Disclaimer: I don't own.

Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading! And reviewing! You have been very sweet...This chapter didn't come out quite how I wanted it to, but I'm anxious to get to the next chapter, in which Hyde gives Jackie a special gift. :) I hope this isn't too far in left field, but I always thought Kelso and Jackie should have a conversation like this.Hope you enjoy, and again, thanks so much for reading my fic!

Convincing

Chapter 16 – Beautiful Together

Jackie walked into Steven's room, her mind reeling. A nightie? How could Michael give her a nightie? In front of Steven?

You know why, Jackie.

She did. Michael thought, and probably had ever since their final break up, that they would eventually get back together. And what was even worse was the fact that she'd never done anything to dispel him of the idea, not even after she'd fallen in love with Steven.

Steven had known that. And he'd been insecure about it. How could he not have been? She'd called Michael her boyfriend in front of him, for pete's sake!

He'd broken up with her over that. She should have known then. She should have changed it then. But she didn't. And it only made things worse.

It made Steven cheat on her with that skanky nurse who probably had five different types of vd's.

It drove him to Las Vegas and into his stupid "marriage" to that slutty stripper.

She'd never tried to stop Michael from thinking he had a chance with her, hoping that jealousy would keep Steven in line. Or something like that. Now she understood that all it had done was damage. Eavesdropping on Steven's conversation with Eric showed her that.

Something had to be done. Her relationship with Steven couldn't survive if Michael continued to hang over their heads, over his head.

She sat down on Steven's bed, and frowned when Michael sat next to her. She shrugged his arm off her shoulder and pointed. "No, Michael. You sit over there."

"But Jackie…"

"Michael!"

Kelso sighed and flopped over to the chair, sitting down with a pout. "Fine." He glared at Fez, who stood between him and Jackie, a smile on his face and his arms crossed over his chest. "Go away, Fez."

Jackie shook her head. "No. Fez stays." She smiled at Fez. "But go stand by the door."

Fez shook his head sadly. "Fine." He rolled his eyes and muttered something incomprehensible.

Jackie sighed, and looked at her ex-boyfriend. Hopefully she could be patient. Hopefully. "Michael, why on earth did you give me that nightie? And in front of Steven?"

Kelso smirked. "Duh, to make Hyde look bad. I know how you like clothes, and shiny stuff. And the nightie is both." He sat up straight and shuffled his shoulders proudly. "Plus it's really sexy." His eyebrows danced seductively at her.

She rolled her eyes. As much as she wanted to be patient with Michael, her voice came out tight and frustrated. She couldn't forget the look on Steven's face, in his eyes. Yeah, there was a whole lot of anger, but underneath that…she'd seen it. His fear. His insecurity. "Well, I don't like it. And I don't like what you're doing to Steven. So you'd better stop it."

Kelso's smile faded, and he leaned forward. He was going to have to be serious if he was to get her back, obviously. "Okay, look. The truth is, I gave you that nightie to tell you something. That I want you back."

Jackie instinctively retorted with a cocky comment. "Well, of course you do, Michael. How could you not? I mean, look at me." She looked down at herself. "I'm gorgeous. Even Fez wants me back, and he's never even had me!"

Fez nodded from his banishment by the door. "Yes, that is true." He gazed longingly at Jackie.

She sighed, and her bravado immediately faded when she remembered Steven's words from last night. "She's better off without me, okay? You should've seen her with Kelso today. Laughing, yapping away…I come in, she gets all tense. Like she knows I'm not going to…" Something sharp stabbed in the middle of her chest. Knowing that Steven felt that way…it hurt her. Deeply. "Michael, it's not going to happen. Ever."

Kelso frowned. "Why not? Jackie, we belong together! You're good looking, I'm super fine…God, Jackie, you always said good looking people should only be with other good looking people, and lets face it, Hyde just ain't very good looking!"

She shook her head. "Yes he is," she whispered, thinking of how handsome he was, of how beautiful he was when he looked at her in certain ways when he thought she wasn't paying attention. "But that's not why I'm with him, or why I'm always going to stay with him." She watched as Michael stood up, his face twisting with displeasure and obvious frustration. "Michael…"

"No. I don't get it, Jackie!" Kelso began pacing the small room. "I'm the one who buys you stuff! I'm the one who takes you places! I do whatever you say! Hyde just yells at you when you bitch at him to do anything!" He whipped around to look at her. "And he cheated on you! With a nurse!"

Jackie stood up and glared angrily at him, so angry that not even the memory of that skanky nurse hurt. "Like you're one to talk, Michael! You cheated on me constantly! Even when you knew it hurt me, you kept doing it!" She took a deep breath. "Steven cheated once. Because he thought I'd cheated first. And he never did it again, Michael, because he didn't like hurting me."

Kelso gave her a look. "Jackie, I've told you this before, I cheated out of joy!"

It was so ridiculous, and she smiled wryly. Her head shook slightly. "You just don't get it, Michael. You don't get me."

She'd never realized it more acutely than she did now.

And she'd never felt a stronger sense of peace than she did now. Finally, FINALLY, she was saying goodbye to her first love.

He raised his hands in the air, as if he were helpless to understand the whole situation. "What's to get? You like being good looking, getting stuff, going to fancy places, unicorns. I've got it down pat, Jackie!"

She took a few steps towards him. "I want more than that, Michael. I want to think about things. Steven makes me think about things I've never thought about. I want to feel safe and cared about. I want to feel protected. Do you know what Steven did at my doctor's appointment? He almost beat the doctor up when he said I had to have surgery. All because he didn't want me to have to have my head cut open." It wasn't exactly the truth, but close enough. And it WAS true that Steven had lost his temper.

"So? I can beat up people too!" He moved to stand directly in front of her, and put his hands on her shoulders. "Look, Jackie, I know I've been stupid in the past. I know I've screwed up. But I'm not gonna anymore. I can change."

She smiled affectionately and patted his waist with one hand. "You shouldn't have to change to make someone want to be with you, Michael."

"You changed for Hyde."

"No. I grew. Because of Steven." Michael's face looked puzzled, and she sighed. She'd never be able to explain any of this to him. He just wasn't capable, at least not at this point in his life, of understanding. "Look, Michael, I really love Steven."

"You loved me. And you told me just a few months ago that you'd always love me!"

"And I will. But it's different. I love you, Michael, but I'm…" Jackie smiled, and the warm feeling Steven gave her constantly wrapped around her heart. "I'm in love with Steven." She shrugged. "I like the way I feel with him. I like the way I AM with him…I just love him so much, Michael."

Kelso's shoulders slumped. He was beginning to think that he was fighting a losing battle. The way she talked about Hyde, the way her face softened when she talked about Hyde…it was sickening. "Why Hyde?" he whined, walking around Jackie and plopping down onto the cot Hyde called his bed. "You guys are so different. You don't make any sense." He rolled his eyes. "And believe me, we've ALL tried to figure it out!"

Jackie sat down next to him. How could she explain it to him?

And then she thought of something Steven had once told her, about her eyes, in a rare moment of romanticism. Of course, he'd been trying to seduce her, but still. It still counted.

"Michael, do you like my eyes?"

He looked at her and grinned. Maybe this was his chance. She was asking for a compliment, and he was good at those. He'd always managed to make her smile and sometimes even blush, even swoon when they were together. "Of course I do, Jackie," he said in his smoothest tone. "They're gorgeous, just like you." He slid his gaze up and down her body.

Jackie had to force herself to not roll her eyes. "Well, why do you like them?" He stared at her blankly, and her patience, already stretched thin, faltered. She huffed quietly. "Maybe because of their color?"

"Oh! Yeah, yeah, definitely!" Kelso responded enthusiastically. He stared into her eyes. "I love the color….wait…Jackie, have your eyes always been two different colors? Cause I don't remember that." He grinned. "Of course, most of the time I wasn't looking at your eyes. I was looking at your boobs." His eyebrows arched. "You've got great boobs, you know."

She nearly sucked her lower lip into her mouth in order to not yell at him. And yet, she wasn't surprised. So much about her Michael had never noticed. So very much. "Anyway…that's what makes them special, right? That's what makes them unique, and so beautiful….right?"

He nodded. This was definitely his chance. "Definitely." He cocked his head. "Cool, one green, one blue…god, Jackie, they really are gorgeous! I've never seen anyone else with eyes like that."

"And if my eyes were both the same color, they probably wouldn't be as special, would they?"

"No, they'd just be…the same."

"Well, my eyes are just like me and Steven. They don't match, they're not the same, but they're beautiful together. They belong together." She paused. "Just like me and Steven."

Kelso frowned when he realized what she meant. "Wait, you tricked me."

She shook her head again and patted his thigh. "Michael…"

And suddenly, Kelso realized that there was no point to arguing anymore. He wasn't going to win. For whatever reason, Hyde had won, and Jackie wasn't ever going to change her mind. The way she talked about His chest deflated, and again, his shoulders rounded downwards. He stared at his legs. "So we're never gonna get back together, are we?"

A burst of sadness, not so much for herself, but for him, rushed through her veins. He seemed disappointed, and yet, she knew he didn't really LOVE her the way he was arguing. He couldn't. Hell, he wasn't even worried about her surgery. All his focus was on getting her back. This was about something else. Maybe boredom, or loneliness. "No, Michael." She sighed. "Look, I don't even think you really want me back, anyway. You're just…you're bored. Lonely. And you fixated on me because…well, aside from the fact that I'm incredibly beautiful and desirable, because I'm comfortable for you."

Kelso shrugged. "I don't know. I've just been…I mean, ever since Brooke dumped me…I just…" He shook his head sadly. "I thought I could really…I mean, I thought we could really have something." He tried to put on a brave face. "Oh well. I guess I'll just be alone forever."

Jackie wrapped her arm around his shoulder. "No you won't, Michael. You'll find someone. I know you will. You're too good looking not to. Just…not me." She smiled, and he did too. "Now….do you promise that you won't do anything to bait Steven? Not try to make him jealous? Can you and I just be friends and nothing more?"

Kelso nodded. "Well, I can promise I won't try to make him jealous and that we can just be friends, but can I at least still try to burn him every chance I get? I mean, come on, that's all I have right now!"

She laughed. "Oh, fine, you big jerk. You can still try to burn him."

They hugged, and suddenly, Fez joined in. "Oh, that was so beautiful," he sighed as he threw his arms around both Kelso and Jackie. "And to celebrate, we should take turns doing it. Kelso, you may go first and I'll watch."

Jackie drew away from Kelso and glared at Fez. "Don't make me get Steven!"

Fez pulled back, and his eyes shone with fear. "Please do not do that. I like my needs."

Kelso grinned and stood up. "Come on, Fez. Lets find something to steal and hide from Hyde." He giggled. "Get it? Hide from Hyde?"

Jackie shook her head in amusement, and her stomach, tight since she'd pulled that nightie out of the box, finally relaxed.

It was finally over, and now she could completely concentrate on Steven.

And try not to think about the fact that her head was going to be cut open in just over forty-eight hours.

God, Steven, I'm so scared.