Chapter Three: Hidden Away

A/N: First of all, I'm so completely sorry about how long this took to get out. I've had some serious writer's block and need some time to figure out where I'm going with this story, but I promise I won't abandon it. Thank you so much too all of my wonderful reviewers, you guys are wonderful and thank you for being so patient in waiting for this next chapter. It's kind of short and more of a filler, but there is J/H in it, so hopefully, I have done their characters justice. Okay, if you're still reading this, I'm amazed, lol. Enjoy!

1.22.06 – Just made a few grammar corrections I found when I re-read it on I thought I had caught them all, but I guess not, sorry guys!

.i.i.i.i.

Later that night, Hyde walked into his room. All was quiet in the house he had called home for so many years now. He could easily afford at this point in his life his own apartment and being living rather fabulously, but he couldn't bring himself to move out the Forman's house.

There was something about waking in the morning to Mrs. Forman's huge breakfast she had prepared for the day and Red's scowl that really didn't reveal his love for all the damn kids that hung around his house every day. There was just something about the Forman house that made Hyde find himself drawn to it.

It was his home.

He saw the raven hair girl sprawled out fast asleep on his bed. He smiled thoughtfully as he saw her clenching tightly to his blue comforter. When Laurie had moved out of the house for good, the Foreman's had given Hyde her bed. Jackie insisted that now he was making money at his dad's record company he should at least buy a decent bedspread and sheets. He finally gave in, and even let her pick out which colors she liked best.

It was times like this he wondered what the hell they were doing. Why were they still secret? Why did he tell her to marry him? Questions that seemed to have such logical answers when the sun was up and not have any answers when the moon was at its peak during the night.

He went into his dresser to grab a pair of sweatpants to sleep in when he heard, "Steven?"

He looked at her and said softly, "Go back to sleep Jackie."

She blinked her eyes a few times quickly to wake herself up a little. "Can I have a t-shirt?"

He scanned her and realized that she was still in her dress that she had arrived in. He searched through his drawers and found 'her' Grateful Dead t-shirt. She alternated between that and a Led Zeppelin t-shirt that were way to small to fit him anymore. He pulled it out of the drawer and gave it to her and then walked upstairs to the bathroom to wash up.

Jackie threw her dress to the floor and then pulled the t-shirt over her head. She loved the smell of his clothes, it was liked she was engulfed inside of him. She plopped back down on the bed and snuggled in deep under the comforter and closed her eyes lightly. She began to wonder, wonder if anyone finally figured out what was really going on.

How couldn't they?

She sighed deeply; she could only imagine the torture of the dinner party tomorrow night. She hadn't understood why her parents were throwing so many parties. Why were they so determined to make her life miserable? Then she thought of Christopher.

His bright blond hair slicked back my greasy gel. His ferocious looking dark brown eyes. The smirk that graced his face every time her saw her. She felt so bare, so naked, when he looked her up and down.

She knew what he wanted.

And it scared her.

"Jackie?" She heard Hyde's voice and looked up.

"Hey." She said meekly. They looked at each other for a moment, not knowing quite what to say. "Look, I'm really sorry about tonight."

"You don't need to apologize." He said. He walked around to his side of the bed and laid down on his back resting his hands behind his neck. Jackie rolled over onto her elbow and stared him down in his eyes.

"Steven, I don't know what to do anymore." She whispered sadly.

He pulled her close to him and sighed deeply. "Look, I told Donna about us."

She pushed herself up and looked at him surprised. "What?"

"I couldn't lie to her man, we were just talking and it kind of came up. She's not going to say anything."

Jackie stared at him for a moment, unsure of what to say.

"Okay." She whispered disappearing back into a pillow as she plopped on her back. They sat for a few minutes in silence until she rolled over on top of him, his eyes opened wide.

"Do you promise you'll love me if I marry him?" she asked. There were no tears, there was no melodramatic music, just she and he and the essence of the night.

He only looked at her before connecting his lips with hers.

"Jacks, I couldn't stop if I wanted to."

.i.i.i.i.

She woke up the next morning at 6:42AM. She lay in his arms and sighed. She kissed him lightly on the cheek and then dragged herself out of bed. She threw her clothes back on from the night before and then wrote him a quick note.

She stood in the door, staring at his face.

Then she left.

Her drive home that morning was something rather familiar. She could still feel him on her and recalled there night of hot and steamy sex.

Somehow she could never bring herself to call it lovemaking.

Maybe, it was because that's what she used to call what she and Michael had done. She wanted to leave everything about that relationship in the past, including small little words.

Maybe, it was because she was too insecure to believe that anyone could truly love her.

But she knew deep in her soul that it really wasn't any of those reasons.

It was simply that she hated the word.

While she hadn't completely abandoned her old self in her transformation these past few years, she had lost her silly ideals of love and the world. She was a more cynical Jackie. She puffed lightly on her cigarette before pulling into the driveway.

She threw it on the ground and stepped on it.

Just another part of her life that was hidden from the world.

.i.i.i.i.

Please, please, please leave me a review. They encourage me to keep going. Thanks for reading so far!