A/N: thank you all for being patient with me! i actually just quit one of my 3 jobs so hopefully things'll be a *little* less stressful. anyway, here's another filler- but necessary- chapter, so its made up of a bunch of smaller scenes. just a mix of fluff and angst. enjoy :)
Over the next couple of weeks, Jackie and Hyde begin to rebuild the ruins of their friendship. After the weekend that they spent nursing Betsy back to health together, they feel significantly closer and more comfortable with each other than they have in a long time. Instead of barely exchanging "hello's" and "goodbye's" when dropping off and picking up Betsy, they stay and talk for a while. They tell each other about how their days went and what happened at work.
"And then this bitch said, 'I'm surprised you've even made it this far' as if I couldn't beat her in the Miss America pageant without any makeup on," Jackie complains, and Hyde smiles to himself. This feels so familiar and nostalgic, it's trippy. The best kind of trippy.
"Are you even listening, Steven?" she asks, just like she used to.
"Yeah, 'course I am." And how could he not? She's talking to him, really talking to him. Like they're okay. Like they didn't break each other's hearts.
After a while, they even start to do things with Betsy together as if they're actually raising her together instead of raising her together separately, like they have been. It starts one day when Jackie picks up Betsy for her shift, saying they're going to the park.
"Can Unca 'Teve come?" Betsy asks hopefully.
Hyde and Jackie glance at one another. Hyde shrugs.
"I don't know Betsy, I think Uncle Steven has had enough of you for one day," Jackie teases.
"Nooo," the toddler wails and hugs his leg, not ready for her time with him to end yet. "Please come with us!"
"Alright, alright, enough already," Hyde peels the child's arms from his leg. "I guess another hour or two of you won't kill me," he admits sarcastically. "Let's go."
"Yay!" Betsy squeals and runs to the door, eager to get to the park.
And so, for the first time they all go to the park at the same time, together . Betsy feeds the ducks with both of her adoptive parents, both present at the same time. Now that her cast is off, Betsy insists on trying the monkey bars. Hyde holds her up so she can feel like she's using them on her own, and later Jackie watches as the toddler, having inherited her father's love for dogs, pets every single dog that passes by.
To anyone watching, they look like any other family enjoying a day at the park together. And after that, going to the park together becomes a regular occurrence.
Betsy's the happiest she's been since before her parents' deaths.
Pretty soon Jackie finds herself visiting Hyde at work. "Betsy wanted to see you," she says, but she doesn't tell him that it wasn't the only reason. But it doesn't matter, because he's happy to see them both anyway.
Betsy plays in the listening pit while Jackie leans against the counter telling him all the ways she thinks he should improve his store. He pretends to be annoyed, but he secretly doesn't mind. Because she's here, and because she's doing what she does best. Because it feels like how things used to be. Because he's missed it.
Eventually, Hyde ends up visiting Jackie at work, too. He has a bit of trouble getting in, but he handles it by telling the receptionist, "This is Jackie Burkhart's kid. Are you really going to keep us from going in there? Because if I were you, I would be very afraid of what'll happen when she finds out."
They're let in after that, of course. And they have no problems in the future.
When Hyde sees Jackie all glammed up in the studio for the first time, all the air leaves his lungs.
"Ohh, pretty," Betsy breathes, and Hyde has to swallow hard before responding. "Yeah. Very pretty."
He wonders how such a gorgeous woman ever loved a deadbeat like him. More than that, he wonders how he ever let himself push her away.
Shift changes become less of changes and more of overlaps as Jackie and Hyde aren't quite so eager to get back to their separate lives anymore. They stick around to "help with Betsy", but it's more than that- not that they'll ever admit it.
Hyde often cooks dinner at Jackie's apartment now, saying he wants to make sure Betsy is being fed properly. Jackie often does laundry and sets out Betsy's outfits at the Formans, saying she wants to make sure Betsy is being dressed properly. They both pretend that these excuses are completely logical. And they both pretend that they don't know they're not.
The changes happening between Jackie and Hyde don't go unnoticed by their friends, who exchange knowing smiles whenever they walk in on the unlikely family hanging out. Eric and Fez are the first to do so, walking into the basement one day to find the trio watching TV together; Jackie and Hyde sitting next to each other on the couch with Betsy on Hyde's lap eating cheerios.
"Oh, hey guys," Eric greets, still not used to seeing Jackie getting along with Hyde again.
"I cannot believe I am saying this," Fez comments, "but this is adorable. You look like a little family."
"No, we're not adorable and we're not a family. We just share a kid- someone else's kid," Hyde tries to invalidate the claim.
"You look like an adorable family to me," Fez insists with a shrug, and Hyde just glares at him from behind his sunglasses.
Donna is the next one to walk in on such a moment when she steps into Jackie's apartment after dinner one evening and sees Hyde doing the dishes while Jackie cleans off Betsy's face with a wet washcloth.
"Hey, Jackie. I didn't know you guys were having a family dinner tonight," Donna says.
"Oh no, Hyde was just picking up Betsy for tonight and I didn't want her to leave on an empty stomach so I invited them to stay for dinner," Jackie explains.
"Ah, got it," Donna says, unconvinced. After all, it's not like she hasn't seen Jackie and Hyde deny their feelings for each other before.
Other people besides their friends- strangers, even- begin to see them as more than just friendly co-parents.
"See, Steven? These are the bows Betsy wants you to put in her hair," Jackie says to Hyde when they're at the store one day.
"No, you mean those are the bows you want me to put in her hair," Hyde corrects. "She doesn't need that stuff. She gets along just fine with pants and a shirt. Sometimes just a shirt." He takes the pack of hair bows Jackie's holding up and puts it back on the shelf.
Jackie frowns. "Steven, you are not dressing Betsy like Donna anymore. I want you to dress her more girly," she complains. Met with Hyde's silence, Jackie tries a new tactic. She picks up the bows again and shoves them up close to Betsy's face, who's being held by Hyde. "Look Betsy! These are pretty, right? Don't you want them?" she asks, making them sound like a tasty treat she's offering.
Betsy stares at the sparkly fabric for a moment and Jackie's smile widens.
Then the toddler promptly ignores the question and says, "I have to go potty," and Jackie's smile falls while Hyde laughs.
"See, man? She's so revolted she'd rather go to the bathroom than agree with you," Hyde smiles triumphantly.
"Oh, shut up. We're getting them anyway, and later I'm going to show you how to put them in her hair," Jackie says, putting the bows in the shopping cart before taking Betsy from Hyde.
Hyde rolls his eyes.
"Those bows better still be in the cart when we get back," Jackie warns as she heads towards the restrooms with Betsy.
"No promises!" he calls after her, annoyed but expecting nothing less from her. He picks up the bows from the cart and stares at them.
"I wouldn't do it if i were you," a voice says next to him and Hyde turns to see a smiling older woman. "It sounds like your wife means business," she continues.
"Oh, she's not-" Hyde stops himself from correcting her. He knows how it must look to everyone else and he realizes it would be less awkward to just let people think they're together. "Yeah, you're probably right," he says instead, tossing the bows back into the cart.
"It's nice to see such a beautiful young family. You should be proud," the woman says fondly, giving a smile as she walks off to continue shopping.
For the first time, Hyde realizes that he wishes the woman hadn't been mistaken.
With his relationship with Jackie being gradually pieced back together as they become real friends again, and his relationship with Betsy strengthening now that he is making an effort to be a responsible surrogate parent, things are looking up for Hyde. He feels like things are actually okay in his life again, almost as okay as things were before Eric left for Africa, before he broke up with Jackie, and before Kelso died. He's genuinely happy now that his life has a purpose other than getting high and managing Grooves; he has a kid to take care of and he has something with Jackie- something being more than what he had with her a month ago. Now that he has a taste of what it's like to have Jackie in his life again, he can't help but want more.
But with good feelings can come some bad ones. Like the ones he has one night at Jackie's apartment. He'd stayed for dinner after dropping Betsy off for Jackie's shift- which seems to be becoming a regular occurrence now- and then he'd given in when Betsy asked him to watch Scooby-Doo with her afterwards. Before he knew it, the evening had flown by and now Jackie is getting the toddler ready for bed.
"Alright, you got your pj's on and your teeth brushed," Jackie says to her. "Say goodnight to Uncle Steven and I can tuck you into bed."
"You gon' read me a story?" Betsy asks.
"Yes, Betsy," Jackie rolls her eyes, smiling. She reads her a story every night, so Jackie doesn't know why she still asks. "I'll finish the story we started last time. You fell asleep before I could finish Beauty and The Beast . Now say goodnight."
The little girl runs up to where Hyde's sitting on the couch and gives him the clumsy kind of hug that toddlers give. "Night Unca 'Teve!" she says.
"Goodnight, Kiddo," he says, patting her back. He watches as she runs off to her room ahead of Jackie. When before Jackie can follow, he turns to her. "Fairytales, huh?" he teases.
Jackie shakes her head at him. "And like you haven't read some to her. It's just textbook parenting is all. I might not believe in true love or happy endings anymore, but she deserves to grow up with something to hope for."
Hyde skeptically raises an eyebrow at her. She's Jackie Burkhart, natural born romantic. She lives for unicorns and rainbows and princesses and true love. "Since when don't you believe in that stuff anymore?"
A dark cloud suddenly shadows over Jackie and she looks away awkwardly, pain etched across her face.
Oh.
Hyde immediately wishes he hadn't asked the question. He hadn't been thinking at all and now he doesn't know what to say, but before he can think of something to fill the tense silence Betsy reemerges from her bedroom.
"Come on, Aunt Jackie!" she calls impatiently.
Jackie clears her throat, shaking herself from the moment and plastering on a smile like nothing happened. "Sorry, baby. I'm coming," she replies, rapidly walking over.
"Unca 'Teve, you wanna listen to the story?" the toddler invites.
There's nothing Hyde wants to do less right now than listen to Jackie read a story about true love and happy endings knowing she doesn't believe in them because of him. Because he broke her heart and crushed her spirit. He shakes his head. "Nah, I'm good. You enjoy it though, Bets," he responds. He watches as she disappears into the bedroom with Jackie.
Left alone in the living room, Hyde leans over, resting his elbows on his knees. He's still trying to process the significance of what Jackie said when he hears her voice drifting in through the otherwise quiet apartment.
"Yes, yes, " said the Beast, " my heart is good, but still I am a monster," he hears Jackie read, and he swallows hard.
"Among mankind ," says Beauty," Jackie continues, "there are many that deserve that name more than you, and I prefer you, just as you are, to those, who, under a human form, hide a treacherous, corrupt, and ungrateful heart ."
Hyde suddenly stands up from the couch, unable to listen anymore. He has to get away from those words and away from Jackie's voice, so he finds himself escaping to the bathroom. Once inside with the door closed, he places both hands on either side of the sink, steadying himself physically as he tries to steady his breathing.
He broke her. He broke her. He broke Jackie Burkhart, the girl who he thought was unbreakable. He thought her confidence and optimism were resilient. He thought that it would have to take an immeasurable force to beat her down. But he was that immeasurable force. He'd done that to her.
And yet, here he is, in her apartment after having dinner with her, laughing with her and watching TV with her and their shared legal ward. He should consider himself lucky she's even talking to him after the way he's treated her since they broke up, so how on earth does it happen that she's done way more than that? She's too forgiving towards him, too willing to give him more chances. He hates that. She deserves better than that, better than him.
God, she was truly the best thing to ever happen to him, and he fucked that up. Hyde's hands tighten on the cold porcelain. He's an idiot and an asshole.
Looking up into the mirror, Hyde stares into the blurry reflection of his own eyes as tears of anger and guilt threaten to spill over. The same thought keeps running through his mind:
You don't deserve her.
You don't deserve her.
You don't deserve her.
