Disclaimer: Don't own.

Warning: Mild language

AN: I'm having so much fun writing this, I just can't seem to stop. I need to. I need to clean my apartment. Nah. I'd rather write this. Cleaning can wait :giggle: Thank you SO very much for reading and the reviews...they blow me away. You're all so generous! And I can't thank you enough for the feedback. Hope youareenjoying this!

Convincing

Chapter 6 - Stealing Her Away

Two days later, the basement

Donna sat on the far right of the couch, her arm loosely around Kelso. His head rested on her shoulder, and she patiently patted his, rolling her eyes only slightly. "I'm sorry Brooke dumped you, Kelso," she said soothingly, although frankly, she was surprised that it hadn't happened sooner. Brooke had never quite wholly warmed up to Kelso and the person he really was.

Kelso nodded sadly and lifted his head with a put upon sigh. "Yeah. She said she couldn't be with someone who would dump pop down a child's pants." He shook his head. "Damn, I don't understand her! That kid was no child!"

Eric stared at Kelso. "Yeah. He was just a…tiny adult."

Kelso pointed at him. "Exactly! And he was asking for it, too!" He sighed again and dropped his head to Donna's shoulder again. "She just didn't get it. She didn't get me. No one ever gets me. Except Jackie. Jackie's always gotten me."

Donna inwardly groaned. The last thing anyone needed was for Kelso to imagine he had feelings for Jackie again. She glanced over at Hyde's chair, expecting a reaction, but he hadn't appeared to even hear Kelso. He was staring off into space, as far as Donna could tell because of the sunglasses, not paying attention, and his left foot was tapping wildly. In fact, he'd been pretty quiet the past few days or so. Hadn't really burned anyone, and there had been plenty of opportunities. Weird. "Well, hey," she said quickly, hoping to deflect Kelso from the topic of Jackie just in case Hyde came to. "At least Brooke isn't going back to Chicago. You'll still be able to see Betsy."

Kelso shrugged. "Yeah, but still," he said dully. "Brooke is HOT and now I've gotta just try to IGNORE that. How can you just IGNORE hotness?"

Fez patted his friend's leg. "Cheer up, my friend," he said. "We're playing Monopoly. How can you not be happy when playing Monopoly? And I have candy." He held a bag of M&Ms towards Kelso. "You may have some since Brooke is such a whore." He shook his head.

Kelso lifted his head and smiled at Fez. "Thank you, Fez. I'm glad someone understands my pain!" He reached into the bag and took a handful of candy, immediately stuffing the entire handful into his mouth. "Mmbfwe mbwe mwerfwef few mbwewfe mbwe."

Eric shook his head. "What?"

Kelso finished chewing and shot Eric a condescending look. "I said, Monopoly and M&Ms make everything better! God, don't you listen?" He shook his head at Fez, who looked equally as disgusted with Eric, then looked at the board. "Okay, Hyde, it's your turn." He waited for Hyde to reach for the dice, but the guy didn't move, and Kelso looked at him. "Hyde!"

Hyde shook his head and looked towards Kelso. "What the hell do you want, Kelso?" he snapped. He felt so out of it. Jackie hadn't been around today, and she wasn't answering her phone. He had no idea where she was or what she was doing, or if she'd heard from the doctor like she was supposed to have. And it really bothered him that he couldn't stop thinking about it or her. But ever since the tests at the hospital, he had to struggle to think about anything else.

"It's YOUR TURN!"

Hyde glanced down at the table and noticed the Monopoly board on the coffee table. He shook his head in irritation and tossed the play money he held in his hands to the middle of it. "Why are we playing this?"

Fez glared at Hyde. "Haven't you been listening? We are playing to cheer Kelso up! His heart has been broken!"

Hyde rolled his eyes. "Give me a break," he snarled. It just seemed so damn petty, especially because he knew for a fact that Kelso had, as per his usual pattern of behavior, been cheating on Brooke almost from the time they'd gotten together. "Like we didn't see THAT coming."

Fez's eyes remained indignantly on Hyde. "Be nice to him, you son of a bitch!"

Kelso looked at Hyde with narrowed eyes and an angry expression. "God, Hyde, what crawled up your butt today?"

Hyde crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the television set, setting his jaw to stop himself from telling Kelso exactly where to go. Maybe he was being an ass, but hell. He had a damn good reason. And if Jackie didn't either call or show up soon, he was going to be an ass to her just as soon as she did.

"And it's not just today. Lately you're especially assy." Kelso shook his head. "And you're always pulling Jackie off and whispering and stuff. Like you're keeping secrets." He made a face. "Last time you guys kept a secret it was that you were stealing her from me. Who are you stealing her away from now, Hyde, huh?"

Hyde stared at Kelso. How could a person over the age of six be so incredibly stupid? "Kelso, Jackie is my girlfriend," he said angrily. "I'm not stealing her away from anyone."

Kelso scoffed and looked away. "That's what YOU say."

The basement door opened and a slightly worn out looking Jackie walked in. Hyde looked at her, and she immediately met his eyes. "Hey."

"Hey, Jackie, we were just talking about how Hyde is stealing you away." Kelso said, giving her a grin.

Jackie frowned at him. "Stealing me away? From what?" She looked at Donna, who just shook her head. "Or who?"

"Uh…from…well, why don't you ask him? All I know is that he's stealing you from someone!" Kelso retorted, flustered by her need for details.

Jackie shook her head and looked at Steven again. "Whatever, Michael. Steven, can we…" She nodded her head towards his bedroom.

Hyde nodded and got up.

Kelso glared at them as the couple headed for Hyde's room. "See? They're going off to be alone again," he whined. He stood up. "Well, I'm gonna go listen!" He stood up and climbed over the couch, almost tripping in his clumsy haste to get to Hyde's bedroom door.

Hyde closed his bedroom door behind him then turned to Jackie. "Where have you been?" he asked just before leaning down and giving her a gentle kiss.

Jackie smiled, although she didn't feel like smiling, and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Were you worried about me?"

"Worried? Come on, I was just…" He trailed off and tightened his lips. Kelso was right outside the door. He just knew it. "Hang on." He pulled away from her and walked back to the door. Grimacing, he pulled the door open just a few inches, then slammed it back towards the frame, where he knew Kelso's head would be.

"OW! MY EYE!"

Hyde rolled his eyes at Kelso's moronic and sissified scream, and he pulled the door open enough to stick his head out. "Get the hell out of here, you moron!" he yelled. He shook his head and turned back to Jackie, shutting the door once again. "So…what's up?" He took his glasses off and hooked them on his shirt.

Jackie sat on Steven's cot and nervously twisted her hands together. "The doctor called," she said, her voice low and unusually quiet. She swallowed and looked down at the ground. She'd been panicked ever since the call and even an emergency trip to the mall hadn't soothed her. Even the long bath she'd taken hadn't eased the doom she felt in her stomach. "He wa…wla….wh…wants me to come in this afternoon." Steven didn't say anything, and she looked back up at him. His lips were pressed together. "It's bad news, Steven, I just know it. Otherwise, he just would have told me over the phone. But I have to go in. They always want you to come in when it's bad news. Or…" She paused. "Maybe I'm wrong?"

Hyde didn't miss the hope in her eyes. She wanted him to tell her that she was wrong. And he wished to God that he could, because he had the same feeling in his gut that she obviously did. There was something he could say, something she wouldn't believe, of course, but maybe would help, even if just for a minute. "You never know," he said. "Look, they WANT you to come in for an appointment, good news, bad news, whatever. It's all about money, man. You go in you have to pay 'em. You don't, and they call you, they get no money. In fact, they have to pay for the phone call."

Jackie gave him a tiny smile, despite herself. Steven and his conspiracy theories. "So it's just a conspiracy, huh?"

He nodded his head. "Yep."

Her smile faded after a moment. "Do you really think that's all it is?"

All he could do was stare at her. How could he answer that? He didn't know, and yet he felt like he DID know. And the answer wasn't what either of them wanted it to be.

Something was really, really wrong.

Instead of saying anything, he sat down next to her. Her doe eyes, full of fear, pierced his, and he swallowed hard. There just wasn't anything he could say. At least nothing he could think of.

Jackie just wants you there with her.

Maybe it didn't matter, not right now. Maybe he could just…be there, like Mrs. Forman said.

He slipped his arm around her shoulder. She smiled weakly, and he responded by leaning down and brushing his lips gently over hers. His eyes closed and he pressed a dozen more soft and sweet kisses on her responding lips. Afterwards, he pulled away slowly, his eyes still locked on hers. God, she was beautiful, even now when she was so upset.

Jackie laid her head on his shoulder and was surprised that the tears in her chest weren't rising to her eyes. It was bad news. She felt it in her bones, and obviously Steven did too, otherwise he would have answered her last question with more than kisses. She should be sobbing, even as unattractive as that was. But she was cold inside, frozen almost to the point of being numb. The only warmth she felt was the lingering feeling of those kisses and his hand slowly stroking her shoulder. And she wanted it to never end. Right now, all she wanted was to be here, with him. At least for a moment, she could get caught up in him and try to forget everything else.

For a few minutes, they sat together, her head on his shoulder, her hand on his thigh, his arm around her, his hand rubbing her shoulder and the side of her head, neither of them speaking, both of them trying to ignore reality.

"So uh…" Hyde cleared his throat. The silence was deafening and stifling, made him feel like he was choking. "What time is your appointment?"

Jackie lifted her head and gave him a weary, fake smile. "Three."

He looked at his watch. "So we have time to stop at the Hub. You want…how about a cheeseburger?" He gazed at her and smiled sadly. "Wrapped in tinfoil. It's shiny."

She released a tiny giggle. "Shiny is good," she answered, trying to keep her voice light. "Of course, a cheeseburger's not as good as, say, a shiny bracelet or something, but I'll deal with it."

Hyde rolled his eyes, but grinned and was inwardly glad to hear a jewelry reference from her. It was so her. And while it might have annoyed him beyond belief a couple months ago, now it was a moment of sweet reassurance. "Come on," he said, just before giving her a quick kiss and standing up. He grabbed her hand and pulled her up, and they left the room.

Kelso turned around on the couch when he heard Hyde's door open, and he watched as Hyde led Jackie towards the basement door. "Where're you going?"

Hyde glared at him. "Out."

Kelso leapt to his feet. "I wanna go too."

"Forget it, Kelso."

Kelso pouted as Hyde and Jackie exited, and he flopped back down on the couch angrily. "Man, what is WITH Hyde? He keeps acting like Jackie belongs to him!"

Eric and Donna exchanged glances, and Eric began speaking as slowly and as patiently as he could. "Well, Kelso, she is his girlfriend, so I guess he…you know, has the right to want to be alone with her."

Kelso glared at Eric. "No he doesn't. And he doesn't have to be all…possessive with her! He's just selfish!"

Fez patted his hand. "Do not worry, Kelso. You still have me." He held the bag of M&Ms out again. "And M&Ms."

Kelso looked at Fez. "Thank you, Fez. YOU are a true friend. Unlike some people. Like people named Hyde."

Donna shook her head, but she was distracted. As misguided as Kelso was, she had to admit that he was right about Jackie and Hyde. They'd both been very quiet and secretive the past few days. And it worried her. "Does anyone else think something weird is going on with them? I mean…I think something may actually be wrong."

Fez gasped lightly. "Maybe she really is pregnant!"

Kelso suddenly smiled again. "And maybe it's my baby!" Everyone stared at him. "What? It could be! I'm good at gettin' girls pregnant!"

Eric sighed. "Kelso, to get a girl pregnant, you have to have sex with them. You know that, don't you?"

Kelso glared at him. "Of course I know that, Eric, god!"

Donna stared at him. "Well, then how could this be your baby?"

"Cause Jackie and I did it, Donna, damn!" He shook his head at her. "I thought you were supposed to be smart!"

Eric raised an eyebrow. "You did it recently? Are you sure you don't mean three years ago?"

Kelso huffed. "We did it last night!" Everyone still stared. "Okay, fine, I dreamed that we did it. But everyone knows that dreams are just as real as…reality, so it happened!" He shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest.

Eric rolled his eyes. "Kelso…"

Donna lightly elbowed her boyfriend and shook her head. "Don't bother," she said softly. She looked at him. "Nothing you say will get through."

Eric nodded and mumbled in disgust. "Ain't that the truth!"