A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you guys made my day! I just saw the actual series finale, and I was disappointed. I was really, really hoping Jackie and Fez would go, "You know, we're better off as friends" at the last minute, but alas! Anyway, here is chapter two, and I apologize because the Jackie/Hyde-ness hasn't happened yet, but it will eventually, so don't lose hope! Thanks again to everyone for reading, and especially to everyone who reviewed – keep 'em coming!
Chapter Two – Surprise!
The color drained from Jackie's face. "W-what do you mean you don't know where he is?"
Donna glanced at her friend nervously, unsure what to say to her. "Well, when both of you didn't come back, we figured…" she trailed off, looking to Kelso and Fez for help.
"We figured you were doing it," Fez finished bluntly.
Throwing him a threatening glare, Donna quickly amended, "I think what Fez meant to say is that we thought the two of you were going to stay in Chicago and work things out. You had a lot of issues, and we didn't know if you were still going to take the job offer, or even if you guys were getting back together. We never knew he wasn't with you."
Jackie was starting to feel dizzy. She reached down blindly for the couch and dropped heavily onto it. "So, n-no one's seen him at all? No one's heard from him in weeks?" Her voice was shaky, scared. Steven had left her hotel room furious, and despite her best efforts to get him to stay, at least until he had calmed down enough to drive, he had gone anyway. Their argument had left her exhausted, and Jackie had collapsed on the hotel bed where she had cried herself to sleep. In the morning when the whole ordeal came flooding back to her, she had cried again until there were no more tears left and her body was convulsing with a severe case of the hiccups.
For two whole days she had lain in that bed, the curtains drawn tightly and the covers pulled up over her head. She was distraught over Steven leaving her just when she thought he had finally come around. He had followed her to Chicago, and she was almost positive that he had been ready to tell her he was ready to take their relationship to the next level and see his future with her. She was also furious with him for causing her to leave in the first place and then not even bothering to listen to her explanation when he jumped to conclusions after seeing her in what looked like a compromising position but was in actuality completely innocent…at least on her part. And she could not be held responsible for Michael Kelso's deranged thinking.
If only Steven had given her that tiny glimmer of hope that someday, it didn't even have to be soon, just someday he could see them still together, could see a future with her. But he hadn't even been able to say that, and Jackie had been forced to make the hardest decision of her life. She hadn't seen any other way. She had been offered the job opportunity of a lifetime, and Steven had made it clear that there was nothing holding her back. She could either wait around for him to finally be ready to make the commitment to her, and who knew how long that would take, or she could take control of her life. She had chosen to make the most of her own destiny, as difficult and painful as it was to leave him, and how dare he follow her all the way to Chicago after the way he had left things with her. How dare he say "I don't know," and then heroically come after her the way she'd always dreamed he would. How dare he stomp on her heart and then expect her to dust it off and give it back to him again.
Eventually, Jackie decided she had spent enough time crying over Steven Hyde and had forced herself out of bed and worked her special "Jackie magic," transforming herself from the pathetic, weepy wretch into her usual cheery, bubbly personality. She had marched over to the news station and practically demanded the job, and within two weeks of arduous training and solidifying her place on the news team had almost managed to convince herself that it was everything she had always wanted. Then, on the night of her very first broadcast as co-anchor, everything came crumbling down around her.
She was staring at the cameras, waiting for her cue from Roger, the weatherman, when a memory of long ago popped unbidden into her mind. She was in a newsroom again, only this time, Donna had been behind the camera, and Michael had been on the stage with her, helping her do a segment she had entitled "Slut or Not." After the taping, Steven had unexpectedly shown up to congratulate her. It wasn't until later that Donna told her he had actually come to ask her back, but when he'd seen how happy she was and she'd told him excitedly how well she would do on her own, he couldn't find the words. Though he never admitted it because it was such a Forman thing to say, Jackie knew it was actually because he didn't want to hold her back and keep her from pursuing her dreams. But as she sat there that day, Jackie realized her dreams had changed. She didn't want that life anymore if Steven wasn't there to share it with her. So, in the middle of the broadcast, as the cameras were rolling and the entire Chicago area was tuned in, as Roger gave her the cue, Jackie stood up and walked out of the station without a word.
Back at the hotel, Jackie had sat for an hour, mulling over what she had just done and what it meant. She knew she wanted Steven, she had always wanted him, but he had made it pretty clear when he left that he didn't trust her and wanted absolutely nothing to do with her anymore. But he had followed her, and that had to mean something. She had to believe it meant something.
So, she had packed her bags and headed straight home, anxious and apprehensive to see Steven again. It would not be easy getting him to listen to her, but she was prepared to fight him until he was so exhausted he gave up and grudgingly let her explain. Only now he was nowhere to be found, and no one, not even his closest of friends, knew where he was.
"I'm sorry, Jackie."
Donna's voice broke through Jackie's reverie, and the smaller girl looked up at her, eyes wide with fear. "What if he's hurt? Oh, Donna, he was so angry when he left my hotel room, and I tried to stop him from driving, but he wouldn't listen and he left anyway. What if he got into a car accident and is lying unconscious in a hospital somewhere?"
Donna sat down beside her friend and placed a comforting arm around her shoulders. "I'm sure he's fine, Jackie," she soothed. "I'm sure we would've heard something if anything had happened to him."
Jackie nodded distractedly. "Yeah, you're probably right, Donna." She took a deep breath and forced herself to smile. "I'm fine. I think I'm just going to go and unpack. I dropped my stuff off at your house and came straight over here to see Ste…" the name caught in her throat, and Jackie stood up quickly and headed for the stairs.
"I'll help you," Donna said, standing as well.
"Actually, I think I'd like to be alone for a little while," Jackie replied. "I'll see you guys later."
The three friends watched her ascend the stairs with bemused and concerned expressions. Jackie was never the type to request privacy, especially when things got rough for her. In fact, when her life took a turn for the worse, she seemed to crave attention more often than normal, although they had all figured out this was only a ruse to distract them from whatever situation was currently distressing her.
"Wow, she's really upset," Donna said, voicing the other's thoughts.
"Man, if I'd known Hyde was going to leave her, I would've gone back to Chicago," Kelso said, walking to the deep freeze and pulling out a Popsicle. "Jackie could've probably used some comforting."
Fez smiled and patted his friend on the back. "Aw, that's sweet, Kelso."
Unwrapping his Popsicle, Kelso nodded. "Yeah, when Jackie gets sad or upset or lonely she gets hornier than a dog in heat."
"You pig!" Donna cried, smacking him on the back of the head and causing him to break his Popsicle in half. "You're the reason they're in this whole mess to begin with!" She shook her head as Kelso uttered an offended noise and left the basement through the side door, disgusted with him.
"Damn, Donna can be a real bitch," Kelso muttered as he tried to get his Popsicle halves to stick back together.
Fez walked around the couch and sat down next to him. "Well, it is all your fault. If you had been fully clothed when Hyde had walked in, it would've been a lot easier to explain."
Kelso scoffed. "Like you wouldn't have tried to get in the shower with Jackie when she was feeling all lonely and vulnerable."
Fez thought about that for a moment and then shrugged. "You got me there." Then, leaning closer, he said conspiratorially, "Speaking of naked Jackie, is that true what you said about her being hornier than a dog in heat?"
Giving him a lopsided grin, Kelso replied, "Trust me, Fez, I speak from years of personal experience."
"Then you should probably go," Fez said, twisting uncomfortably on the couch.
Kelso gestured to his reassembled Popsicle. "But Fez…"
"I said go!" Fez cried, waving his hand at Kelso.
With a sigh, Kelso got up and left the basement, leaving Fez alone on the couch with his "needs."
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As Jackie came up from the basement and stepped into the Forman's kitchen, she was met with a sight that simultaneously thrilled her and made her extremely uneasy all at once. Steven was sitting at the kitchen table with Kitty, a half-eaten sandwich on a plate in front of him. He looked up when he heard her enter, and she could've sworn she saw a flicker of surprise in his blue eyes before they were masked by his cultivated Zen.
Kitty, too, glanced up, smiling when she saw it was Jackie. Her smile faded as she felt the tension suddenly swell in the room, and chanced a quick look back at Steven, who was sitting in stony silence, a blank look on his face as he stared at the petite cheerleader. She cleared her throat nervously and said, "I-I'm just going to go and…look for Red." Then she quickly left the room.
Jackie took a tiny step closer. "Hey."
Hyde nodded in response.
"Um…where have you been?" Jackie asked, trying to sound casual and failing miserably.
"Vegas," he replied.
Her mouth formed an "oh," but no sound came out. She cleared her throat but suddenly found she had nothing to say. All the words she had imagined would come bubbling to the surface at the very sight of him had vanished upon actually seeing him. He didn't look happy to see her at all, and she was hesitant to make him angrier than he already was.
Hyde decided to pick up the slack. "Why aren't you in Chicago? I thought you were going to take that job offer." He was careful to keep his voice neutral, any inflection of bitterness or jealousy and he knew she'd jump all over it and pick at the holes in his defense.
Jackie nodded. "Yeah, I did, but it didn't work out." Because I missed you, because I love you, because I realized my life meant nothing without you in it, she wanted to say, but the words refused to come out.
"Sorry to hear that," Hyde replied, but he didn't sound sorry at all. He sounded…smug. Like he knew all along that she'd be miserable there, like at any moment he would burst out with a childish, "I told you so!" but he didn't. He just folded his arms across his chest and sat there.
Silence had never been Jackie's strong suit, and that fact was especially true now. The longer the silence dragged on, the more awkward she felt. Finally, when she could stand it no longer, she burst out, "Steven, listen, about what happened in Chicago…"
"Jackie, if you don't mind," Hyde interrupted, pushing back from the table and bringing the plate over to the sink. "I've just spent the last couple weeks getting over what happened in Chicago, and I'd rather not go back and rehash it all over again."
But Jackie had already psyched herself up for her speech, and there was no stopping her. "I know, Steven, but please just hear me out. The whole thing was just a big misunderstanding. You just jumped to conclusions and didn't even bother to let me explain what was going on."
"Jumped to conclusions?" Hyde repeated, incredulous. "Jackie, Kelso was standing there in a freakin' towel! I didn't have to jump anywhere, the conclusion was right there!"
"But, Steven, nothing happened!" Jackie protested. "Don't get me wrong, Michael tried, several times, but I promise we didn't do anything."
Hyde nodded, but he looked completely unconvinced. "I see. So Kelso was naked except for a towel because nothing happened."
Jackie held up a hand. "Okay, Steven, I admit that looked bad, but I can explain that, too."
"Well I can't wait to hear this," Hyde said, staring at her expectantly.
Just then, the doorbell rang, and both of them stared at the kitchen door. They heard Kitty open it and greet the person on the other side a bit awkwardly, and then heard her footsteps as she approached the kitchen. She poked her head in, a confused frown on her face. "Steven, it's for you."
Hyde brushed past Jackie and out into the living room where he stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widening in surprise upon seeing the tall blonde standing in the doorframe. She was wearing incredibly short shorts and a tight white wife beater, two bags clutched in her hands.
"Hyde!" she cried, dropping her bags and rushing to him. Her arms were around him before he could say anything, but he clearly heard Jackie's gasp of surprise as she came out of the kitchen to witness the scene.
"Sam?" Hyde said, pulling her away and standing her at arms length. "What are you doing here?"
Sam smiled at him. "You don't remember? We got married!"