Disclaimer: I own nothing! Other then the plot!!!! Lol… everything else belongs to its rightful owner :) Though I would mind owning That 70's Show cast… :)
Author's Notes: Ok this is a Jackie & Eric FRIENDSHIP. There's J/H in it. Of course J/H it's Jakcie&Hyde for heaven's sake :). Ok, but it's a friendship fic. It's precelbration day but post the break- up it falls somewhere in between. Okie dokie :) Ok R&R Hope you enjoy
*I'm you're there friend.*
I walked down the stairs to the basement. Mom and dad were gone for the whole day. Donna went shopping for new house stuff with Joanne. Hyde was going to be at work till tonight. And finally, Fez and Kelso were going to go girl hunting at the Mall. Man, I was excited. I decided that junk food, TV, and everything fun would have to do. As I got to the bottom of the stairs I saw a head of sopping went hair from the couch.
It was raining, really badly actually. But who on earth would come to the basement. It dawned on me. Who was the one person I had no clue about their plans. Jackie.
Damn.
I had two choices, run upstairs and pretend I had no clue she was here, or talk to her. I wasn't Jackie's number one fan, but I was still considered a friend. For some odd reason.
I had never been really alone with her. Hyde or Donna was always around. The group, meaning Hyde and Donna, had gone to great lengths to make sure Jackie and I were never left alone. I liked her… as my girlfriend's best friend and as my best friend's girlfriend. Well, ex-girlfriend, but still.
I looked at her wet head. I felt kind of bad, and I was a little curious to find out what the hell she was doing in the basement. I did what any real man would do. I went up to the couch, I smiled and I tapped her shoulder.
"Jackie?" She turned around to reveal her tear-stained face, her puffy eyes, no make-up, no nothing. She was drenched from head to toe. Her eyes were pink-ish; you could tell she had been crying. In a nutshell she looked like hell.
I had seen Jackie cry before. But this time, I really saw her cry. Silent tears had been rolling down her face. I had never comforted her. Yes, I had watched Donna comfort Jackie. And I had heard of how Hyde comforted Jackie. But never had I been left in a room alone with a crying Jackie.
The break-up was only a week and a half ago. Hyde wasn't doing all that great, even though it was hard to tell. And Donna told me a day or two ago, Jackie was still crying at night. I looked at Jackie. She looked really tired.
I noticed she didn't seem to mind my presence. She didn't wipe her face with her hands and come up with an excuse that I've heard over and over.
Hyde always said Jackie's biggest thing was pride. And no one saw the side of her that made her out to be weak or imperfect. But I was seeing the weak, vulnerable, imperfect Jackie. It actually made my heart go out to her. She didn't seem like she was bossy, or snobby, or prissy. She seemed like a real person, a human, who just got her heart broken.
I didn't know what to say. Luckily she didn't care. She held up a picture.
"Did you know about this?" I looked down at the picture. It was of her and Hyde. It didn't look recent. Hyde was sitting on the couch, smirking, and Jackie was behind him, one arm resting on the couch and the other was holding up her face as she smiled to the camera.
"No." I mumbled softly coming around to sit on the couch. Jackie was in the middle so I took the seat to her left.
I took her in as I sat down. She was looking down at the picture, mesmerized by it. Her clothes were soaking wet. I could see through her shirt. Her hair was damp and stuck to her head in a curly mess. Her face was pale-ish, her jeans were soaked. She was a mess.
"Your mom took the picture. Like two years ago. I had been looking for Michael. And Steven… Hyde was here, doing whatever he did. Your mom came down looking for you and Donna to end her roll of film. She had one picture left. She made me and Hyde pose…" Jackie faded after that. I heard her tone the two times she said Hyde's name. It didn't sound right coming from her. It sounded forced and stranger-ish.
Then I remembered about the picture. I looked at it again. It hit me. I had seen that picture before. It was Hyde's. I had caught him staring at it one day. He kept it under the cushion on his chair.
"Where did you find that?" I asked. She looked at me and then on the floor by Hyde's chair.
"When I walked in it was on the floor, upside down. I've been looking at it for a little while." She said, she placed it on the coffee table, face down.
"How long have you been here?" I sounded concern.
"About five minutes. I came down here to see if Donna was here. She has my keys. I didn't know it was raining so hard."
"That's ok. But Donna went to the furniture store with Joanne." Jackie nodded her head. I really did feel bad. I was sworn by Donna not to take sides on the whole "thing." Unless it was Jackie's side. But I stood by Hyde, until now that is. "Are you cold? Hungry? Thirsty? Anything?" I said quickly.
"No." It was so simple, it drove me crazy. I wanted to do something. Make her feel better. And she didn't want anything. I didn't know what to say or how to comfort her. "Am I keeping you from something?" She asked in a true innocent voice. I looked at her and shook me head.
"Nah, I was coming down here to…" I don't know. "Get… food." It took a while but eventually I got something out.
"Eric…" She said, I guess ignoring my last comment. I looked at her, acknowledging that she should continue. "Why did he do it?" Jackie said.
Now, I know she knows. Because he told her. And I didn't know if I should take it literally or rhetorical. Jackie wasn't a Kelso. But still.
"I mean… how could he? Why didn't he? —" It was rhetorical. She was trying to vent but she didn't know exactly how too. She could complain, and whine, and yes those are forms of venting. But she didn't know how to vent when she knew everything that was going on, but couldn't feel better about it.
"He loves you." It was a stupid thing to say. It is probably the stupidest thing I will ever say to Jackie. She knows he loves her. But me reminding her was stupid.
"I know." It came out as a hushed whisper. And soon the silent tears fell. Silent tears are a killer. They are horrible. Because Silent tears represents real, deep scar pain, real emotion. Loud tears are usually a way to cope with stress and you know, the little things that push you off the edge. Silent tears are serious.
I was so stupid. "Jackie, don't cry." I said getting into mode. It was the mode guys resorted to when a girl cried. This is how girls get guys to do stuff.
"I'm sorry." Jackie said facing forward again. See silent tears are better because the person just has tears rolling down their face there's nothing else, no second emotion.
"I'm sorry." I offered. She really had no reason to be apologizing.
Jackie shrugged and nodded her head. She wiped the tears away and looked back at me.
"Did you and Donna find a place yet?"
"No, not yet." I said. I knew she was trying to move away form Hyde. And I also knew that she knew about the house hunt because Donna tells her everything.
"I'm sorry I've been such a pain." Jackie said wiping her face again. By looking at her she looked vulnerable and weak. If I had only heard her voice I would think she was the strongest, emotionally, person ever. As if she and Hyde broke up years ago and it was all in the past. I knew it was an act. She was trying to stay strong, tears or no tears.
"When were you a pain?" I asked. Again I'm not Jackie's number one fan, but some how I'm considered a friend. And friends don't tell friends they are annoying.
"Donna says you really don't like me that much and you're always calling me a pain." But friends can tell friends about other friends who think they are annoying.
"You weren't the easiest person to get along with." I said honestly. I would have to talk to Donna. "Why would Donna tell you that?" I asked on a second thought.
"I told her you hated my guts and if you had it your way I would be in Chicago, away from you all. She corrected me." Now I felt like scum. Damn me.
"I never hated you. I didn't like you, in the beginning, though either." I said. Honesty will get you far in life.
"Ok." She was ok with it. Probably because I was being honest.
"Have you talked to Hyde lately?" I knew she hadn't but I kinda wanted to talk about the whole break-up thing.
"No." She said. Shrugging her shoulders.
"Why?" Like she wanted to hear this stuff.
"I don't know." She shrugged again. She was being "Zen." She was actually very good at it. Hyde had done her well.
"You should talk to him." I said going back to Hyde.
"He said he loved me." She said. Shifting her eyes away from me. I stared at her. Hyde SAID he loved her? Was that possible? We all knew he really cared for her and loved her. But none of us thought he would… say it.
"Wow." I said, nodding my head slightly. She could tell I was shocked. Jackie had this way of knowing what you were feeling. I think that's how she got through Hyde.
"Yeah, and I said I didn't love him back. I wanted to hurt him." She said it, ashamed of wanting to get back at a guy who broke her heart.
"That's ok." I said, smiling. "You're allowed to want to hurt them." I remembered all the times I wanted to hurt Donna get her back for doing the things she did. But, I never could, the opportunity never came. Thought maybe Jackie telling Hyde she didn't love him wasn't the best payback plan, it was good… in it's own little way.
"I love him." She said, not in a tone like 'Oh my god! I just figured it out!' kind of way, more like a sad, angry-ish way, a regretful way.
"I know." I didn't know what else to say. She wasn't being the usual Jackie. She was being… human Jackie.
"Why do they cheat on me?" She had those silent tears coming down again. She looked hurt, alone, and confused. "Why me? What did I do? They always cheat on me." The tears came harder, faster. I did the one thing I knew I could do. I brought her into my arms.
I expected her to push me away, or something. But she didn't. She put her arms around my waist and hid her face into my shoulder. I could feel the hot tears coming through my paper-thin shirt.
I figured talk would ruin this. Anything would ruin this. She felt so fragile. She wasn't making a sound.
She pulled away after what seemed like forever. Her face was redder, her eyes were a bit puffy, and her lips looked somewhat swollen.
"Thank you." She smiled.
"For… what?" I really didn't do anything. She smiled gently and touched the large water stain on my shoulder.
"For this." She said touching it, pressing the now cool spot onto my skin.
"It was nothing."
"No, it was everything." She got up and dusted herself. She turned around. She began to walk to the door. But then turned around. She walked back to me and kissed my lips gently. "You're a great there friend."
"There friend?"
"Yeah, the friend that'll always be there." She smiled, one of those earth-shattering smiles.
"Oh ok." I smiled back. "I'm your there friend!"
She smiled, while shaking her head, and then spun around. As she got to the door, Hyde walked in. Her look didn't waver, she continued to smile. As she passed Hyde she turned her head and winked at me. She then bounced back into the rain.
"Why was she here?" Hyde asked sounding disappointed for not being here.
"She wanted a friend… a there kind of friend." Hyde looked at me confused.
"Whatever. Nice stain." He said.
"Yeah, it is." I smiled. He looked at me, and shook his head. He then walked to his room.
I leaned back on the couch, pondering what had happened.
A there friend… who knew?