Breaking Free

By: Ereye

Summary: Along the same lines as the current popular trend of "Jackie leaves and comes back years later," only I don't want them to have to wait so long. And she won't be pregnant. But there's heartache, growing up, angst and, eventually, mushiness. What more can people want?

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

Chapter 5 – Matchmaking

Hyde had never before needed his sunglasses this much. They were perfect to hide his glare at this … interloper as he sat on the couch, with an arm around his Jackie. The Zen face also helped mask his true feelings as he sat silently, arms crossed, feet up on the coffee table.

It was hard to mask those feelings. Pain aside, he also was ecstatic. Jackie was here. She was sitting in the basement. She was yammering on about her job and life.

He ignored what she was said about Mark, but allowed himself to feel happy and proud for her about everything else. He let the shrill, almost grating sound of her voice rush into his ears and soothe his aching heart.

Donna, Fez and Eric interrupted every now and then to ask questions, but for the most part Jackie carried on the conversation almost entirely by herself. Mark added things here and there, and some of the things he said made Hyde want to punch him. He was just too perfect.

He was everything Hyde wasn't.

And thinking about it that way meant, she never really loved Hyde if she could also love his opposite – or she didn't really love Mark and specifically looked for someone that didn't remind her of their time together.

Or, maybe he was just grasping at straws.

But then, something happened. He saw Jackie glance in his direction, then look quickly down at her lap, blushing. And that's when he knew he could still get under her skin.

Hyde's heart leapt. Maybe Jackie didn't want perfection after all.

Jackie couldn't help her constant stream of chatter. She knew she should shut up and let somebody else talk for awhile, but she was kind of afraid that if she lost control of the conversation, then she'd also lose control of the willpower that was keeping her acting like everything was perfect.

It just felt wrong. She was sitting next to her fiancé, the now-familiar feel of his arm heavy across her shoulders. But she knew that, especially in this basement, she shouldn't be sitting on the couch. She should be sitting on Hyde's lap. Mark's arm shouldn't be around her shoulder; Hyde's arm should be encircling her waist. He should be whispering into her ear the sweet things that he only ever said to her, when he let his guard down and was Steven instead of Hyde.

And as the pain and nausea became even worse, she finally had to admit to herself she wasn't over him. She didn't think she would ever be over him. Coming home was a bad idea.

She stole a look at Mark, and steeled her resolve. She may not be over Steven, but she made a promise to Mark.

And Mark had one thing that Steven didn't – he wanted to marry her.

She was through letting Steven hurt her, through letting him say "I don't know." After all the pain she suffered, she just wanted to be with someone that wanted her. Even if she wanted to be with someone else.

She'd just have to learn to deal with it - because she wouldn't let Hyde hurt her again.

Donna and Jackie were sitting in Donna's room, where they'd be sleeping just like the old days. Mark was on the downstairs couch, which meant the two were catching up on the girl talk.

Jackie had finally asked about Steven, wanting to know what was going on in his life. Since he had barely said two words in the basement all night, Jackie didn't know the first thing about how the last two years had affected him.

She tried to ask without letting any emotion betray her, but the lack of emotion – coupled with the fact that Donna knew her pretty well even after their separation – was a red flag to Donna that Jackie still cared.

And since it was a secret hope of Donna's that Jackie coming home would lead to reconciliation, she smiled inside. She knew Hyde still loved Jackie, even though he never said anything about it. Even if she didn't see his face when Jackie's name was mentioned, or The Price is Right came on TV, or even when somebody mentioned shopping, she would have known because of the fact that he hadn't been on a single date since both Jackie and Sam had left.

So she had to pick her words carefully. She didn't want to play her hand too soon. She didn't know if Jackie still loved Hyde, or if there was just some unresolved issues she wanted to take care of before riding off into the sunset with her fiancé, who seemed nice enough but who just didn't make Jackie sparkle like Hyde did.

So she told her about Sam leaving almost right after Jackie did – but she said it like it was really no big deal. She told Jackie how the radio store had done wonders for the self-confidence of a boy who used to think he would amount to nothing because of the side of the tracks he came from.

She said, "No, Hyde hasn't really been seeing anyone in a while" almost like she just realized it now that she was thinking of it.

And as Jackie avoided eye contact and acted as if she didn't really care about what she was hearing, Donna began to get more excited and more hopeful. Her mind started whirring, thinking about the next step in the matchmaking plot.

That night, Hyde tossed and turned on his bed, trying to force the thoughts of Jackie – and what she might be doing with Mark at that moment – out of his mind.

He knew he was going to fight for her, but he didn't know what his first battle plan should be. He couldn't just go up to her and declare his feelings. That would be a little …rash.

But he couldn't be too subtle; there wasn't much time. And, plus, Jackie sometimes didn't pick up on subtlety. It was one of the things he loved about her.

Part of him wanted to be his old self around her, to remind her of the person she used to love. But, another part of him warned this might not be the best course of action because reminding her of that person would also remind her of the person who constantly hurt her.

So he didn't know what he was going to do. But he knew he had to come up with something – and soon. This was the most important project of his life, after all.