. Might've been kinda fun.

"We make a good team, Burkhart." He reclined in his chair, glad it was done before Forman had come home. Jackie smiled at him; her real smile, not the fake one she reserved for adults and boys she was trying to trap. It was nice and, without even thinking about it, Hyde smiled back.