Chapter Title: Invenire- to be found

Chapter: 3/?
Rating: PG

"H-he what?" Jackie repeated again, sitting with Donna on the Forman's porch the next day.

Despite lapping on layers of make-up, it was evident that Jackie had bags under her eyes from not sleeping the previous night. She had stayed up the whole night, dreaming of Hyde- hearing his harsh words over and over again in her mind and remembering the bitterness that dripped from his voice. Was she wrong? Did he really not care about her?

All night she had contemplated whether Steven was just her girly high school crush and whether they had a hope of a future together. Hyde was the only guy that had never fallen for Jackie's advances. The one guy she wanted, but couldn't get. And for a little while, Jackie started to tell herself that maybe she didn't want Hyde. That the only reason she did was because he didn't want her. But, as hard as she tried to convince herself- her feelings for Hyde still remained strong and Jackie knew that this wasn't a high school thing. It wasn't lust, it wasn't insane- it was unnatural but yet, true. She cared about Steven, she loved him and that was why Jackie decided that she was not going to quit her fight. No matter how hard and cruelly Steven would push her away- she would just keep coming back until he finally succumbed to her.

"Red kicked Hyde out." Donna explained. "He didn't want a criminal living in their house with Eric and Laurie."

"Oh my God! But he didn't…Steven's not a…where will Steven go?" Jackie asked.

"He's already gone. He went to the Fotohut. He thinks that's where he actually belongs." Donna said with a deep sigh. She had been hurt at the treatment of one of her best friends and was worried about Hyde, not only because of his current social standing but also because of his emotional state.

"B-but he belongs here! With me!" Jackie exclaimed.

"Jackie, it's not like he's gone to Canada. He is just a few minutes away at the Fotohut. Although, I doubt he'll be allowed in the basement."

"But the Fotohut's so filthy and cold. I hate it there. How can he live there? How can he live by himself?"

"I know. It's awful. I hate that he's going through this. But, I guess there's nowhere else he can go with the money he has. He was lucky as it is to be living with the Formans. As an orphan, he doesn't have many options. Nobody wants an almost eighteen-year-old with a criminal record." Donna replied.

Jackie sat solemnly, listening to Donna's opinion. But, her mind was on her own thoughts, her guilt. All she could think of was how Hyde saved her from going to jail and it had landed him staying at the Fotohut. If they had arrested her, everything in her life would have been taken away. Her popularity, her money, her unicorns… And because Steven had taken the fall for her, the only thing he had in his life was taken away from him. The only people he cared about and the only sense of security he had had been stolen from him because of her.

"Donna, you're right. Nobody wants Steven." Jackie sighed, but as quickly as the look of disappointment crossed her features a smile replaced them and she excitedly got up from the step. "Nobody wants Steven…except me." She declared and gleefully ran away from a confused Donna. Donna looked in the direction of the bobbing brunette, wondering what her best friend meant.

---

"So…this is quaint." Eric remarked sarcastically, as he touched the peeling discoloured wallpaper on the Fotohut's walls. He stood there taking in the surroundings of the small business. Hyde, who was rolling up his sleeping bag off the floor, looked at him and rolled his eyes.

"It's better than nothing, Forman. This morning, someone threw a half-eaten burger and some stale fries through the window when they picked up their photos. Had me some breakfast." Hyde said, as he continued to squish his sleeping bag- that had occupied most of the flooring- into a ball.

"You ate someone else's trash for breakfast?" Eric questioned with a disgusted look.

"I didn't eat all of it. I threw away the regurgitated apple pie." Hyde replied and Eric scrunched his face. Eric threw him a brown bag.

"Here. Live a little. My mom made you some lunch." Eric then looked around the room, as Hyde greedily ripped open the bag and stuffed the sandwich into his mouth. "Man, this is so wrong. Y-you're like homeless. You're like Hobo Joe that lives with the rats behind the parking lot of the mall and eats his own hair!" Eric exclaimed and raked a hand through his hair. "You shouldn't be living like this, man."

Hyde gulped down his food before speaking. "So, it's not perfect. Whatever. It's a place for me to stay. I don't care how crappy this place is. The point is I can live here as long as I want without being kicked out." Hyde declared bitterly, chucking the sleeping bag into a corner and grabbing a half-crushed can of beer on the side. Eric stood with his arms crossed across his chest, looking at his best friend. He sighed, knowing that the pain that ached in Hyde was caused by Eric's own father- someone Eric had admired when he had actually let the complete stranger stay with them a year ago.

"Hyde, you know that Red was just…I promise you that you will come back to our home one day."

"Yeah, well- maybe I don't want to come back to your home, Forman." Hyde replied, taking his gaze of Eric.

"C'mon man."

"Look, I don't know why you're worried about me. I'm fine, man. This is my life. It's always has been. It was just disguised in your house for a while. It's time I became me again."

"Bullshit, Hyde. You've been you all the time. Living alone in a rundown building is not being you…it's just punishment. Punishment that you don't deserve. No one deserves this, man."

"If you do half the crap I have. If you hold marijuana and go to jail and disappoint the only people in your life- you'll know that this is exactly what I deserve." Hyde declared, taking a chug of his beer and then walking out of the Fotohut leaving behind a guilty Eric.

---

Hyde stormed away from the Fotohut, extremely heated up, more so than he had been after waking up with gum in his hair. He was pissed off at Eric for caring about him. He was pissed off at himself for revealing his feelings to Eric. But mainly he was pissed off because he believed Eric was right. He didn't deserve to be going through this. Hyde had done a few wrongdoings in his past to put it mildly, but he knew deep down that he didn't deserve any of this because of that. He didn't deserve to live in the Fotohut without security and warmth. He didn't deserve to be homeless. He didn't deserve to lose people he cared about and be abandoned again.

Hadn't he had enough of this before?

Hyde groaned out loud and violently kicked the beer can he had finished before.

He didn't deserve this, so why was he still being punished?

The can suddenly stop clanking against the floor and stopped near some expensive shoes. A shrill voice suddenly broke through his reverie.

"Steven!"

Hyde looked up to see none other than the permanent pain-in-his-backside: Jackie.

"What do you want?" He demanded, harshly as she ran up to him.

"I-I heard about what happened. I-I'm sorry." She said, fixing the strap on her falling purse.

"Whatever." Hyde said, as he powerfully pushed past her. Jackie was momentarily taken aback by Hyde's action, but brushed it off and followed him again.

"And…I wanted to…ask you…if you…" Jackie spoke, trying to catch up to him with each short burst of words. "Steven!" She finally yelled, frustrated with following him. She grabbed a hold of his arm and attempted to whip him around. "Can you listen to me?"

"Look, Jackie." Hyde said, turning to face her. "I have a few important things on my mind right now. And obviously, none of them contain you. So why don't you just leave me the hell alone?" Hyde yelled.

"Steven, I know you're going through stuff, but you don't have to take it out on me." Jackie said, shaking a bit at the intense tone in Hyde's voice. "I came here to help you."

"Help me? Really, Jackie? Sure, help me. Why don't you go and get another bag of marijuana and let me take the blame for that too?" Hyde replied sarcastically. "See, that way I could lose even the few little things that I have left in my life. I could go back to jail and y'know what- I'd be happy, because at least I'll get some food there."

"Steven, I didn't ask you to…" Jackie whimpered, tears had begun to form in the corner of her eyes and Hyde realised that he had gone too far and softened his expression.

"Look, Jackie I don't blame you for my life being in this mess. I'm just…"

"But you do. And you should. B-because it's true." Jackie cried. Hyde groaned and leaned a step closer to her.

"Don't cry, man. Okay? It's not true. I did what I thought I should have done. I did it, because I wanted to. And…" Hyde paused and sighed. "And I don't regret it, even if it's cost me."

"Steven, let me make it up to you. You can't live in the Fotohut." Jackie said. Hyde rolled his eyes and scuffed his shoe.

"It's not that bad." Hyde replied.

"It is. Steven, I told you I'll be there for you no matter what you go through yesterday. And that's why I'm here. I-I came to help you, because you helped me. I want to help you."

"Jackie, the only help you can give me is by leaving me on my own." Hyde said. "I don't need anyone's help and I especially don't need your help."

"No, you do. You need help. You need a woman's help. Y-you can live with me." Jackie declared, grabbing a hold of Hyde's hand all of a sudden. He looked at her in confusion over the gesture and over her words.

"W-what?"

"You can't stay in there. It's not clean, it's not safe and it's not where you should be. So, I want you to come and live with me. My house has a spare bedroom." Jackie said, squeezing Hyde's hand. Hyde smirked and let go of her hand.

"You really do live in your own world, don't you?" He asked with a laugh and Jackie looked at him, perplexed.

"It's not a joke, Steven. I'm asking you."

"Well, I decline." Hyde said and Jackie frowned. "Jackie, it's insane that you're actually thinking this. I can't live with you. I can't stay in a house with you and your parents, who don't even know who I am. It's unnatural and it's the stupidest thing ever. I can't…" He sighed in annoyance. "J-just go home, Jackie. I'm fine on my own and I really don't need your help, okay?"

"But, it's not insane. Steven, it can work out." Jackie said. Hyde groaned, growing more and more irritated with Jackie's foolish suggestions.

"It can't. Because, of so many reasons and especially because I can't even stand to be within range of you for more than five minutes without being driven insane." Hyde replied, in his usual snarky manner. "Living with you would kill me." Jackie crossed her arms a few times before sighing in defeat.

"Fine. But if your only argument is that you can't even stand to be near me for a long period of time, then I think you should reconsider. Because from what I've seen, we just had a twenty-minute conversation alone and you haven't left. We had a lengthier one yesterday and you didn't leave then. So, maybe my thinking isn't that wrong, Steven." Jackie ended, before turning on her heels and walking off- leaving Hyde in deep thought.

---

After roaming around most of Point Place in thought and to cool of any irrational emotions, Hyde returned back to the Fotohut. He was cold and tired and urgently needed a good night's rest so the moment Hyde got in he laid out his sleeping bag and slipped inside the light, crushed fabric, ready to get the sleep he so desperately craved.

"Hey man!" A voice yelled ripping Hyde out of his slumber along with the blinding intensity of the light that had just been turned on.

"Leo?" Hyde questioned, rubbing his eyes.

"What ya doin' here, dude?" Leo asked with a very perplexed expression. Hyde noticed a young couple standing behind him, both too attractive and normal to be Leo's friends.

"You let me live her, remember?" Hyde replied. Hyde watched the guy, slightly younger than him, and his girlfriend squirm and mumble to each other. "What's going on?"

"Oh, they're here to be 'deflowered', man." Leo drawled. Hyde looked at Leo in disgust, shooting a quick look back at the couple.

"You let people use the Fotohut to lose their virginity?" Hyde asked.

"Uh-yeah."

"But, I was about to sleep!" Hyde exclaimed. He groaned and crossed his arms before glaring at Leo. "I'm not leaving."

"I promised these people, man."

"You promised me I could stay here." Hyde shot back. Leo sighed before motioning the couple to move towards the counter.

"Okay. You can stay, dude. I'm sure these guys won't take too long." Leo declared.

"No! I don't want anyone screwing each other near me." Hyde yelled.

"Well, hmm…that leaves me with a dilemma." Leo said. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully before walking out of the Fotohut without a word.

"Leo!" Hyde shouted in annoyance, as he didn't receive his answer. The sound of muffled groans and bodies smashing up against each other caught Hyde's attention. A t-shirt then came flying at him and landed squarely on his head. Annoyed, Hyde shot a look back and was met with a gruesome sight of the two awkward kids going at it.

"Hey perv, you mind turning around." The guy spoke. Hyde glared at him before sighing in defeat and stormed out of the Fotohut to yell at Leo. Just as he stepped out into the cold night, Hyde realised he was not alone. In front of him stood Leo and about six other young couples whose faces looked like excited children on Christmas day.

"Leo? What the hell is this?" Hyde asked, pointing at the group of anxious kids.

"Tonight's the busiest night of the year, man. How're they doing in there?" Leo asked.

"They're…I don't know! I-I…Leo, I can't stay in there when people have had…are having sex in there." Hyde exclaimed.

"Hey, you're lucky I let you stay in there this long, man. I would've made a lot more than this last night." Leo argued. Hyde looked at Leo intensely for a moment and then back at the Fotohut which transmitted screams of pain and delight. "You can go back in there once they're done, man." Leo continued and Hyde shook his head.

"I don't deserve this, Leo." He stated, with a long pause. "I deserve more than this." Hyde declared before walking away from the Fotohut and Leo.

"Where you going?" Leo asked, but Hyde ignored the hippy's question and walked off, away from another home.

---

Hyde stuffed his hands in his pockets and grazed his shoes against the cemented pavement. He had walked around for a while and had finally ended up at his destination. One he hadn't realised he was going to in the first place.

He stood, examining his surroundings with a cold stare and took a large intake of breath. With another long pause, Hyde finally knocked on the large, wooden door in front of him with short thumps that lacked energy, energy Hyde had lost days ago. He waited for a moment. A moment then turned into a minute. Hyde sighed, contemplating turning back around and going back to the sex-infested Fotohut when suddenly the door opened a crack and a pair of eyes looked at him curiously.

"Steven?" Jackie questioned, dressed in flannel pyjamas and fluffy slippers, squinting to make out his image. He awkwardly nodded before a small smile appeared on her lips and she opened the door wider. "Come on in."

Hyde looked at her for a moment before taking a step forward into Jackie's house.

---

A/N The deflowering thing was mentioned in episode 4.13- Donna Dates a Kelso when Leo lets Fez use the Fotohut. So it is not some perverse idea of mine. LOL.