For a while, they had thought that neither Hyde nor Sam would be joining them for dinner, but after the table was laid and Kitty brought out a pot of pasta to go with the potatoes and squash, Hyde himself made an appearance.
He had considered skipping dinner, but he was starving as well as tired, and was in no mood to pass on food just because he hated the guts of his former best friend. He dragged a chair out loudly and parked himself down next to Red. He deliberately avoided looking at Eric.
"Will Sam be joining us, Steven honey?" Kitty called out to him from where she was by the refrigerator.
"Don't know don't care," came his testy reply.
Jackie frowned at him. She was finding she had a bit of a soft spot where Sam was concerned of late. "Can't you call her? Is she at work?"
Hyde snorted rudely. "She'll show up eventually." He eyed the plateful of chapatti Jackie had placed on the table in front of Eric suspiciously, and watched her beam as Eric's eyes lit up at the sight of it.
"You made chapatti for me?" Eric asked Jackie, as if he could hardly believe his eyes.
She waggled her fingers at him. "From scratch."
He tilted his head for a second, trying to place what it was that he found so familiar about the scene and her response, and then his smile widened and Jackie laughed.
Hyde's mood turned blacker. "What's this some kinda private joke?" he sniped, venom dripping from every word.
Eric barely spared him a glance. "Yes."
Hyde glowered. But before he could do anything or say anything in reply, they heard the front door open, and not a minute later, Sam came walking into the kitchen, calling out greetings to Red and Kitty. She led the way with her belly and squealed in pleasure at the sight of Jackie, but to an even greater extent, Eric, sitting at the table.
"Ooooh E-ric," she cooed, and Jackie shot her a look of extreme irritation.
"Stop that!"
"Stop what?" asked Sam breezily. She zoomed in on the pot of pasta in the middle of the table and bustled her way over, accepting a plate Kitty handed to her halfway.
Jackie refused to dignify it with a response. Following closely after Sam, she nudged her gently out of the way. "You're in my seat," she informed her pointedly.
Sam rolled her eyes dramatically but moved over next to Hyde, vacating the one next to Eric.
"Thank you," Jackie told her primly, already reaching for the potatoes.
"You're welcome, but you really need to stop being so possessive all the time."
Jackie's jaw dropped, potatoes forgotten. "Stop flirting with my boyfriend!" she burst out.
"I can't help it. He's hot."
"You stole my ex-boyfriend!"
Sam shrugged. "I'm a stripper and he was drunk."
"Fine," Jackie conceded, huffing. Then her eyes turned mutinous. "But stay away from this one," she warned.
"I can't help it!" Sam repeated, whining. "He's really hot!" She shot Eric a sultry look, ignoring the fulminating glare Jackie fired at her. Suddenly she stopped, her face taking on a surprised expression. She turned excitedly to Hyde, "Oh! The baby kicked!"
She would have gotten more reaction had she been talking to a wall. For Hyde didn't even bother to look at her; he had lost his appetite the minute Jackie had called Eric her boyfriend, and at that moment had zero interest in anything else and quite frankly, didn't really give two shits if Sam went into labor at that point.
She placed a hand over her tummy, a rapturous look on her face. "Hyde baby! Feel!" She reached for his hand but he flung hers off his so violently that everyone was stunned.
Jackie was the first to recover, immediately taking ahold of the hand that Hyde had thrown aside in her own, as if to soothe the sting of the rejection.
"It kicked?" she asked Sam brightly. "Where? Show me!"
The hurt faded from Sam's eyes, and she eagerly felt around for the same spot where the baby kicked before. "There. There!"
Jackie felt it. She sucked in a breath in wonder, turning delighted eyes to Eric. "Oh," she breathed.
He smiled at the excitement in her eyes, and then she was pushed out of the way as Kitty clamoured for a feel also. She gladly relinquished her seat to Kitty, coming over to stand beside Eric instead.
His hand came to rest on the curve of her hip, and she leaned into his side like it was the most natural thing in the world to do, and Hyde lost it.
He threw his chair back so hard it nearly toppled onto the floor, and only respect for Red and Kitty kept him from throwing it across the room.
He nodded to Red, mumbled an "Excuse me" to Kitty, and then stalked jerkily out of the room.
They watched him leave with varying degrees of discomfort. All of them except for Red, who was blissfully eating his dinner, and Eric, who really couldn't give a damn if Hyde was upset or not.
Sam's lower lip started to wobble dangerously. "I don't know why he started not caring," she said tremulously. "He did before, a little bit, and then he stopped." Her eyes filled.
"Oh sweetie," said Kitty, sympathy etched all over her face. She shot a helpless look at Red, who did not seem inclined to sympathize. Rather, he pointedly stabbed at the food on his plate and made a big show out of putting it into his mouth.
Despite misgivings from Eric, the hopeful looks that Kitty and Sam threw her way saw Jackie making the trek down the stairs to the basement after dinner where Hyde and Sam shared their room.
She attempted two brisk raps on the door, and without waiting for a response, opened the door and walked right in.
Straightaway she saw the differences that Sam's presence had made in his room. There were splotches of color here and there, sequins and glitter and tulle from Sam's costumes and shoes and clothes. Makeup cluttered the dresser beside the bed, which had not been moved from its spot in all the years that Jackie had known his room. She saw the braided handle of a leather whip sticking out from behind the couch and she shuddered delicately, refusing to dwell on whether it had been used here or on stage.
She nudged aside a stray lipstick on the ground with the toe of her shoe, and very nearly tripped over a carton of beer sitting next to an open cardboard box which was filled with stuff for their coming baby. It looked as if no attempt had been made to try to incorporate its contents into the room.
"Steven?" she called out cautiously.
No answer.
She ventured further into the empty room, coming to stand in the middle with her hands on her hips. She frowned.
As if in answer, a presence filled the doorway, hair wet and naked from the waist up but thankfully jean-clad from the waist down. He stopped short when he saw her. "What the hell are you doing in my room?" Hyde barked rudely.
She met his stare unwaveringly, gingerly sitting down on the edge of his bed. She pointed to the couch. "Sit."
He ignored her, stomping over to the bed where she was and leaned disturbingly close over her to reach for a towel hanging on the edge of the dresser.
She held her ground, and waited patiently for him to settle down. He did, eventually, because there was nothing else for him to do besides leave the room, and that he didn't want to do, because despite everything, this was the closest he had been to Jackie since the truth broke and his life had become even more of a living hell.
The backs of his knees found the edge of the couch she had pointed to and he sank down heavily, the towel still in his hands as he deliberately refused to put on a shirt.
He looked at her.
She looked back calmly. "Eric's outside," she said.
"I know," he snarled back. "I saw him when I came out of the bathroom." He muttered something filthy under his breath.
Jackie felt her hackles rise. "Don't."
He laughed hollowly. "You have no idea." He found his pack of cigarettes and lit one up, taking a deep drag and watching her through the haze of smoke.
"Does Kelso know?" he asked her abruptly.
She frowned, thrown by his question. "What does it matter?"
He didn't answer her, choosing instead to focus on sucking the life out of his cigarette. "Why're you in my room?" he asked her instead.
"Because you're having a baby."
"I think I know that better than anyone," came his caustic reply.
She brushed it aside, leaning forward with a pointed purpose. "And the mother of your child is absolutely miserable, Steven."
"I don't care."
She stared at him in disbelief, and then threw up her arms in frustration. "How can you not care!" she burst out. "How can you sleep with her, be having a baby with her and not care!"
"Because I don't love her!" he bellowed back at her. He glared at her, beyond incensed, feeling betrayed to the very depths of his soul, and wishing... wishing.
They heard footsteps approach and Eric leaned against the door jamb of the room. "Don't yell at her."
Hyde spun to face him. "It's none of your goddamn business," he growled, with a finger pointed in his face.
Eric's eyes narrowed. "On the contrary," he said, steel in the studied mildness of his tone. "Everything to do with Jackie is my damned business."
"Get out of my room."
Eric nodded shortly. "Gladly." He turned to Jackie and extended a hand.
She got up and crossed the room towards him, taking his hand in both of hers and pressing a kiss to the knuckles. "In a minute. Okay?" she asked him.
He searched her eyes, and satisfied that she was in control of the situation, gave her a quick nod and a barely discernible smile.
She caught it though, and affection for him surged through her. Without conscious thought, she rubbed her cheek against the back of his hand, but turned around sharply as the box of baby things skidded violently across the floor and a rattle flew out to land beside her.
"Get the fuck out," Hyde bit out, throwing them both a nasty look as he rummaged through the closet and pulled on a faded old t-shirt.
His head came through the neck of the shirt and he saw her standing there alone again, and some of his venom vanished.
She sighed, looking at him with his hair wet and sticking out in all directions, she remembered countless times before when she'd run her fingers through it and marvel at the curls.
"You don't have to be so rude," she told Hyde quietly. "He's your friend, your best friend."
Hyde barked out an incredulous laugh, shooting her a look of such sheer disbelief that Jackie took an involuntary step back.
"Friend?" he repeated. "Best friend?"
"He took you in when you had no one. He's always had your back."
She was unprepared for when Hyde closed the distance between them in a sudden stride, looming not two inches from her face. "He stole the one woman I love," he hissed, a manic light in his blue eyes. Cigarette smoke plumed around her as he brought it close for another drag. "He's no friend of mine."
More affected than she cared to let on, Jackie watched shakily as he gave the box of baby stuff another vicious kick and had to bite back a sharp protest that was ready to fly.
A baby is a blessing! She wanted to rail at him, but knew in his current mood, nothing would get through. As such, she decided that there wasn't anything else that could be said at that point, and left the room with her head held high.
Hyde turned around to find her gone, with nothing more than the faint flowery scent of her perfume to remind him that she had been there.