AN: I'm finally going to try and finish this story. Sorry for the delay

Chapter 8: Now What Dumbass

After breakfast me and Jackie decide to go for a drive. I'm not ready to run into any of our friends. We decided to go to the same place we had our first date. I'm laying in the bed of the Camino with Jackie curled up beside me. We need to talk and I'm not sure that I'm ready for this.

"Grasshopper, what do you think about looking for our own place, here in Pointe Place" Hyde asks nervously.

Jackie rolls over on top of me, " oh my God Steven, are you serious" she squeals.

"Yeah, I think that it"s time for me to move out and get my own place."

"Steven, are you sure?" Jackie asks questioningly.

"I might not be ready for marriage, but that doesn"t mean that we aren"t ready for the next step." I answer as confidently as I can manage.

We spent the rest of the morning hanging out listening to the tunes on the Camino"s radio. Jackie barely sat still for about 20 minutes after I asked her to move in. What is throwing me for a loop is that she should be talking my ear off after talking about interior decorating and color schemes, but she is unusually quiet, especially for Jackie Burkhardt. I look down to find her sound asleep. She must be more tired than I thought.

Laying here with my chick snuggled under a blanket with no outside problems I wonder why I am always running from my own peace. Sure Jackie is stubborn, loud, and still just a little spoiled from time to time, but man she more than makes me happy. When we came here for our first date, I thought that I was just going to prove to her that her crush on me was just that. I never imagined that she really got me like she did. When she told me that I was worthy of love, I found it hard to really believe, a part of me still does. Somehow even though I tried my best to fuck it up again, here she is.

I need to have a real conversation with Kelso. I'm starting to realize that some of mine and Jackie's problems come from my own issues with him and Jackie having dated before. He needs to stop with his fucking obsession with her. Everytime we are having problems there"s Kelso's dumbass trying to get in her pants again.

Sometime Later

"Oh my God I feel like I'm going to get sick"! I exclaim. I roll out of Steven's arms and jump out of the bed of the Camino. I run to the edge of the clearing and unload my breakfast in the bushes. Steven comes up scrambling behind me.

"Jackie baby what's wrong?" he whispers as he kneels down to grab my hair.

I'm beyond horrified that he is standing here beside me as I'm tossing my breakfast. Pretty girls are not supposed to be hurling out in the open for the whole world to watch. He's never going to want to kiss me again.

'Steven, I'm fine now. " I say as I wipe my mouth with the handkerchief that Mr Forman gave me the other day after one of my crying fits in the basement. I really thought that now that Steven was back I would be over all of this stress. I just want to go lay down. "Steven can you please take me home, so I can wash up and rest for a bit."

"Sure Doll".

Steven folds up all of the blankets in the back of the Camino and lays them behind his seat. He lays one on my lap. These details are what he doesn't even see himself doing. It is the little things that he does that shows me that he cares about me, even if he doesn't often say the words.

I curl up in my spot beside my Puddin Pop, listening to Zeppelin of course. I'm being lulled to sleep by the rumble of the motor when I feel his arm pull me closer. I'm somewhere between daydreaming and sleep when the car comes to a stop. I didn't realize that we had already made it to the Forman's, when I open my eyes I'm confused.

"Steven, why did you bring me here"? I gasp out.

"Jackie you said you wanted to go home and wash up, last time I checked this is where you lived" . Hyde looked confused by the tears in Jackie's eyes. He turned and really looked at the Burkhardt mansion for the first time since pulling up into the circle drive. It was somewhat unkempt, and there was a very hard not to miss Foreclosure sign in the big bay window.

"Jackie what is going on and just where is your mother?" Hyde asks, trying not to sound angry.

"Steven what do you want me to say? That Pam walked out and left me homeless. " I cried out between tears.

Hyde takes his shades off, pinching the bridge of his nose trying to calm down. He would never hit a woman, but Pam Burkhard wasn't much of a woman. The only thing that separates that woman from Edna Hyde is money. Hyde pull's Jackie into a hug. Trying to comfort her the best he can.

I knew once Steven found out he would think the only reason I wanted to move in with him was because I had nowhere else to go. He's going to think I am as conniving as my mother, or worse, he is going to feel sorry for me. Feeling somewhat defensive I look up " Look Steven, when she said she was going on vacation I thought she would come back this time. Then I got the job offer in Chicago, and it all worked out. It didn't matter that she wasn't coming back."

"Wait, Jackie when exactly did your mom leave, and when did the bank foreclose on your house?" Now Hyde is starting to get angry. How long has this been going on.

Jackie closes her tear filled eyes, "Pam left 2 months ago and the bank foreclosed on the mansion 2 weeks after she left. I finally got a hold of her and that's when she told me that she knew that we couldn't keep the house anymore. Since I'm legally an adult Pam let me know that she was no longer obligated to take care of me. " Jackie sobbed.

Hyde sits here thinking. So for the last 2 months Jackie has wanted to know if they had a future. Man, Red is right. He is a dumbass. Here's his chick begging him to let her know that she has a future with him, when all the while she just wants to know that she is loved. I mean look at her, this tiny little doll, so fragile, and yet she is always putting on this brave front for the world to see. I embrace her even tighter. I practically whisper into her hair, "Jackie, I love you."

I can't stop the tears from falling, my stomach is flopping again. What I couldn't bring myself to tell Steven or the Formans is all truly hurtful things My Mother said to me on that phone call. 'Jacqueline I tried so hard to teach how to use your looks to snag a wealthy man that would take care of you. Granted you will never be as beautiful as I am, but still you didn't have to go slumming like you did with Hyde boy. His real father might have money, but doesn't change the fact that that boy was raised by trash. For God's sake Jackie he lives in a basement. What kind of life are you going to have'.

I'm going to throw up again. I turn to jump out of the car and throw up all over the sidewalk. Steven is here beside me again. God he really is never going to want to kiss me again. My stomach actually aches by the time I'm done.

"Doll, let's go home."

Steven helps me up, we get in his car and drive back to the Formans. The Formans already know my mom split again. I even told Mr Forman about the foreclosure. He helped me move my stuff into storage. He even helped me get some of the stuff Pam left that I might be able to sell.

I'm definitely taking another nap when we get home. I can't believe I'm so tired. As we pull into the driveway at the Formans I feel Steven tense up beside me. I look up and see Michael Kelso playing basketball with Fez and Donna. Michael looks like a deer in the headlights.

Steven puts the car in park and jumps out, "Kelso just the person I didn't need to see" Hyde practically yells as he gets in Michael's face.

"Hyde I can explain"...