Author's note: This chapter is just mainly Jackie/Hyde interaction. But since this story is essentially from Jackie's point of view, he's being called "Steven." There's not much to say about this chapter, but I hope you all like it anyways.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of That 70's Show; they belong to whoever they belong to.

                                                                            Delicate Cutters

                                                                     "It's Just the Lack of Time"

   About ten minutes away from the secluded Burkhardt mansion is a small suburban neighborhood. The houses that line the street are nowhere near as grand as the Burkhardt's, but there's a certain warmth in their simplicity.

   At the center of this neighbor is a house in which the Forman family resides. Compared to the quite life of their neighbors, the Forman's home is usually filled with activity. Kids are always coming and going, Mrs. Forman is always cooking, cleaning, or mother-henning, and Red Forman is always finding something in yell about.

    It is here that the young Burkhardt girl has chosen to spend her time, sitting in the basement with her friends and boyfriend. But this is not the only reason she chooses to go to the house. With her father imprisoned, her mother abroad, and the maids let go because of her inability to pay them; she has had to learn the simple household tasks that many learn in their youth. Being without guidance in her own home, she sought out Mrs. Forman for help, and as it was her nature, she cheerily obliged.

    They would meet at the Burkhardt's house and Mrs. Forman would show her how to clean the objects in her home, and use the appliances in her kitchen. And always, while the girl was trying to imitate what her teacher had done, Mrs. Forman would step back and watch her with sad eyes.

* * * * *

      Jackie rocked back on her heels, admiring her handy work. Her costume closet was neatly organized and her eight tracks were filed according to genre, and in those categories, they were listed alphabetically. On the bottom shelf, her tapes were arranged the same way.

     It had taken her awhile, almost three and a half hours, in fact. She absently brushed a stray piece of hair from her face. Apparently, the actual cleaning process didn't take that long, compared to the organizing. She had dusted, vacuumed, and scrubbed the room in less than two hours. She had gotten all dirty, sweaty, and her hair had gone limp, and then she had to sit all hunched over sorting the things in her closet.

     She took that moment to straighten her back and work out the kinks in her neck. She scowled as her neck let out a particularly loud crack. She did all this work, by herself, something she had never done before, and she was way too sore to even enjoy it.

     Jackie sighed as she pushed her self to her feet. She supposed she could've asked Mrs. Forman for help, but she wasn't ready for people to see the studio yet. Before she had closed it off, it had been her safe haven. Her own little corner of the world, some place that was strictly hers. And after not having that for so long, she wasn't ready to share it.

    She turned her eyes to scrutinize the rest of the room. It was spotless. The dust was gone from the barre, and floor was washed, and the glass had been swept away. The mirror was still smashed, though. It wasn't that she couldn't bring in some one to replace it, because she could. She wasn't that broke. It was just…she couldn't bring herself to do it. It confused her as to why, but Jackie was never one to sit down and contemplate things for long, so she just assumed she had a reason somewhere in her head and left it at that.

    As Jackie surveyed the room again, her eyes strayed to the clock on the wall. 5:15. She returned her gaze to the mirror, before snapping it back to the wall.

   5:15?! Steven is going to be here in fifteen minutes! I'm not even ready!!

    She swore under breath as she bolted out of the room, pausing only to close the door securely behind her.

 * * * * *

    As Jackie rushed around her room, frantically trying to get ready, she appreciated for the first time the fact the Steven was always late. Though the extra ten minutes wouldn't give her enough time to get ready, even with the world's quickest shower she had just taken. She had never spent that little time conditioning her hair, and she was sure it would show. Hair like hers didn't just grow out of her head. It required time and effort. And now, because she had lost track of time, it wouldn't be looking its best. She didn't think she'd even have time to blow-dry and set it.

    She was hastily applying her makeup when the doorbell rang. Cursing, she began to quicken her pace, hoping no one would notice how sloppy her eye shadow was. The door rang again. Please, just give me five more minutes.  She picked up her eyeliner and began applying it with one hand while the other untied her robe. Then Steven's voice drifted upstairs.

 "Jackie?"

   How did he get…Damnit, I gave him a key!!

    Jackie threw her eye pencil down and ripped her robe off her shoulders. She could hear him coming up the stairs. She grabbed the dress she had laid out on the bed and pulled it on, not bothering to zip it. She shoved her feet into her shoes, hopping around on one foot as she tried to buckle them while trying to pull her damp hair into a ponytail.

 "Jackie?"

   She looked up as Steven opened the door. He raised an eyebrow at her predicament, and opened his mouth. She glared at him. He shut his mouth, but he couldn't keep the smirk off his face.

 "Shut up, Steven."

 "Hey, did I say anything?"

    His grin widened as he leaned against the doorframe. She finally buckled her shoes, and her other hand was free to help tame her hair. It was still wet, which meant it was curly. And curly hair was ten times more difficult to deal with than straight hair. Frustrated, she pulled the elastic out of her hair.

 "Need some help?"

    She let out an exasperated sigh. "Steven, you know absolutely nothing hair!"

 "I wasn't talking about your hair, Jackie. You're falling out of your dress."

     She blinked.  "Fine."

    Steven pushed himself off her doorframe and made his way to where she stood in front of the vanity table. She pulled her hair over her shoulder so it wouldn't get caught in the zipper. She felt him come up behind her and rest his left hand on her hip while he zipped her up with his other. When his hand reached the top of her dress, it paused. Jackie caught her breath as she felt his knuckles graze her shoulder blade before his hand slid down her arm. The hand resting on her hip moved around to her stomach as he pulled her against his body.

 "You know…" His lips were right next her ear, and the vibrations of his voice made her shudder. "We don't need to go out tonight."

     Then his lips were moving down her neck, leaving a trail of light kisses in their wake.

 "Steven," she bit her lip, "Steven, we have to."

     He paused momentarily before resuming his current task.

 " Steven, no." Her voice sounded breathy and unconvincing. She took a moment to collect herself. Then she turned around in his arms, breaking his mouth's contact with her shoulder. She held him away at arms length.

 "No. We promised to meet everybody for a movie."

     Something clouded in his eyes, and then he stepped abruptly away from her.

 "Fine. Whatever." He moved to sit on her bed and crossed his arms. "Finish getting dressed then, we don't want to be late."

     His voice was harder than it should be, and his eyes were still clouded. And now that she looked closer, his jaw was clenched as well. She took a step towards him.

 "Steven, what's wrong?"

 "Nothing." His voice still had an edge to it, signifying that it wasn't nothing.

 "Steven…"

 "Look, it's nothing, okay? So just finish with your hair so we can go to this stupid movie."

 "Steven!"

    He made a frustrated sound.  "Look, Jackie, it's cool. Just finish getting ready."

 "Oh no." She put her hands on her hips. "Don't try that 'It's cool' stuff with me. I know what your 'it's cool' means!"

    He didn't respond, instead he just raised his eyebrow. She sighed.

"Look, Steven if we're going to do this boyfriend/girlfriend thing, you have to talk to me. I can't do this all by myself."

    He just pursed his lips in response. She let out another sigh before moving to stand in front of him. She pulled his hands out from his crossed arms, holding them tightly in her hands.

"Steven, please." And she gave him the look she knew he couldn't resist. That wide eyed pout that she had perfected over the years. She could see it working on him. She could almost see the inner conflict flash across his face.

"Please." That final plea did it; he slumped down, cursing her under his breath. She smirked slightly. The look always worked. He straightened up and glared at her.

"Fine." He stopped here to run his hands through his hair. Jackie had to raise her eyebrow at that. He only did that when was at a loss for something to say. He finally collected his thoughts and started speaking again.

 "Jackie, when was the last we were alone? Just you and me with no one else there?"

 "Steven, what do you mean? We were alone yesterday…" She trailed off. No, they weren't alone; Fez was there.

 "Okay, not yesterday, but last-wait, no Michael was there. Oh, what about-no, no." She furrowed her brows. When was the last time they were alone?

 "See? Someone's always there, or I'm working, or your off with Donna. And then you work too, and you're always off dealing with things about your dad. I just, I mean-" She could see he was having trouble saying what he wanted, but she had heard enough to understand. She took his face in her hands and kissed him. He responded immediately, bringing his hands up to rest in the small of her back. She leaned into him, forcing him to tilt back. He pulled her closer, intent on deepening the kiss.

     Jackie pulled away slightly, resting her forehead against his.

 "I should probably call Donna, tell her we're not going. They're probably still waiting for us."

    She could see a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. She grinned at that and dropped a quick kiss on his twitching lips before heading over to the phone. Steven straightened up and watched her dial.

 "Hello? Mrs. Forman?"

 "I'm fine. Yes, Steven's here."

 "Yeah, I know, we were supposed to go the movies. Are they still there?"

 "Can I talk to Donna then?"

 "Hi, Donna."

 "Yes, we're fine, but we're not going to be able to make it tonight."

 "Shut up! You have a dirty mind. But yeah, you're right. Steven was feeling a little neglected."

     He protested that statement loudly, but Jackie just ignored him.

 "Yeah, I know. They are very needy. Anyways, you guys have fun, okay?"

 "Alright, bye."

      She hung up the phone and turned to face Steven, only to be greeted with a disgruntled look.

 "I've been feeling neglected?! You keep saying things like that and people will get the impression that I've gone soft, like Forman."

 "Oh, Steven," she returned to stand in front of him, resting her hands on his knees. "You have gone soft."

      She let out a shriek as he pulled her down on the bed, turning so he pinned her beneath him.

 "I've gone soft, have I?"

      She giggled. "Yes, very soft."

 "Jackie, if you want me do to you what I'm planning to do, you need me to be hard."

      She gasped in shock. "Steven! That's entirely inappropriate!"

 "But it's entirely true. Now stop talking so I can take your dress off."

 "Be careful with it, it's dry clean only."

 "Hey, I dressed you. I can undress any way I want to."

      And he proceeded to do just that. Any protests she had were soon forgotten with the touch of his hand, and the sensation of his mouth against hers. Soon all coherent thoughts were lost to the sound of their breathing, the only noise in an otherwise silent house.

                                                                                 * * * * *

     Jackie lay on Steven's chest, propped up on her forearms. Her fingers were lightly tracing the contours of his shoulder, while he absently twirled the hair that fell over her shoulder in his fingers. They hadn't spoken to each other since they had finished their prior activity. And Jackie didn't mind. In fact, she liked it. With Michael she was constantly talking, always trying to fill the silence, to keep his attention on her. Even back when she had believed that he was hers and hers alone, she still knew he had a short attention span and a wandering eye. She was always afraid that he would get bored of her.

    So she had talked. About everything, anything, and nothing. She had gotten into the habit of rambling, and soon it became something she did automatically whenever silence descended. She had grown accustomed to the sound. But then Steven came along and everything changed. For the first time she felt comfortable enough to be silent. Her relationship with him had taught her that sometimes, actions speak louder than words. Taking in their current situation, she knew this to be true. Whenever she and Michael had finished making love, he would either ask to do it again, or leave. He rarely ever stayed and held her, like Steven was doing now. Like Steven always did.

    Her fingers moved from his shoulder to his chest, running her fingers through the hair that grew there. She almost laughed at that. How many times had she said she would never date a man with excess body hair? She had always said that men like that reminded her of monkeys or gorillas. But now here she was, with a guy who was in fact very hairy, and she found it incredibly sexy. It's amazing how much you're expectations can change if you meet the right person.

 The right person…

    She bit her lip. She had thought Michael was the right person for her, and look how that had turned out. She chewed on her lip a bit harder, thinking. Finally, without looking up, she decided to break the silence.

 "Steven?"

 "Hmm?"

 "Do you, do you think that Eric and Donna will make it? I mean, do you think that they'll really last long enough to get married?"

    His hand stilled in her hair and a silence fell upon them. This time it wasn't comfortable. Jackie tried as hard as she could not to fidget, waiting for him to answer.

 "I don't know. I mean, you'd like to think they would, because they're Eric and Donna, but I don't know."

     She couldn't fight the urge to fidget, so she began running her fingers in circles over his chest.  "Why wouldn't they?"

     He sighed. "Well, it's Point Place, first of all. There aren't a lot of people here, so out of the people they've met so far, Eric and Donna are perfect for each other. But what happens when they go off to college? They won't be in the bubble they've been living in for the past eighteen years. There's going to be so many more experiences open to them, and so many more people. What if they were only together because of the lack of options in Point Place?"

    She immediately froze at those words. She lifted her head to look at him. "Steven! What are you saying? They love each other! Isn't love enough to make it?"

  "Look, Jackie," he sounded frustrated. "They're only in high school. How much do high schoolers know about love? We haven't had the chance to go out and experience the world. Eric and Donna haven't had that chance yet. No matter how much they say they love each other now, it can always change once they leave Point Place. It's just a high school romance, Jackie. High school romances never last."

     She felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on her.

How much do high schoolers know about love?

High school romances never last.

Never last.

     No. They could last. And she knew what love was! She knew what she felt for Steven couldn't be anything else. How could he doubt her? She looked at him, laid back on the pillows. He was looking unblinkingly at the ceiling, and his jaw was clenched. That soothed her fears a bit. He didn't like the thought as well. She slid the rest of the way up his body, and kissed him hard, hoping to put every emotion she was feeling, every bit of love she felt for him into that kiss. She needed him to understand.

 "I love you." Her voiced wavered ever so slightly, betraying the sadness she felt. He lifted a hand to brush her hair away from her face.

 "I'm not saying it back." His voice was soft, and she smiled half-heartedly at him. This was their thing. She'd say 'I love you,' and he'd respond the way he did the first time she told him. Who was she to break away from the script?

 "I don't care." But she did. She needed to know, needed to hear it. She needed to know if they had a chance of surviving the world Steven had described. He pulled her in for another kiss, before wrapping his arms around her, pulling her body as close to him as he could. She rested her head in the hollow of his, reveling in his warmth. But this closeness couldn't take away from the doubt he had implanted in her mind. Even after she had slipped into slumber, his voice still echoed in her head.

High school romances never last.

                                                                                    * * * * *

    Author's Note: Not much happened in this chapter, but it is a set up for something coming later, so it was necessary. I also just wanted to write some Jackie/Hyde stuff, because you can't have a Jackie fic without Hyde. It's just not possible. But this story isn't just about them, so come back for the next chapter and stay tuned for some plot development!