A/N: Sorry for the slow update, graduation was a lot more hectic than I expected, but I am now officially out of high school, so yay! Anyway, I wanted to say thanks again to all the people reviewing this story - you guys are what keep me writing! Also, I'm a bit nervous about this chapter because I'm not sure the whole argument makes sense, so please be gentle with the reviews!

Chapter Five – Confessions

"…I sort of slept with Fez."

Donna blinked, her brain unwilling to comprehend what Jackie had just confessed. "You did what?" she asked dumbly.

"I sort of…. slept with Fez," Jackie repeated, casting her eyes downward.

"Sort of? How do you 'sort of' sleep with someone?" Donna's voice was gaining volume with each word as she slowly began to understand the weight of her friend's admission.

Jackie chanced a quick look up at her and saw Donna's face was tense, her lips pressed together in a thin line as she waited expectantly for a response. Jackie opened her mouth and stuttered, "I…well, Donna just…I can explain."

Donna arched a brow at her. "Well I should hope so! Jackie, we're talking about Fez here, remember? The foreigner, the pervert, the guy who sat in my closet on many an occasion and stole your underwear whenever he could get his hands on it?"

"I know, Donna, just let me explain," Jackie replied, holding her hands up to calm down her friend.

"I mean it's Fez!" Donna shouted, making a disgusted face.

"Donna! For God's sake, let me explain before you start ranting!" Jackie snapped.

Donna shut her mouth and sank back onto the couch, but she gave Jackie a disapproving look that told her just because she was listening did not mean she had accepted the situation.

Jackie took a deep breath. "Donna, when I found out about…" She floundered for the word, fearing just the sound of her name would make the whole thing irreversible.

"Sam, Hyde's wife," Donna supplied quickly, deliberately ignoring her friend's discomfort.

Jackie threw her a death glare, but continued calmly, "I was really upset and confused. I thought maybe if I came home I'd be able to explain things to Steven and everything would be okay between us. I didn't think for a second that during my two-week stay in Chicago he would've been in Las Vegas, getting drunk and marrying some stripper whore." She paused and her voice trembled slightly with unshed tears. "It just hurt so much that he could give her the one thing he'd never been able to give me, and in the span of only two weeks of knowing her. I just felt so alone, and when Fez showed up at the apartment to comfort me, I just clung to him. I needed someone, and Fez understood that; we both know it meant nothing more than that."

There was silence for a while as Donna allowed Jackie's words to sink in. She knew of course when she'd first found out about Sam that Jackie would be devastated. The poor girl was so in love with Hyde, and at times, Donna felt sorry for her because deep down she wasn't sure Hyde could ever be the man Jackie really needed because he couldn't say the words she longed to hear. But Donna also knew that Hyde did care for Jackie, much more than he let on to others. And even though he couldn't speak the words, he showed Jackie he cared through his actions, which Donna believed spoke more than words ever could.

She heaved a sigh. "Jackie, I understand how hurt you must have been, and if it were me and Eric, he probably wouldn't be alive right now." She smirked as she caught the faintest trace of a smile twitch the corners of Jackie's lips upward. "However," she continued, becoming serious again, "sleeping with Fez was definitely not the way to deal with all of this. This situation was between you and Hyde."

Jackie nodded slowly. "I know, and if I could take it all back and do it over again, I would."

"So how did Fez take it?" Donna asked.

Shrugging, Jackie gave her friend a small smile. "He got a pretty sweet deal, Donna. Sleeping with me with no strings attached? Most men would kill for that opportunity."

Donna grinned. "You do come with a lot of baggage."

Jackie playfully slapped her on the arm. "Hey, I'm high maintenance in a good way, remember?"

Shaking her head, Donna just laughed. At length, she said, "You are going to talk to Hyde about this, aren't you?"

With a nervous chuckle, Jackie replied, "I don't think it's really something he needs to know about…" but the look on Donna's face told her otherwise, and she sighed heavily.

"Look, Jackie, if you want Hyde in your life at all, you have to talk to him," Donna explained.

Rolling her eyes, Jackie pouted, "I know; I just hate it when you're right."

An hour later, Jackie found herself sitting alone in the Forman's basement, waiting for Hyde to get off work. She had played a zillion different scenarios over and over in her head as she sat there, I Dream of Jeannie flickering across the TV, but none of them turned out well. She didn't even know what to say to him when he arrived; they had so many issues to work out – Chicago, Sam, Fez – but just the thought of breaching any one of those topics made her stomach queasy. She had so much she wanted to say to him, but finding the right words was proving more difficult than she had anticipated. Just as she was about to lose her nerve and leave, he walked through the door, and she immediately froze.

Hyde's eyes widened in surprise beneath his shades at the sight of her there. He hadn't expected her to show up unannounced, and definitely not alone. He had anticipated a big show in front of Donna at least, knowing Jackie's love for dramatic scenes, but seeing her now, completely alone and vulnerable, he suddenly felt even more apprehensive.

"Hey," he said, as casually as he could.

She nodded, and he saw her anxiety morph into the practiced Zen he had taught her so long ago. "Hey."

He moved past her and eased down in his usual chair, eyeing her carefully as he did so. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you," she replied firmly, setting her resolve as she came around the side of the couch and sat back down, turning her body to face him. It's now or never, she thought. "I think we have a lot to talk about, don't you?"

He shrugged. "I guess." If she wanted to play Zen, he was definitely game; he had taught her everything she knew after all.

Jackie took a deep breath. The battle had begun. "I never got the chance to explain to you what happened in Chicago, so I'd like to start there." She paused, expecting him to object, but he simply stared at her, waiting for her to continue, so she did. "I know you probably won't believe me, which by the way is completely infuriating, but nothing happened. I wanted Michael to stay with me for a while because I was upset about the way I'd left you, and all I wanted was some company from a friend. Unfortunately, Michael being Michael started hitting on me, and when I sent him for ice and went to take a shower, he saw it as the perfect opportunity to join me, hence why he was in a towel when you arrived. But you being you jumped to conclusions, didn't bother to let me explain anything, and ran off without another word.

"After that, I was so mad at you for not trusting me that I decided staying in Chicago was the best option. I already had a job there and you had made it pretty clear there was nothing in Point Place for me anymore. I only made it two weeks before I was miserable and realized that my life was empty without you in it. I decided to come back home and try to make you understand what had happened so we could be together, but then your stripper wife showed up and that plan got blown to hell. I had been willing to forgive you for not trusting me because I know the people you've had in your life have never been there for you. Your parents abandoned you and that can make anyone afraid to trust other people, but Steven, I never did anything to intentionally hurt you; I loved you, and I never gave you a reason not to trust me.

"Hearing that you had gotten married was like Chicago all over again, except this time it was impossibly worse because you had given someone you'd known barely two weeks the one thing you'd never been able to give me in two years. I was so hurt and so angry, I couldn't even look at you. I went back to my apartment, and when Fez came home…" she hesitated.

All the pent-up anger had gone into her speech, all the hurt she'd felt towards him was wrapped up in her words, but now she was suddenly afraid of hurting him. She should be thrilled for the chance to wound him, to injure him even the slightest bit. He had devastated her, after all, crushed every single one of her hopes and dreams. But instead she was terrified. She didn't want to see the way he would look at her, his eyes hardening with hatred and disgust. She wanted to clear the air between them, wipe the slate clean so they could start over, not force him to hate her. As raw as the wounds still were and as angry as she felt she might always be with him, she still did not hate him. She couldn't. What was worse, she was afraid she still loved him. He still meant so much to her, and she knew that deep down, a part of him still cared about her too. Confessing to him might mean that part of him would get lost forever, might mean she would lose him forever.

"Jackie?" Hyde stared at her, a concerned frown furrowing his brow.

She blinked, snapping out of her daze, and looked up at him. Yes, telling him could risk losing him, but there was still that small possibility that he would forgive her. Sure, he would be angry with her, irate probably, but if he still cared about her he would forgive her. They had both made mistakes, both had a lot to answer for, but if they could get past it all, maybe there was still hope.

"Steven, I slept with Fez," Jackie blurted before she lost her nerve.

Hyde's jaw clenched tightly, and he struggled to remain Zen as the words echoed inside his head. His chest felt tight, his heart beating frantically against the cavity walls, each breath burning his lungs. His insides had tied themselves into knots during the course of her speech and were now being forcibly ripped apart. He stood up, his fingernails biting into the palms of his hands as he fisted them tightly at his sides.

"Get out."

Jackie's mouth dropped open. "Steven…"

He held up a shaking hand. "Jackie, I seriously think you should go."

Temper flaring, Jackie stood up and crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes narrowing as she glared at Hyde. "I am not going anywhere, Steven. You are not the victim here! You married another girl!" So much for forgiveness and starting over, she thought bitterly.

"So you got back at me by sleeping with my friend? That's real mature, Jackie," Hyde snarled, all traces of Zen gone.

"I didn't do it to get back at you, you scruffy loser!" Jackie shouted. "But speaking of revenge, isn't that why you married your whore, Steven?" she spat acidly, her brown eyes ablaze with fury.

He shook his head warningly. "Leave her out of this, Jackie."

Deliberately trying to provoke him, Jackie said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "It must have been a beautiful wedding. I can just picture Sam walking down the aisle in a tube top and a miniskirt. How classy."

"You know, Jackie, this whole thing was your fault," Hyde retorted, his blue eyes icy. "You gave me an ultimatum, and then you didn't even wait around to hear my answer! So if you're going to blame anybody, blame yourself."

"Oh, that's right, Steven, I forgot I forced you to get drunk and marry a stripper!" Jackie screamed.

Hyde snorted. "You really don't care about anyone but yourself, do you?"

Jackie's lip curved up in a sneer. "I cared about you, and look where that got me."

"Well, hey, now all you have to do is sleep with Eric and you can tell everyone you've nailed every guy in our group! That'll really boost your popularity!" he exclaimed with fake enthusiasm.

"Not that I need it anyway, Steven, but if I wanted to do that, I wouldn't have dated you in the first place!" Jackie spat.

"Well, I told you from the beginning that we had nothing in common. You were just a fun fling, so I wouldn't exactly call that 'dating.'"

His words struck a nerve; she had always felt a nagging suspicion that he had never really cared about her at all. Her lower lip began to tremble as she said quietly, "A fling doesn't last for two years, Steven."

He smirked, knowing full well he'd hit his target. "Whatever."

"Okay, Steven, if I was just a fling, then why do you care if I slept with Fez?" Jackie snapped.

Hyde thought for a second. "You're right, Jackie. I don't care. I never did care."

An angry tear slid down her cheek. "You don't mean that, Steven."

"Actually, Jackie, I do."

She shook her head, but the tears had broken free and were now spilling down over her flushed face.

Hyde cringed inwardly. Seeing Jackie cry had always been his weakness, and for a split second he had the urge to pull her into his arms and apologize. Then he remembered why she'd come to speak to him, and he set his jaw instead.

"Steven Hyde, when you married another girl, I thought you could never hurt me worse," Jackie said, her voice trembling, "but somehow you've managed to top yourself. Congratulations." With that, she stormed out of the basement.