Last Chapter: "He wasn't there. He had left me. I woke up and he wasn't there." Jackie's voice was distant and so was her stare. Her voice got real soft when she whispered, "just like my parents." I was getting the in-depth profile into Jackie's messed up life. The messed up life that was going to make mine troubled and confusing.
Default: I don't own That 70's show or anything else I talk about in my story.
I never really knew how to treat a girl because Lena wasn't the type that needed you to do every little thing for her. And that was what I liked about her.
She was an independent. I had only seen Lena cry once, and that was because I wouldn't say 'I love you.'
I don't think she was even really crying because I had head Foreman and Donna talking about her just wanting to make me feel bad. Like she was trying to crack me.
I was not going to be whipped like Foreman or at times, Kelso. I had promised that would never become the guy that always did what his girlfriend told him to do.
I would never comfort a girl and get nothing in return. It was different with Jackie.
I couldn't explain it. Maybe my values changed because my old values got me cheated on, but I can't say for sure.
We sat there in silence; Jackie taking little sips of her beer. I had long ago put mine on the side counter. What was the point? I wouldn't get drunk anyway.
I had built up a tolerance to alcohol long ago and there seemed to be no escape left. I sighed and reached down to scratch my ankle. Jackie seemed fascinated with my itch.
She kept staring at my ankle even after I pulled my hand away and placed back behind my head. I watched her for a while. Her eyes were red and puffy and she seemed to be slightly shaking.
Her fingers were tracing the circular rim of the beer can and her toes were curled and her feet were locked at the ankle. Her stare was still locked onto my ankle, but it didn't look like she was really here.
I had seen this look before, mostly in Lena.
Like she was physically there, but not emotionally. "What are you thinking about?" I asked, nudging her shoulder softly.
She blinked multiple times and looked up at me with a soft smile. "How safe I would feel when Landry would hold me." She whispered.
I turned my stare to the wall across from us and focused in on a brown spot. It was gross. I was so fixed in on my stare that I wasn't aware of Jackie positioning herself in my lap.
It startled me and I tried to reposition myself.
"What are you doing?" I asked. Jackie didn't respond and instead turned herself around and grabbed hold of my hands. She leaned her back against my chest.
She took my left arm and wrapped it across her stomach and my right hand, she wrapped around her upper arms. I heard her sigh and she shifted around in my lap for a second before settling down.
"When I was upset, Landry would hold me like this and I felt safe. Whenever I felt sad he'd look at me and say, 'Come on champ, sit 'er down here.' Then he would pat his lap and I would sit down and he'd wrap his arms around me and I would feel safe. Oh so safe," Her voice was quiet crackly from crying earlier.
I sat there holding Jackie in my arms and I surprised myself by thinking that it wasn't that bad. I kind of enjoyed having a girl in my arms again.
Of course, Jackie was a stranger, but she was still a girl.
A very sad and depressed girl with a screwed up background like myself. I felt more connected to her then I did with anyone else I knew.
Everyone I knew had parents, even Lena. She had a very loving mom and a rich dad. Of course, they weren't always there, but they were one big happy family. And then I showed up.
Scruffy homeless boy Steven Hyde is dating the rich loved Lena Mitchell. It just didn't sound right.
My wandered far from reality and I caught myself thinking of Jackie and I as a couple. The thing was that it was easy to imagine.
We'd be sitting in the basement with Foreman and Donna, Jackie sitting in my lap with my arms around her and we'd be watching television.
It was a totally reasonable vision that I could see happening in the near future.