-1The next morning went by uneventfully. Jackie and Hyde barely spoke as they got ready to leave for the airport to pick up Eric. They were both nervous. Neither of them wanted to bring up the subject of their relationship or Jackie's relationship with Eric, too afraid that they would wind up having a fight. The hour drive to the airport seemed to last forever, made longer by the heavy silence that surrounded them. Finally when they were in the parking lot Hyde reached over and pulled Jackie into a searing kiss.

"I needed that." Jackie sighed as she pulled away.

"Yeah me too." Hyde looked at Jackie. She was nervous, he could tell by her hands fiddling in her lap. "It's going to be alright."

"How do you know Steven? I'm freaking engaged to another man, your oldest friend, and all I can think about is how much I just want to be with you." Jackie took a deep breath before she continued. "I don't want to be this person. I don't want to be this woman who is a tramp and sleeps with one man while married to another. I don't want to hurt either of you! Why did I let everything get so complicated? Why didn't I tell you that I loved you? Why didn't we have a real relationship? Why did I say yes when he asked me to be his wife? I will never feel anything near what I feel for you with him." The tears were leaking out of her eyes. She looked at Hyde and saw his face remained calm. She looked away, ashamed of her outburst, of her deception, but mostly ashamed that she never let him know how she felt before the previous night.

Hyde stared straight ahead of him. Jackie's voice died off and he felt her eyes on him. He didn't know what to do. She was professing her love for him, but all he could hear was the pain in her voice, the pain that he knew was mostly his fault. He was comfortable with the way their relationship had been. Sure he loved her more than anything, but what they had was good. It wasn't complicated, they didn't constantly discuss feelings, they were just together when they were together. He knew he should have asked for more, for all of her, not just random visits every few months. He never let her know how he felt, he basically forced her into the arms of the man he still considered his best friend. He couldn't make her choose between the two of them. He knew what he had to do, what was the best thing for her. He started to open his mouth to let the words come out, but was cut off by her lips on his.

Jackie kissed him hard, trying to convey every ounce of the remorse she felt to him. Hyde kissed her back just as hard. He had lost every train of thought in his body by the time they broke the kiss.

"Eric's plane is going to be here in about 5 minutes. We should go in." Jackie said looking down. Hyde placed his finger under her chin, forcing him to look him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry for doing this to you." He saw the look of confusion cross her face, but didn't want to explain right then. He just wanted her to have his apology. He gave her one last heated kiss then got out of the car to open her door for her.

They walked silently into the airport and found Eric's gate. Just before people started to file out of the gate, Hyde reached over and gave Jackie's hand a reassuring squeeze and offered her a small smile, still holding tightly onto her hand. He dropped it as soon as he saw Eric's head bouncing pass the others.

"Jackie!" Eric called out running towards her. Jackie held back a bit, obviously not as excited to see him. He reached her and swept her up into a hug. Both Eric and Hyde noticed as Jackie winced. Eric was confused, but Hyde knew it was because of the scrapes on her back. He smirked, it was just a little satisfying to him that he had given those to her and Eric had know clue. "Are you ok baby?" The smirk on Hyde's face disappeared at he affectionate name Eric called her and the concerned tone he used.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just happy to see you. And a little nervous about seeing your parents today." Jackie knew she sounded rushed and nervous, but she didn't know how to calm herself down. The two men she loved were together for the first time in a long time. At that point, Eric seemed to notice Hyde for the first time.

"Hyde! Man, how are you. Jackie didn't tell me you were going to be here. I didn't even realize the two of you still talked!" Eric was truly excited to see his life long friend. It had been at least five years since he had seen him. The two men awkwardly hugged and talked for a few minutes while Jackie nervously chewed on her fingers.

"I hate to break up this reunion, but can we get going." Jackie asked impatiently.

"Yeah, let's go." Hyde's first instinct was to reach for Jackie's hand, but he saw Eric's was already there. His fists curled up in jealousy, but he saw Jackie looking pleadingly at him and he relaxed.

They reached the car and Eric threw his bags in the back.

"Hey Jackie, there's really no room for two people back here with all my bags, so you sit up front with Hyde."

"Ok." Jackie knew she probably sounded too eager, but she saw how jealous Hyde had seemed in the airport earlier and just wanted to touch him. They climbed into the front bench seat and started the drive. After a few minutes, Jackie let her hand creep across the seat and gently rub the side of Hyde's leg. She was turned around in the seat to face Eric and all three of them were talking about the past, so she was sure that Eric wouldn't notice her touching Hyde. She heard his breath faintly hitch and smiled to herself. 'This is so wrong!' She thought, but continued rubbing soft circles on his leg. After a few minutes, she felt her hand reach up to touch his soft face. "Sorry, you had a little fuzzy." She explained. Both knowing that there was no fuzzy. The rest the car ride was spent the same way, both making small, hidden attempts at touching the other until they pulled up to the Forman's house.

"I'll get your bags man." Hyde offered.

"Yeah thanks. I think maybe I should go in by myself first. I haven't exactly told my parents we were getting married yet and I haven't really seen them in a few years. Ok so maybe I haven't really even told them we were dating." Jackie saw Eric was getting all twitchy. She couldn't believe he hadn't told his parents they were dating. Was he embarrassed of her? She knew that he hadn't had the best track record with women and marriage, considering he never showed up to his and Donna's wedding. She could feel herself getting angry as the three of them remained sitting in the car. She wasn't going to let this little detail bother her, she would just go with the flow, plus this allowed for a little bit of alone time with Steven.

"Yeah whatever. Just go ahead and go in and Steven and I will come in a little later. In fact we can just not tell your parents about us right now. We'll just act like we're friends for now if you want." Eric look a little bit relieved and shook his head in agreement before getting out of the car and heading up the driveway. Jackie watched his figure disappear then turned towards Hyde. "So…." She trailed off not really knowing what to say to the man beside her. To her relief, Hyde broke the tension by reaching over and grabbing her hand lightly. She smiled at him and leaned over to place a soft kiss on his lips.

"Listen Jackie, I'm not sure what to do."

"I know. I'm so confused. Please don't make me make the choice right now." Jackie pleaded. She didn't want to hurt either of the men she loved.

"Yeah, whatever." Jackie saw him slipping into Zen mode, so she quickly leaned over and pulled him into her arms. He relaxed into her for a few moments before looking up at her. "We should probably head in there now."

"Yeah." Jackie said, after letting out a deep sigh. They both opened their doors and started heading up the driveway.

Eric walked slowly up the driveway to his parent's house. It still looked the same after all the years he had been gone. He wasn't sure exactly what to expect from his parents. He was relieved that Jackie hadn't gotten too mad that he hadn't told his parents about them yet. He wasn't sure what was up with her, she seemed all nervous and un-Jackie like. He would make sure to ask her about it later. He was looking at the ground when he heard a familiar voice call out his name.

"Oh my God, Donna!" Eric said in surprise as she threw her arms around him. "What are you doing here? I thought you had moved."

"Well my Dad's sick so I came back here to help him out." Eric noticed she seemed a little upset and figured it had to do with her dad.

"I'm so sorry!"

"It's no biggie. So what are you doing here?"

"Well its been awhile since I had seen my parents so we decided to come and visit. You know, catch up and fill them in on the….stuff." Eric didn't know why he didn't want to tell Donna about the wedding and about Jackie right then.

"Yeah, so who's we?" Donna wondered why Eric seemed all nervous. Sure they had ended on bad terms, but she had known him all her life and had gotten over their breakup years before. She was just happy to see him.

Eric was about to answer her question when they saw Jackie and Hyde walking up the driveway. "Jackie! Oh my God! What are you doing here?" Donna was so happy to see her former best friend. She saw Hyde pretty often so she didn't as get excited about seeing him. Suddenly realization dawned on her. "Wait a minute, Jackie's the we. Are ya'll like a couple?" Jackie noticed Eric hesitating on the answer.

"Yes Donna. We are engaged." Jackie answered. She saw a hint of jealousy cross Donna's face, but it was soon replaced with a small smile.

"That's interesting. I would have never guessed that one!" Donna said with a small laugh. She felt a little bit of jealousy and anger at the two. She was definitely over Eric she thought, but there were always going to be a few feelings there. You can't just forget a lifetime relationship. She looked over at Hyde and noticed he seemed to be a little too quiet and introverted. She knew tat him and Jackie had hooked up once in high school and even once while he was married. She didn't know that they still had a relationship, but she could tell by the way he looked that he was not happy with Jackie and Eric's engagement. She would have to remember to talk to him about it later.

The four stood in the driveway for a little while longer catching up until Eric decided it was time to go in and see his parents. Red and Kitty were happy to see all of the young people that had made their house a second home. They all stayed over for dinner and sat around the living room late into the evening filling in Red and Kitty on events in their lives. Eric and Jackie's relationship was never brought up, but they did tell Kitty about how they met up in Boston and spent quite a lot of time together. After hours of catching up, everyone decided it was time to head out and go to bed. Donna went pack next door to her dad's and Hyde took Eric and Jackie to the hotel they were staying in before going to his apartment in Point Place.

"Jackie , are you alright?" Eric questioned after they had gotten settled into their room. He was still concerned about how nervous she seemed.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Its just been a long day. And Hyde and I went out drinking last night so I'm really tired. In fact I think I left my stuff over there. Oops!" She quickly came up with a lie to explain her lack of stuff. She didn't even think to get her bags this morning. She then walked over to Eric and kissed him so that he would not see the look of shame on her face. She pulled away and gave him a small smile.

"Its ok you can sleep in something of mine tonight and we'll get your bags tomorrow before going to breakfast." Jackie only panicked a little bit, knowing that her stuff was at the lake house, not Hyde's apartment. She would figure out something later. Right now she just wanted to climb into bed and sleep the stress of the day off. She took the t-shirt Eric offered her and went to change in the bathroom. She grimaced as she began unbuttoning her shirt, the scrapes on her back sore from being rubbed by her shirt all day. Just as she was slipping it off, Eric entered the small bathroom. She didn't have time to cover herself before he turned around and saw the deep red cuts on her back.

"What the hell, Jackie?"