Chapter 5: Back Together
The
room was silent. Everyone, Donna, Eric, Fez, Kelso, Hyde, Red, Kitty,
and Midge were all sitting in the Pinciotti den, waiting to go to the
funeral.
Donna had tears rolling down her face; she hadn't fully
stopped crying since she'd heard the news two days earlier. Eric
just held her, not saying anything. He knew that if he opened his
mouth, he would say something stupid and upset her even more. He
always did that, make bad situations worse. Everyone was still in
denial. They didn't want to believe that he was really gone. They
may have thought that Bob was a little fruity at times, but that's
what made him so great. Even Red was on the verge of tears, but of
course he didn't cry. He was a man, men didn't cry. Eric had
cried and so had Fez, but Red thought that you really couldn't
count them. Fez was already seen as one of the girls, and Eric, well
Eric was two steps away from being one to. So they sat, waiting to
say goodbye to one of their own, one of the family that they had come
to know.
Jackie knew everyone was at Donna's. She had seen them
all go over there earlier. She wanted to wait before she went in. She
was so scared about how everyone was going to act. She didn't want
to stress anyone out more then they already were. She finally decided
that it was time. She had to go in. It was now or never. Truthfully,
she preferred never, but she had to make sure Donna was okay. She
knew how it felt to lose a dad. Jackie's dad had died just under a
year ago. He was the only one that knew where she was. She had given
the prison her number so he could call her. About a month and a half
after she moved she got a call from the prison saying that he got
into a fight in the yard, and the other guy had killed him. Jackie
was devastated. She didn't leave her room for two weeks.
Jackie
walked into the house. She walked over to the den door, which was
shut and stood for a second. She heard a little sob every once in a
while, probably Donna, she thought. Jackie had to force herself to
grab the handle. She slowly turned it, and walked in.
No one had
noticed her at first; they were all to wrapped up in what was going
on to care. Jackie had been standing there for about 45 seconds
scared to say anything when Kitty saw her.
K: Oh my God, Jackie, is that you?
Everyone whipped their heads around to see the little pixie standing in the doorway. No one moved or said anything. Jackie moved her eyes across everyone in the room when they finally stopped on Steven. HE was staring at her to. No one knew what to say. All of a sudden Jackie felt Donna's arms surround her in a hug. Donna was sobbing into Jackie's shoulder. Jackie embraced her friend, not knowing what else to do.
J: I know Donna. I know. I'm so sorry.
Finally Donna released Jackie and backed up a couple of steps to where Eric was already waiting for her. Once again it was silent. Donna finally broke the silence.
D: Jackie, where have you been? Why are you here?
J: I moved to Manhattan after Eric came back. And I'm here because I heard about what happened with your dad.
D: How did you find out?
J: I ran into Natalie and her mom called and told her what happened, then Natalie told me. I knew I had to come back. Are you okay? That's a stupid question. Of course you're not okay. I know I wasn't…
D: What do you mean you weren't?
J: Oh, well… umm… my dad passed about a month and a half after I left, there was an accident, and well, he died.
Hyde couldn't believe that she was here. He had been thinking about her for the past two years, and now she was here. When he heard her say that her dad died, he wanted to cry. He could only imagine how she felt. And she was alone, it was all his fault, he should have been there. Then Hyde saw the necklace that Jackie was wearing. Is that? No, it couldn't be? I left it in my old room. Hyde suddenly realized that Jackie had been the one that had been in there yesterday. He noticed that the door was open and the light was on. She was wearing the necklace. That had to mean that she still loved him. Right? He hoped that's what it meant. He couldn't stop staring at her. God she was beautiful. She didn't look that different, but it had only been two years. It had felt like a lifetime for him. Hyde was jolted back to reality when he heard Jackie begin to speak.
J: Listen you guys. I'm so sorry that I just left without a word. I know it was stupid. I just I needed to get away. It wasn't that I didn't want to see you, cause I have, I was just scared that you would try to convince me to stay. And I couldn't. Donna I'm so sorry. But when I heard what happened, I knew you needed people, and I just figured that I would come to make sure that you were okay.
D: I'm not right now, but I will be. Thanks Jackie, it means a lot that you came. We actually have to go to the funeral in like 10 minutes, are you coming?
Donna had a hopeful voice. She had just gotten her best friend back, and she didn't want to lose her again. She needed Jackie right now.
J: Of course I'm staying you lumberjack! I'll stay as long as you need me to.
D: Donna smiled lightly, believe it or not, Donna missed Jackie calling her a lumberjack. She walked over to her friend and gave her a quick hug. Then Jackie gave everyone else a hug as well. She had missed her family. She got to Steven, and she wasn't sure what to do. Steven reached out and grabbed her by the wait pulling her close to him, and gave her a hug. Jackie almost passed out. It felt so good to have his arms around her again. It wasn't a "nice to see my long lost friend" kind of hug either. He had his arms around her waist, and his head buried in the crook of her neck. God he had missed this. She still smelled the same. Exotic. The only person he knew that smelled like that. When he finally released her she was sad at the sudden loss of contact. She backed away slowly remembering that they weren't together anymore.
Oh yeah, very interesting in deed.
