Eric opened his eyes the next morning to the once familiar, faint sounds of his mother bustling about in the kitchen downstairs. He looked down to see slender arms wound around his middle and smiled, lacing his fingers with hers. Jackie tended to sleep that way, curled around him like she alone could shield him from the evils of the world.

He twisted around and folded her in his arms, and when he felt her shift he lowered his head and nuzzled his face into her neck. "Wake up, sunshine. Time to face the fireworks."

She yawned and shivered slightly, a smile playing at her lips. She missed this — waking up with him. "That tickles. You need a shave."

He nuzzled her some more, prompting a giggle, and sat up, dragging the bedcovers along with him.

"Hey!"

"Come on. Up. I'm not gonna face Red alone when I try to explain your presence." He considered her and said musingly, "Maybe you could try and sneak out through the window."

She swatted him on the arm. "I'm not doing that. It's fine," she said and sat up too. "I cleared it with your dad last night. He told me to stay."

Eric's jaw dropped. "God, it's like you've magical powers. You've actually tamed the beast."

She threw him a smug smile. "I tamed you, didn't I?"

He guffawed. "Yeah. But it's more like I'm one of those snarling puppies that secretly want to be tamed."

She gazed at him fondly and swung her legs off his bed. "I get the bathroom first."

He waved a hand in her general direction and flopped back down on the bed. "Don't you always?"

"So what's the deal with Hyde?" Eric asked half an hour later as he walked into his room after his morning shower. A blue towel was wrapped loosely around his lean waist and speckles of water glistened on the bronze of his chiseled body.

Jackie glanced up in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"You said that things were complicated." He shrugged and grabbed another towel from his closet. "Well I just wanna know how complicated they are."

She busied herself in front of the dresser, working up the courage to tell him. "I think he wants to get back together," she said and forced her eyes up to his.

Eric had thought as much, but nothing in his face or eyes gave away what he felt.

"How do you feel about that?"

He sat on the edge of the bed behind her and watched as she fussed around with her hair.

She turned slowly round to him, abandoning the bun she was trying to twist her hair into. "He's having a baby with Sam," she said and leaned back against the dresser. "I don't really wanna get in the middle of that."

They shared a look and he nodded, understanding her feelings about this. He didn't know her feelings about Hyde and he really didn't want to ask. He had come back to tell her that he loved her; and, because he couldn't live without her beside him for another second of his life.

He had told her the first. The second part of it, he reasoned was something he would simply have to learn to live with if she never ever came to love him back.

He got up and reached around her to pull out a shirt from the dresser as she turned back to the mirror sitting on top of it and attacked her hair. After failing to secure the thickness of it again, she felt Eric's fingers in her hair, gently pulling out the pins already in place. He threaded his fingers through the dark strands, feeling for any that he had missed, then let it fall in heavy waves down her back.

She turned around as he stepped back. "Leave it like this." He reached out to curl a lock of it around his fingers. "I like it much better this way."

"Okay," she whispered, lost in the green of his eyes.

He smiled and tugged lightly at the rich black lock around his fingers. "C'mon. I think I smell bacon."

They had just left Eric's room and were walking along the corridor to the stairs when Jackie stopped short in front of him. Whirling around she turned panicked eyes towards him.

"Omigod, I forgot! Steven and Sam live here too!"

She grabbed his forearm and Eric waited patiently for her to continue.

"They don't know about us in Africa! No one does!" she hissed in a loud whisper.

He looked her over and kept his expression neutral.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked her quietly.

She looked at him. "What do you want to do?" she countered cautiously.

He lifted his shoulders in a slight shrug. "Tell them," he said simply.

Her eyes went wide. "No!" she exclaimed. "Are you insane?"

"No, I don't believe I am," he answered mildly.

"Well, we can't," she said emphatically. "Steven's in a pretty bad place and he's just starting to shape up. If he knew…" She shuddered and looked up at him.

"How long do you plan on keeping it a secret?"

'Forever' was her first thought. She had been so happy to see him again last night but now the ramifications of him actually being back was beginning to sink it. She sighed. "I don't know," she said dispiritedly. "How long will you be here?"

Eric had known when he had decided to come back that it wasn't going to be easy and he had thought about the possibility that it might even have been for nothing.

He considered her carefully. "A month. Two. Maybe longer."

She wasn't sure how she felt about that — to have him back and then having to say goodbye to him again a few months later.

"Does your mom know you'll be heading back to Africa?"

"Yeah, it sorta came up last night." He rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced.

She squeezed his hand and he flashed her a tired smile.

"Eric," she said tentatively, "is it really necessary for them to know?"

He looked her straight in the eye. "I'm not going to hide what I feel for you, Jackie."

She bit her lip; she had expected nothing less from him, especially not after what he told her last night. "I'm sorry," she told him softly.

He nodded stoically. He had learnt to accept what he could not change. He would be patient; for now.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked again.

"Could we… Could we perhaps, maybe, ease them into it?" she suggested hopefully.

He leaned against the corridor wall and folded his arms. "What do you mean?"

She looked down and mimicked his stance, but twisting her hands instead. "I'm not asking you to pretend that nothing happened between us. It wouldn't be fair to you and I… I don't think I can hide what I feel either… But could we just try to appear as friends first?"

He sighed deeply. "I can't make you any promises, Jackie. It isn't right to hide it from them this long."

She knew he was right, but she looked up at him imploringly. "Okay, okay. Just... We'll tell them soon alright? Just not right now."

He figured he could roll with that. He nodded and she breathed out in relief.

"Okay," she said, and then again, "Okay."

She gave him one of her brilliant smiles that made her eyes go all sparkly and his heart turned over. God the things he would do for this woman. He rolled his eyes internally and cursed himself for being a fool a thousand times over.

A/N: Special thanks to Owlzilla for sharing your songs. I've loved them all :)