Disclaimer: Don't own.

Warning: Mild language.

AN: Sorry it's been a couple days. I hate work. Seriously cuts into writing time. Anyway, thanks so much for reading and the reviews! Hopefully the next chapter will have a little lightness, just to give us a break. LOL. Hope you enjoy!

Convincing

Chapter 4 – You're My Chick

The next morning

Hyde walked stiffly into the kitchen. It had been one long ass night. No sleep. His stash was seriously depleted. His beer supply was dangerously low. All he was really left with was the oddest combination of being ravenous and being sick to his stomach. And he was still thinking about Jackie. Hadn't managed to find a way to stop. It was irritating him. He moved grumpily past Mrs. Forman and dropped into a chair at the table.

"Oh, Steven, would you like some breakfast?"

He nodded, staring at the table. "Sure, Mrs. Forman." And then he looked over at her by the stove. "Just…not too much." He looked back at the table, and his stomach turned. "On second thought, nothing at all." He dropped his forehead to his hand. Damn. Those last six beers had not been a good idea at all.

"Did you go see Jackie last night?"

He groaned, and his only answer was a slight shake of his head.

Kitty sighed, and left the stove to go sit next to the boy she considered her son. "Well, why not, Steven?" she asked, slightly irritated. He'd seemed so upset and concerned about the poor girl last night. "She said she didn't want you to know, but I know better. She did."

Hyde shrugged and didn't move his head. "Look, if she had really wanted me to know, she would have told me herself. And if she had wanted me around, she wouldn't have said she wanted to be alone."

Kitty scoffed. "Oh, now Steven, that's just stupid. Do you know ANYTHING about women?" He lifted his head and looked at her incredulously, and she shrugged. "If you did, you'd know that when a woman says she wants to be alone, what she really wants is for you to follow her. And besides, this is Jackie. She doesn't like to ask for help." Kitty thought for a moment. "She likes to demand things, sure, but she doesn't like to ask."

His hand fell limply to the table. He had to admit that Mrs. Forman was right. Jackie never wanted to admit when she needed help, and asking for help meant admitting that. "That's true, but…"

"No buts, Steven. Now look. She has a doctor's appointment today and she doesn't want to go alone. I would go with her but Red is dragging me to some auto parts show in Milwaukee, and you know how I just can't stay away from those!" She laughed, then stood up and rushed over to the wall, where a roll of note paper was hung. She tore off a piece and one her way back to the table opened a drawer and pulled out a pencil. When she sat back down next to Steven, she began writing. "Here's the address and time. I think it would be very nice if you just happen to be waiting when she gets there."

Hyde watched her slide the piece of paper over to him, and he sighed. He wanted to go, he wanted to see her, but he'd have to talk, and he had absolutely no idea of what to say. "Mrs. Forman, I just…look, I don't know what to say to her."

"You know, it doesn't really matter if you talk, Steven. Jackie just wants you there with her."

Hyde stared at Mrs. Forman. That wasn't anything he'd ever considered. Just being there. "Huh."

"She needs to know that you care, and if you're with her, she will, even if you say the wrong thing or nothing at all." Kitty reached out and patted Steven's hand. "Think about it. You have until 1:30." She stood up again and walked back to the stove, just as her son came in. "Well, good morning, Eric!"

"Morning, Mom," Eric said, almost too happily for eight o'clock in the morning. He sat down next to Hyde and looked at him. "Boy, Hyde, you look like crap."

Hyde glared at him. "Gee, thanks."

Eric noticed the piece of paper in front of Hyde. "What's that?" He started to pull it towards him, angling his head so he could read it. "Dr. Spandley, 1:30….wha.."

Hyde grabbed the paper away from him. "Mind your own business, Forman, god!"

Eric stared at him. "Are you sick?"

Hyde shook his head, gazing sightlessly at the table and tracing his fingers over the paper. "It's not for me," he said dully, distracted by his thoughts. He felt Forman's questioning eyes on him and looked up. "Just…forget it. It's nothing." He got up and headed out of the kitchen, taking the note with him.

Eric shook his head. Must have something to do with Jackie. Hopefully nothing bad. But that sense of something bad he'd had yesterday returned, and he wondered if the group would be able to handle it.

He wondered if Hyde would be able to handle it.

That afternoon, Dr. Spandley's office

Jackie sighed heavily and sadly as she shut the car door behind her and began walking towards Dr. Spandley's office. Her stomach was a disaster, and her coordination today had been quite poor. She'd tripped about five times just getting dressed. God, what was the doctor going to suspect? What if it was serious? What if it was nothing and she was just imagining all of this?

And of those two, which was worse?

She stared at the ground as she walked, hoping that would keep her steady, until she reached the stairs in front of the building. When she looked up, her heart skipped what felt like a thousand beats, and she stopped moving. Her breath caught in her throat, and she could barely squeeze out the word that was shining in her mind.

"Steven!"

He wasn't wearing his sunglasses and she could see his eyes. He had such amazing eyes; she loved it when she could see them.

Hyde gave her a strained smile and walked down a few steps to meet her. "Hey," he said. She looked a mixture of confused, embarrassed, scared and happy to see him. "Thought you might like some company. You know, since you'll be sitting in the waiting room for an hour before the doctor sees you for ten minutes."

She moved closer to him and smiled when he put his hand on the back of her neck. Just his touch made her stomach settle, her nerves lessen by a tiny but noticeable amount. "Yeah, that's true….wait." She looked up at him, her brow furrowed, her mouth pursing into a frown. "Wait, how did you know about this?" He arched an eyebrow, and she sighed with realization. "You talked to Mrs. Forman." His fingers began a slow, gentle massage, and her lips curved upwards again.

"You should have known better. Mrs. Forman can't keep secrets. Remember Forman's roller disco days?" Hyde rolled his eyes. He would never forget the sight of his best friend in satin shorts and rainbow suspenders. God, roller disco? How had a friend of HIS gotten involved in that crap?

Jackie giggled. "Hey, he was actually pretty good," she said, defending the activity she used to love and secretly missed. Her smile faded. "So…you want to go with me?"

He nodded and pulled her a little closer to him. She looked so scared. It reminded him of how she'd looked when the cop had found her pot. Due, of course, to her bringing his attention to it. "Yeah." He shrugged. "I mean, unless you really don't want me to."

"No…no!" Jackie said quickly. She stepped towards him, dipped her head and rested her forehead on his shoulder. Her hands lightly gripped his waist. "I want you to go with me." Her arms slipped around him and she hugged him with a slight whimper. "If it's…if it's okay with you."

Hyde held her close and turned his face in towards her head. Her hair smelled like roses bathed in sunshine, and he closed his eyes. She was such a girly girl, and god, he loved it. "It's okay with me," he said. He kissed her head, and they stood there for a long moment. When she pulled away, he leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "You ready?"

Jackie inhaled shakily and tried to appear calm. "I'm ready." He took her hands and she smiled. And even though she was suddenly petrified, it wasn't so bad, because Steven was here. Just like she wanted him to be.

Two hours later, The Hub

They sat across from one another in silence, neither of them touching much of their food except to push it around and pretend they were eating. They'd barely spoken since leaving the doctor's office, and the quiet was beginning to irritate Hyde. Jackie was hardly reacting; she hadn't cried, she hadn't bitched, she hadn't really done anything. And it just wasn't her. "So," he said. "Guess it could be pretty bad."

Jackie pursed her lips and swallowed hard, but she didn't look up at Steven. "Guess so," she muttered. She had to go to the hospital the next day and have some sort of test done, a CAT scan or something, to see if there was anything wrong with her brain. Like a tumor, or an aneurysm, whatever that was. The doctor had explained it, but she'd sort of tuned him out. The word just sounded so…bad. So heavy. So damn scary.

Hyde studied her. Her eyes remained on her plate, and her expression was still blank, although he could see her lips trembling slightly. But apparently, those two words were all he was going to get. He swallowed hard. "Jackie, if I hadn't talked to Mrs. Forman and gone to the doctor's with you, would you have even told me about this?"

Jackie lifted her head and looked at him, forcing a disdainful look. "Of course I would have!" She faltered when he raised his eyebrows, and her chest deflated. "I think I would have…okay, I don't know." She sighed. "Look, I didn't tell you about the doctor's appointment because I didn't think you'd want to know." It wasn't the entire truth, but close enough.

He glared at her, almost angrily. "You didn't think I'd want to know? Why the hell wouldn't I want to know?"

"Because it's…it's not like I was going just to get a booster shot or something, Steven!" she exclaimed. "This is serious…heavy… and you hate serious." She shrugged sheepishly. "I just didn't want to…things were so good…" Her voice trailed off and she looked down at her barely touched burger.

He sighed and looked away. She was right, of course. He never enjoyed their "serious" talks and usually did whatever he could to avoid them. But still…this felt so much different than any of the other stuff. He took a deep breath and looked back at her. "Look, Jackie," he said, his voice softer. He reached across the table and covered one of her hands with his. "You're my chick, okay? If something is going on with you, I wanna know about it."

Jackie almost smiled, she loved it when he called her his chick, but instead, she threw her shoulders back and let her pride talk. "You should have known something was wrong. A good boyfriend would have."

He rolled his eyes. "Damn, Jackie, I did. And I kept asking you what was wrong," he snapped. "You're the one who wasn't talking. When are you going to understand that I can't read your mind?" God, she always did this, expected him to just know everything. Like when he was supposed to understand "doll expo" as "my father's cabin is being foreclosed upon". Or when he was supposed to just know that it was her birthday.

Jackie's eyes widened, but she knew he was right. "Okay, I know," she said quietly, barely managing to meet his eyes. "You're right." She looked down. Sure, it was easy to say, but she wasn't sure it would ever be easy to do. Not when she was still so scared that it would drive him away. And she didn't know how to fix that. Then again, he was still here, and he knew that whatever was wrong with her might be serious, life threatening. He wasn't leaving now. Maybe he…maybe he wouldn't. The knot in her stomach loosened a bit, and she met his eyes with hers.

"So…" Hyde looked intently at her. "You'll tell me when stuff is going on and not just expect me to know?"

Jackie smiled softly. "Yeah," she said. His face softened, and she shrugged. "I uh…I have to go to the hospital tomorrow for some test." His lips curved up, and her heart relaxed. "Will you…will you come with me?"

He rubbed his hand over hers. "Course I will." Her eyes lit up slightly, and that made him smile. "You're my chick."

Jackie giggled, then stood up and moved her chair closer to his. He put his arm around her, and she snuggled into him. "Thank you."

Hyde shrugged and rubbed her shoulder, but his smile faded as he looked into her eyes. "So, uh, do you…" He tried to ignore that hollowness in his chest. "Do you want to talk about…it?"

Jackie shook her head. "No. In fact, I don't want to talk about it or think about it for the rest of the day." All she wanted was escape. Tomorrow she'd worry about it. Today she wanted to have fun. A playful smile crossed her lips, and she laid her hand on his knee. "Can we go out tonight?"

"Oh, I suppose," Hyde grumbled with a grin. Maybe they could go to the movie. Drive in, of course. And then maybe they could…

"Anywhere I want?"

His grin faded. "No." He recognized the look in her eyes. She knew where she wanted to go, and it was DEFINITELY no where HE wanted to go.

Jackie slowly slid her hand up his thigh and looked sexily at him. "Please?"

He stared impassively at her, even as her hand on his leg began making his body tremble. "No, Jackie." He grabbed her hand and trapped it on his thigh before she could make this situation very, very embarrassing for him.

"Oh, come on, Puddin' Pop."

"Jackie…"

"Well, look. We'll get everyone else to go with us." Her eyes gleamed wickedly. "And it'll be a great opportunity for you to get back at Donna for telling me that you…" She whispered. "Cried."

He stared at her. He was going to regret this, he just knew it. It probably involved disco somehow. Or unicorns. Or Donny Osmond. But she was giving him one of those sweet smiles, and of course, according to her, this was an opportunity to burn Donna. Could he really pass that up? Even if it meant doing something probably utterly humiliating?

And of course there was the fact that Jackie wanted to forget about what was going on. Just for a day. Hell, it was one night. If he could do that for her…well, she was his chick. And she was scared to death.

"Okay, fine. But I'm warning you, Jackie…"

Jackie squealed and bounced in her seat. "I know, I know, the last time for like, ever." She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Trust me, Steven. This will be great."

Hyde rolled his eyes. Trust her? Trust his unicorn, rainbow loving, Donny Osmond and Abba worshiping chick?

He groaned and dropped his shaking head into his free hand. "Oh, god!"