Chapter Seven



Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews of chapter six, I hope you liked the Eric/Donna interaction. AND for all you avid Jackie/Hyde fans, this chapter is for you guys so enjoy. A special thanks to R.B Sandwich and forensic418 for giving me what I think is my first bit of constructive critism on this story. And just so you know, I didn't really expect you to feel sorry for Eric, Donna or Jackie really, because they all made mistakes and now they're all trying to go back and fix those mistakes. Everyone acts like a jerk at some point or another. And as for Kelso being smarter in this story, well it has been five years and there have been some big changes for all the characters. This includes Hyde and how he has learned to be better at talking about his feelings. I really don't think Kelso's stupidity is going to follow him all the way into his adulthood, so I tried to convey that here. Well, now that I've said all that, let's get started with chapter seven.



Jackie's POV



"Hey, Jacks." I heard his soft voice and felt the movement of him sitting down on the couch next to me. I brushed the tear away violently and felt my heart thudding in my chest. I couldn't tell if it was from his nearness of the fact he had just scared the hell out of me.

"How did you get in here?" I asked, my voice slightly shaky from tears. I hoped he didn't notice.

"Red and Kitty still haven't learned," Hyde responded, laughter in his words, "They still leave the basement door unlocked."

"Well you could have knocked at the front door like any normal person." I told him, feeling another tear slide down my cheek. As subtlety as I could, I brushed it away as well. I remember Donna's words from earlier that day.

"If you don't tell Hyde about this, I sure as hell am." she had said. God, why had I promised to tell Hyde the truth about Tory the next time I saw him. That evil temptress Donna had probably lured him over here in the first place. I hated her. I really did.

"Hyde, there's something I have to tell you." I was getting so carried away with emotion, two more hot tears rolled down my cheeks. Hyde gently tilted my face so I was looking into his eyes. He eyed me with concern.

"You're crying," he said softly, brushing away the tears with his thumbs, "What's wrong?"

I pulled away from his touch abruptly, "Please don't." I said, "This is really hard for me to say-"

I saw the hopeful expression in his eyes, "Whatever it is, it's okay." I was giving him false hope. Even if I was angry as hell at him, I didn't want to drop a bomb THIS big on him like that after building him up for some good news. Well, maybe he would consider this good news. But somehow I didn't think so.

"It's about..... Tory." I replied, "She isn't Eric's child."

"You mean......?" a look of comprehension floated into his expression. I nodded, knowing he understood what I meant.

I don't know what I was expecting, but I didn't expect him to become so angry with me, "What the hell, Jackie? I had a kid for four fucking years and you never told me?"

Stunned, I snapped back, "Like you cared. You were too busy going off on your little adventure with that evil bitch, Donna."

"I never knew I had a child." Hyde responded, "You know how I feel about parents abandoning their children, especially after my own did it to me. I would never willingly put my own child through what I went through."

I felt a pang of sympathy for him, despite myself, "I know you wouldn't. But I found out I was pregnant three days after you left. I didn't know what to do. I might have done the wrong thing. But it's not like you didn't!"

"You could have called." Hyde accused.

"No I couldn't have," I cried, realizing the conversation was on the verge of becoming irrational, "You didn't want to have anything to do with any of us. I no clue how to track you down, even if I wanted to. But maybe I should have at least tried-"

"No shit." Hyde glared at me and I glared right back.

"I did do the wrong thing," I finished, "I let Tory go four years thinking Eric was her father. She believes something completely untrue. But it isn't my fault that has never had contact with her real father. That's your fault."

Hyde softened visibly when I mentioned the little girl he now knew was his daughter, "Can I go see her?" he asked.

"You have to be quiet." I told him, softening a little myself. We crept down the hall and went into the little guest bedroom Tory was sleeping in. It had been Laurie's bedroom when she still lived at home. After a few seconds I turned to see Hyde smiling softly at the little girl sound asleep in the bed. Her blond curls were a tangled mess. She was sucking on one of her thumbs and the other arm was looped around a pink, stuffed unicorn. I had to admit it, it had been one of my favorites.

When he saw me looking at him, he shook his head, "I can't believe I missed the first four years of her life because of you." he said, his voice hard once again.

I felt my emotions flying out of control, "Don't say that." I whispered, "You left me. You left her." I felt like crying but I refused to give him the satisfaction of doing so.

"I didn't know about her." he said fiercely, "I never would have left if I had known."

I looked at him searchingly and he backed down, "All right. The truth is, it might have driven me away even more at the time. But not anymore."

"Let's go back into the living room." I whispered, not wanting to get into a screaming match with him and end up waking Tory.

Once we got there, Hyde stared at me sadly, "I screwed up." he said finally, "But, you screwed up too. Donna screwed up and I'm sure Eric made his share of mistakes along the way too. I just hope we all haven't fucked up so bad that none of us will ever be happy again."

I felt a sob catch in my throat and I buried my face in my hands, "I really did screw up, didn't I. Someday Tory is going to hate me because I let her live a lie for so long. And Eric never loved me and I went home and he was screwing Donna. I just don't believe that anyone cares about me anymore."

I was surprised when I felt Hyde's strong arms wrap around, "I care." he replied in a gruff voice, "I always have. Even when I didn't know how to show it."

"Oh, yes, well, you really showed me by running off with Donna." I said sarcastically.

"Shut up, Jackie." he said simply. I opened my mouth to make another biting remark. But before I could speak, Hyde's lips were pressed against mine. Once I felt the shock of his lips against mine, I couldn't contain myself anymore. I kissed him back heatedly, responding enthusiastically when his hands travelled down by back and ended up on my butt. Finally he pulled me onto couch and my legs were wrapped around his waist. I dug my fingernails into his back when he began making a trail of wet, sloppy kisses on my neck. We tore off each other's clothes and made love again for the first time in so long. I didn't care about Eric or Donna or anyone else at that moment. Red and Kitty could have walked in on us at that moment (I knew they wouldn't because they said they would be back around midnight and it was only ten, but still) and I wouldn't have cared. Eric cheated on me with Donna and Hyde had kissed me first, not the other way around. After everything that happened that night, I decided I deserved to be blissfully happy for a while, blocking out all the complications of life. Because that was what always happened when I was with Hyde. Everything seemed okay, even he was one of the major problems to begin with.

We were breathing hard once we finished and I shivered with delight when he kissed my bare shoulder.

"I love you, Jackie." he told me and I sighed happily.

"And I love you." I responded finally, knowing that I couldn't fool anyone anymore. It had always been Steven Hyde and no one else. Ever since the first time I had kissed him.



"We've made good progress tonight." Fez remarked, lowering his voice conspiratorially, "Eric and Donna have slept together. And Jackie and Hyde have also slept together. Half the battle is one."

"This is going to get Eric and Jacks pretty pissed at each other." Kelso added.

"That's just what we want," Fez had seemed to take charge of the planning, "We need them to alienate each other so that Eric will go running to Donna for comfort and Jackie will go running to Hyde."

"So what's next?" Hyde asked Fez, knowing from his tone of voice that he had a plan.

Fez smiled slyly, looking from Kelso, to Hyde, to Donna, "I'm going to tell you what you have to do. We'll put this all into effect tomorrow night." after saying that, Fez began filling the group in on his brilliant plan.