Jackie slid down Hyde's body with a deliberateness that was all his doing. When her feet touched the floor she pushed him away violently.

"What!" she yelled, welcoming the anger, drawing strength from it.

"Alright, I'm getting tired of the pouting and sulking fest now, babe," Hyde began. "I think moving to New York is going a bit too far, and I'm not talking geography here."

"Pouting and sulking?" Jackie repeated with raised eyebrows and crossed arms which telegraphed to Hyde a major case of foot-in-mouth. "How old do you think I am? Don't you ever take me seriously?"

"Of course I do, but you're not thinking rationally now. Isn't there some rule where you don't make life changing decisions when you're upset?"

"I'm not upset. My decision is perfectly rational," Jackie stated.

"Yeah, right" Hyde derided. "So the timing of this little trip has nothing to do with that stupid fight we had two weeks ago and which you're too proud to apologise for?"

Jackie struggled to hold back her temper at his trivializing of their break-up. He really was a chauvinist pig, but she would not justify his words by acting immaturely.

"No, actually my decision has everything to do with our break-up. But it is still a perfectly rational decision."

"And how do you figure that?" Hyde said sarcastically.

Jackie paused, struggling between pride and naked honesty. Oh Hell, she thought, Steven has been stripping the pride off me from the beginning – why should today be any different?

"Because I am in love with you," she said levelly, for the first time looking directly into his intensely blue eyes. "And as our relationship has no future, I have to move on and that is not going to happen here in Point Place. I have to get away."

Hyde felt like the breath had been knocked out of him, and could not help but admire how neatly she had sucker-punched him. Either he admitted their relationship had a future – and that open door would have him hogtied and hitched before the summer was over – or he agreed with her and let her go.

"Jackie, I…" but words would not come. He did not know what to say. All he knew was that the thought of not seeing her every day was like living in a world without a sun.

Jackie held her breath, hoping against hope for a declaration of love, a promise to try and move forward, anything, but Steven remained silent. Of course, he wasn't Michael. He would not say something he did not mean, not even to keep her. She respected that, even though it sometimes made her mad as fire, like when he would not lie about Brooke being hot. With a sad sigh, she moved into his arms which automatically closed around her, kissed his cheek and then walked out of his bedroom.

Her other four friends stopped talking when they saw Jackie emerge from Hyde's bedroom, alone. Not a good sign, thought Donna.

Kelso broke the silence. "I guess from your lack of post loving glow that things did not go too well in there."

Jackie smiled and moved into Michael's arms for a good-bye hug. "And people actually say you're not smart", she teased.

"Yeah, well, there's a lot more going on under these gorgeous locks than you would think," he replied with a smile.

"I know" she said seriously, with a look that reminded him of how she had seen more in him than any other person ever had. His arms tightened around her and then reluctantly surrendered her to the farewells of Donna, Eric and Fez.

"Can I have another hug, Jackie? I was not ready for the last one," pleaded Fez.