A/N: A big thank you to all my wonderful reviewers! I love you guys! Sorry for the slowness again. I've been battling writer's block and work has been really hectic lately, so I haven't had a whole lot of time. This chapter gets kinda mushy, and some OOCness might occur as a result, so I apologize for that if it's glaringly obvious. Hope it's not too bad, but let me know what you think!

Jackie sat nervously on the couch in her and Fez's apartment, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. Her eyes flicked up to the clock every few seconds, and each time she frowned at the minute hand that simply refused to move. Once, she even got up and picked the clock up to make sure it was ticking, then set it down with a huff and returned to her spot across the room, glaring at it all the while.

She had been waiting for what felt like hours for Fez to finally come home from work, though she still had no idea what she was going to say to him. She had practiced a conversation out loud with Fluffycakes, but even the stuffed unicorn seemed unimpressed by her lame excuses, and so, Jackie had resigned herself to waiting, hoping that when she saw Fez the right words would come tumbling out of their own accord.

A knock at her door made Jackie's heart jump up in her throat, and the thought that Fez wouldn't knock at his own door didn't even cross her mind as she hurried over to it.

"Steven?" she breathed, startled to see him.

He blinked in surprise. "Uh…hey, I didn't expect to see you here."

Jackie frowned. "Steven, I live here."

Hyde chuckled nervously and stepped past her into the apartment. "Oh…yeah, I forgot that."

Closing the door, Jackie turned around and crossed her arms over her chest. "Um, not to be rude, Steven, but what are you doing here?"

"Well, I…came to talk to Fez…about what happened last night," Hyde replied haltingly.

"No, no, I'm here to talk to Fez," Jackie said and pointed to herself to emphasize the point.

Hyde quirked an eyebrow at her. "Jackie, I don't really think this has to be a competition. I know you love winning and everything, but…"

With a snort and a roll of her eyes, Jackie cut him off and came to sit beside him on the couch. "Steven, we can't both talk to Fez about what happened. Do you know how awkward that will be for him? First he saw us making out and now he has to sit in the same room with both of us while we try to explain ourselves?"

Hyde considered this for a minute, and was just about to agree and get up to leave when the sound of jingling keys stopped him cold. His eyes widened, and he looked at Jackie, whose expression of terror mirrored his own.

Fez tried hard to keep his expression neutral as he opened the door and noticed the two deer-in-the-headlight looking people in his apartment, but he failed as Jackie stepped forward.

"Fez, I'm so glad you're home," she said as she came toward him, a timid smile twitching her lips. "I wanted to talk to you."

He could feel the tears stinging his eyes, but he blinked them back furiously. He could not, however, stop his hands from shaking as they gripped his keys tightly, nor could he help the quaver in his voice when he said, "I think you made your point last night, Jackie."

"Fez, come on, man, just let us explain," Hyde pleaded as he too took a step forward.

Fez's dark eyes snapped to him. "How dare you show up here, you son of a bitch." His normally joking tone was replaced by a hard, cold one as he said the familiar phrase, and Hyde hesitated.

Jackie glanced fearfully between the two and then placed a hand gently on Fez's chest. "Fez, please listen to me," she beseeched, her eyes bright with brimming tears. When he simply looked down at her and didn't pull away, she took that as a sign to continue, and without removing her hand, said quietly, "What Steven and I did last night was wrong, and we both know that. It was unfair to you, and we're so sorry, Fez."

"We didn't mean for it to happen," Hyde added.

Fez glared at him. "Oh, so you just tripped and fell on my girlfriend's lips?"

Hyde shifted uncomfortably under the foreigner's penetrating gaze. "Uh…well, no. I guess it was a little planned out, but I wasn't thinking when I did it, man."

"Well that makes it okay then," Fez bit out sarcastically, eyes narrowing.

"Fez, please," Jackie pleaded again, bringing his eyes back to her. "Steven and I never meant to hurt you. Please, Fez, you have to believe me."

"So what does this mean, Jackie?" he asked, searching her face intently. "Are you and Hyde back together now?"

Jackie hesitated. She had assumed that the kiss meant that Steven wanted to get back together with her, but they had never actually discussed it, and now that the subject had been breached, she felt awkward and stupid for jumping to conclusions. Perhaps the kiss had meant nothing more than closure to him. She dropped her hand from Fez's chest and her eyes panned over to Hyde's motionless body, begging the very same question Fez had just voiced.

Hyde's eyes locked onto hers, and when he spoke, she had a feeling he was speaking more to her than to Fez, even though his words were directed at the foreigner. "I've never felt this way about a girl before, and I'm sorry that it had to come to this, but I love her, and I'm not willing to let her go again."

Jackie's heart skipped a beat, and she had to bite back the squeal that was threatening to break free. She let her eyes do the talking for her instead, knowing they could tell Steven better than she how much it meant to hear him say those words.

"I see," Fez said somberly, breaking through their intimate moment.

Jackie swiveled back to face him. "Oh, Fez, I'm so sorry, but…I'm still in love with Steven. I think I always will be."

Fez nodded slowly, his head bowed in defeat.

Hyde cocked his head to the side and studied his friend carefully. "Hey, man, you gonna be okay?"

Looking up, Fez forced a small smile. "Actually, I have decided to return to my homeland."

Jackie gasped and grabbed his arms. "Fez, no! You don't have to go back home just because of this!"

"I won't be gone long," Fez reassured. "And it's not just because of this. I have been wanting to go back since my friend visited. It's been a long time since I've been home."

"You sure, man?" Hyde asked.

Fez nodded and Jackie let go of him reluctantly.

Stepping forward, Hyde clapped his friend on the shoulder. "Really am sorry about the way things turned out, Fez."

"No you're not, you son of a bitch," Fez retorted, but the teasing tone was back and Hyde knew he hadn't meant it this time.

He grinned and glanced at Jackie. "Yeah, no I'm not." Turning his eyes back to Fez he said,"See you in a couple weeks, buddy?"

Fez nodded and they hugged briefly. Then Hyde left, and Fez turned to Jackie, whose brown eyes had filled again with tears.

"Fez, you really don't have to go."

He smiled kindly at her and pulled her in for a hug. "Jackie, it's okay. I sort of always knew you'd end up with Hyde sooner or later…I was just hoping it was later. I mean, we haven't even done it yet."

Jackie punched him playfully in the shoulder and he gave a short, "Ai!" She giggled and buried her face into his chest. "I'm going to miss you, you perv."

"Well, Jackie, if you want to do it now…" He was cut off by another slap, but he just smiled and hugged her tighter.

When she finally pulled away, the tears had leaked out of her eyes. "Thank you, Fez," she whispered before kissing him on the cheek and exiting the apartment.

Fez smiled softly as the door closed and then headed into his room to grab his luggage. It was going to be a long flight home.