A/N so, I'm aware that I suck and haven't updated in forever, but all I can really say about that is – I couldn't think of anything. Sad, but true. But I'm back now, and hopefully this chapter turns out ok, fingers crossed, cus I barely have any of it planned (as usual) and will be making it up as I go (also as usual) so let's see where it goes together.
Hyde had been up since dawn working on something that had popped into his mind the night before as he lay in bed thinking over the day he'd had. Jackie was in trouble and after tossing and turning while he tried to think of a solution, one had finally popped into his head. It had taken hold of him and after hours of working out the details on a battered notebook, he was sure he had it figured out all he needed was for her to be on board.
The last year had been a crazy ride for Hyde, his life had changed in ways he never would have thought were possible if you'd asked him at the start. He lived with the Forman's, he had a job, he showed up to school and strangest of all – he was in an actual honest to god 'relationship'.
When he had first asked Jackie to be his girlfriend it had been a sudden move, a solution to both their problems at the time, but before he had been aware of what was happening it had turned into something different, something so much more.
If people had asked him how they'd gone from a couple of convenience to an actual committed couple (assuming anyone ever found out how they had begun dating) he could have easily given them some line about how she wormed her way in with her usual tenaciousness, or said that under the shallow façade she was actually perfect for him, a counterpoint to his personality, But none of that was really why he was with Jackie, the reason was simple, the reason was obvious, the reason was private and even Jackie didn't know what it was.
But she was about to find out.
After Hyde swallowed his pride and told Jackie he wanted her for real that night in his room, dancing slowly around the tiny space, change after change rippled through the basements inhabitants. They watched together as donna began to act out more and more as her parents' marriage broke apart, each of them tried to help her see what she was doing in their own way, which unfortunately led to his and Jackie's biggest fight since their break up.
"so, let me get this straight? You went over there to get booze for Reds birthday present – when you could easily get him something else or the same thing from another place, and had a heart to heart talk with Donna about what it's like when your parents forget to parent?" Jackie had asked in a deceptively cool tone,
"it was the easiest way to get a gift doll" he shrugged, unconcerned with such a small event.
"whatever Steven, is this ever going to stop?" she asked bluntly
"is what ever going to stop?" he asked blankly, he honestly had no idea why her mood was slipping into the danger zone.
"donna had a problem and there you are with a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on, never mind that it wasn't your place to be there for her it was Eric's, never mind that you have a long history of being a dill hole about her, or that you promised me you'd stop doing this crap, nope, you just couldn't help but commiserate with her" Jackie wasn't even mad at him while she'd laid it out, which was what worried him the most, she was calm, and Jackie calm was like witnessing the eye of a hurricane.
"it was nothing Jackie, everything else aside, she and I have been friends for a long time and she's having a rough time with her folks" he defended himself and his motives.
"do you really believe that? After everything we've talked about over and over again, do you really believe that you having a private heart to heart with donna is cool? That it won't hurt Eric, that it won't hurt me for you to do that?" she asked in a soft voice'
"Jackie, it wasn't the same as before, she was just upset and I know what it's like to deal with that kind of stuff" he defended again, but he'd begun to doubt his actions now that he realized how much he didn't want to have to tell Forman about talking to donna.
"can you look me dead in the eye and tell me this wasn't at all like the crap you used to pull?" Jackie demanded bluntly.
Hyde had taken a deep breath and met Jackie's beautiful mismatched eyes feeling calm and sure.
"this wasn't like all that doll, I promise" he told her with all the reassuring honesty he could pour into one sentence.
Jackie had just stared back at him with a look he couldn't identify, but made him feel uneasy.
"even if that's true, I don't like the way this feels, I got to go" she'd told him briskly and before he could process what was happening, she was gone.
Hyde felt so worried he was sick for 29 straight phone calls, until Jackie finally picked up on number 30 and confirmed that they were still together but she was upset and would be for a while, especially if he kept acting like he didn't see how what he'd done hurt her.
The next few weeks were rocky between them, they didn't sit together, or spend time alone but whenever he asked her if they were ok? Jackie always gave the same answer 'I'm still in if you are' but the sadness in her voice when she said it let him know that it was up to him to show her he was telling the truth. Forman's angry reaction when he heard about donna confiding in Hyde instead of him didn't help Hyde feel like his actions were above board.
The whole debacle hadn't ended how he would have guessed though,
After a hunting trip to get away from it all and gain some perspective, Hyde arrived back home with the others and was greeted by a welcome sight, a smiling Jackie. She didn't run up to him and jump into his arms like he'd privately been hoping she would (every night while he tried to sleep and his gut was twisted in a knot), but she did let him stand next to her and didn't pull her hand away when he took it in his, while they listened to Kitty tell Red about how Jackie had hustled Midge, Donna and Laurie at poker.
During the story, Hyde glanced at Jackie and saw a tiny smirk on her face at the tale of how she'd pretended she'd never played poker before, then claimed beginners luck while she took them to the cleaners over and over.
"they really bought that you'd never played cards before? How'd you pull that off?" Hyde asked in an amused whisper while Kitty and Red laughed about how indignant Midge and Donna had been.
"it was easy really, turns out no one knows anything about me" she'd shrugged with just a hint of sadness that people she spent so much time around didn't bother to pay attention to a single thing about her.
"that's not true doll" Hyde tried to assure her,
"yes, it is Steven" she'd replied simply
"I do" he admitted after a long pause and internal struggle, he hated being mushy but he hated how things had been between them even more.
All his statement earned him though, was a non-comital noise from Jackie, which made a corresponding pang of sadness in him.
'emotions suck!' Hyde thought darkly, years he'd been free of them and then one outspoken brunette whose hair barrettes always matched her shoes had come along and ruined it.
"I know that you learned to play cards by sitting with your dad during his weekly game when you were a kid, I know that you look at money as a way to keep score and not much else, I know that you don't trust that anyone cares about you because your parents suck, and I know that I screwed up and let you feel like that again and even though I swear on anything possible that I was only there for donna as a friend, I'm sorry it made you feel bad at all" he told her quietly
"I'm sorry too" Jackie whispered sadly
"you don't need to be doll" Hyde told her seriously, he knew he'd been in the wrong yet again.
"of course, I do, you're not always the one who did the wrong thing Steven, I was – I am insecure about how you feel about Donna, and I don't know if it'll ever stop? No matter how good things with us are I'm never going to be able to forget that I wasn't your first choice, hell, I wasn't a choice at all, and that sucks and it hurts and it made me over react to what you did, I know you were just being a good friend, I know that I shouldn't have accused you of still trying to get donna's attention when you were just being a good guy, but I really wish sometimes that I was the one you wanted all along instead of 'grew to like'" Jackie admitted with heart breaking honesty.
"so, wait, I didn't screw up?" Hyde had asked dumbfounded, that was a shock.
"no, not this time, not really. About all I can legitimately say against what you did was you probably should have told Eric sooner than you did, but even that's a reach" Jackie told him still looking far too sad for his liking.
"I did grow to like you, I can't change that, but if it helps at all – I really wish I could change it, I am about to say something that if you ever repeat – even in private! I will deny with all the strength in my body!" Hyde began by saying adamantly, then his face softened and he cupped Jackie's confused face in his hands and gathered his courage for what he was about to say.
"I have – on occasion when I can't sleep – imagined what it would have been like to find out about you sooner, like – if we'd been friends as kids and then realized we liked each other, stuff like that" he admitted awkwardly, his face turning a definite shade of red with embarrassment.
"you…you daydreamed scenarios about us?" Jackie asked him amazed he was capable of such a thing.
"yes ok! I've fucked up a lot in my life, which is impressive if you consider that I haven't been alive that long, and most of it doesn't bother me at all, but knowing that you were right there all that time and I missed out on you because I didn't bother to pay attention?! Fucking kills me doll" he admitted his secret with a pained tone and unconsciously pulled her closer to reassure himself she was with him.
"it bothers me too" Jackie admitted into his shirt
"really?" Hyde felt his ego take its first breath in weeks
"of course, Steven, I love you" Jackie said off handedly, not realizing what she'd said, but Hyde was stunned by those three small, but world altering words.
Pulling back to stare at her in a mixture of awe and fear, words failed him.
Jackie had looked confused at his sudden change until it dawned on her what she had just said to him.
"oh, my god Steven, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to say that" Jackie said nervously, beyond embarrassed at her slip, truthful as it had been.
Another silence on his part followed until he replied with the only thing his brain could form.
"I can't say it back!" he had almost shouted, something that would cause him endless chagrin later.
"I don't care" Jackie told him kindly
"you say that now, but someday you're going to hate me for not being able to say it" Hyde claimed
"I'd rather never hear those words than have them be a lie Steven" Jackie assured him and hugged him tightly
"makes sense" Hyde nodded thoughtfully
"well I am brilliant Steven" Jackie joked in a haughty voice, but he knew the smile on her face well and couldn't help but grin in response.
"I care about you, that's the best I can do right now" Hyde murmured into her ear from where his head was buried against her shoulder.
"that'll hold me over for a long time" Jackie assured him sweetly.
And it was the truth. Occasionally Jackie would utter the words Hyde feared, but it was a rare occurrence and somehow when she said it, she did it in a way that didn't require a response? This in no way meant she had matured beyond her love of romance though, Jackie could and would, talk at great length about weddings and how she would decorate her house when she had one of her own, but she never tried to pressure Hyde into being a part of her plans, it was more along the lines of an open invitation.
They were good, they happy, they were a team.
When Forman and donna began to fall apart they worked as a unit to deal with the side effects. When the troubled couple tried to make Jackie and Hyde take sides in an argument, they presented a united front when Forman and donna assumed they would each take a side.
And when they inevitably broke up, and donna tried to lure the gang to her house and away from the basement, it was Jackie that showed her why Chex mix and cable weren't going to work.
"donna, do you really think that I come here for the quality of snacks and entertainment?" she had begun in a truly scathing tone "be serious, if you want people to think you're smart don't say such dumb things, I live in a mansion, with a live in maid and a pool, have you really been under the delusion that it's the piggily wiggly diet cream soda and tattered couch that brings me here? Let me be very clear when I say – it isn't, so don't bother trying to lure me to your side with slightly better amenities than the basement offers, because it has nothing to do with why I come here"
The rest of them had watched with rapt attention while Jackie cut donna down to size, and it had occurred to them all that what she said was true, her house was better than donna's or the basement, so what was it that brought Jackie there at all?
"home isn't always where you live Steven" Jackie had replied simply when he'd asked her about it later while they were alone, and those words stuck with him over the next several months.
As he watched Jackie's home life deteriorate more and more, her words played in his mind more often, then it all came crashing down and her father was arrested for bribery. it ripped her world apart and left Hyde bumbling for the right words to say or the right thing to do to make her feel better. Shaving off the hated beard had been a quick fix to cheer her up a little, but he wasn't stupid and he knew the effect would wear off soon. When it inevitably did though, he had bigger problems to deal with.
they caught Jackie in his cot and began discussing what should be done about her without bothering to consult her, but they also banned her from staying with him anymore, and it was all he could do not to let them see how pissed off he was about it.
His cot sucked under the best of circumstances, but now that he didn't have Jackie there with him it was impossible to get comfortable! All the shit they'd been through lately, Forman running off to California to get donna, fez's obsession with the dmv, Kelsos never ending attempts to get Jackie back, and now Jackie's security (not to mention future) were uncertain and it kept Hyde from sleep!
All he could do was worry about her, he knew the adults were planning on having donna ask Jackie to stay with her and Bob, but all donna had done was act like it was a burden and he knew when she asked all she would do was humiliate Jackie. there had to be a better answer than forcing Jackie to stay where she wasn't wanted and wouldn't be able to forget it for one moment.
He couldn't stand letting that happen to her, and every part of him screamed out for action! He didn't care about much, but he couldn't pretend he didn't care about Jackie, there had to be something he could do?
For the second time in his life a flash of an idea came to him, and just like the first time at the ski cabin, it took ahold of him and he was absolutely certain it was the answer. All he had to do was see if Jackie agreed.
That presented no real trouble, for all he'd matured he still could sneak out with skill, and he did precisely that. Skulking up the stairs without a sound until he reached the door to Laurie's room where they'd put Jackie until another solution could be found, well, he'd found one and his gut told him it was the best idea he'd ever had.
"Jackie, Jackie, wake up doll" Hyde whispered while he shook her gently.
"Steven? What's going on?" she asked groggily
"I thought of what we can do about you not having anywhere safe to stay" he told her, anxious to get on with said plan.
"you do? What?" she asked trying to clear the sleep from her eyes and absorb what he told her.
"I'll tell you after I get the only issue out of the way" he said to her surprise
"you woke me up at 3 am to tell me you have a plan, but you won't tell me what it is?" she couldn't follow what he was thinking there.
"well I was going to ask you what you thought about it, then I decided not to" he half explained,
"so, what do I do?" she asked curiously
"just be ready" he said mysteriously and kissed her before he left again.
It was a long drive to where he needed to go and the sooner he set off the sooner he'd get there, and the sooner he could execute his plan, which was becoming something that would wreck him if it failed.
'home isn't always where you live'
It hadn't been a fun trip, Hyde had been forced to let his worse self-shine though, but after some well-placed threats and a hint of blackmail, he had what he needed. Now all he had to do was find Jackie before she was humiliated in front of everyone she cared about, with how awful her parents had treated her through her dad's problems, he didn't think she could handle much more and she sure as hell shouldn't have to.
But even though he'd broken the speed limit with gusto on his way back home, he still walked into the kitchen right when Donna was giving the most pathetic effort ever.
"so, since your having such a hard time, we all thought you should come stay with me for a while"
"I'm Jackie Burkhart, I don't have hard times!" Jackie said with flashing eyes, he'd been too late, they'd bruised her already fragile pride.
"Jackie come on, your dads in jail and your mom abandoned you, what else are you going to do?" Donna asked in a tone that made Hyde wish Jackie wasn't opposed to violence.
How dare she hit Jackie with those realities when Jackie had been nothing but kind when midge left?!
"she's going to live with me" Hyde interjected casually
Just as he expected, every face in the kitchen turned to him with identical looks of shock, well, except for Jackie. He saw surprise flash across her face before she carefully composed her expression again, he'd said 'be ready' and so she was.
"Steven honey, we can't allow that, not only is it wrong to live in sin, but Jackie's a minor, its illegal for her to live with you" kitty explained gently, she didn't want to make Jackie suffer any more than she already had, but what he was saying just wasn't going to work.
"please understand that I'm not being rude when I say this Mrs. Forman," Hyde began seriously, giving his foster parents a pleading look "but it's not up to you"
"Steven, I respect that you want to take care of your girlfriend, and even if we got over you two living together without being married, it's still illegal son" Red told him, with a proud note for Hyde trying to step up and be responsible.
"it won't be when were married" he said with a shrug, but his eyes were locked on Jackie's reaction, her eyes were wide, but not with fear, with happiness and excitement. "do you want to marry me doll?" he asked as casually as he could manage while his heart was hammering against his chest, if his arms hadn't been crossed they would have easily been able to see his hands shaking with fear.
Jackie stared back at him and finally nodded her head 'yes'
"ok then, its settled" Hyde said as if the matter was finished.
"it is certainly not settled!" kitty cried adamantly "Steven, Jackie's only 17, you can't marry her without a parent's permission and the whole problem is we can't get ahold of her mother! And even then, marriage isn't something you do because it's a solution to a problem, its forever Steven and it's for when you're in love, not stuck in a tough situation" she tried to reason with him, even while part of her brain wanted to start planning a wedding for her beloved kids.
"I just got back from the prison where jack Burkhart is, he uh…gave his permission for me to marry Jackie, its right here" he said, holding up an envelope which held a letter phrased by Jackie's lawyer father that would allow her to marry as a minor.
"how did you get him to agree to that?" Red asked curiously, while helping Jackie with her household papers he had learnt of her trust fund which would be in her father's control until she was 25 or got married, he couldn't see jack Burkhart giving away access to that money without a fight.
"we had a nice talk, and he saw that it was the best for Jackie" Hyde lied, refusing to meet reds eye.
The truth was, Hyde knew more than a few of jack's fellow inmates from when they'd dated Edna, and he was more than willing to use them and what they were capable of to get jack to agree, always the business man, jack Burkhart saw the risk and reward of agreeing to what Hyde wanted very quickly, and wrote out a letter of consent after about fifteen minutes of Hyde explaining what would become his new reality if he didn't.
"well then, I guess it is settled" Red nodded approvingly.
"what the hell?!" donna cried angrily "you've been torturing Eric and I for being engaged for weeks, but all they get is 'I guess that's settled'?"
"I have to agree, what the hell dad?" Eric said more calmly than donna
"look son, I've watched you and donna break up and get back together more times than I can count, so excuse the hell out of me if I don't foresee a smooth future for you two, marriage is serious business, not something you decide to do to feel like a grown up!" Red snapped at them.
"well what about them?" Eric asked pointing to Jackie and Hyde who had now moved to stand together, and were whispering to each other with almost identical smiles on their faces.
"I'd put money on Steven having a plan for them that's not stupid" Red said with a deep certainty that made Hyde feel proud
"I do yeah" Hyde confirmed, then saw that everyone was expecting him to tell them the plan, and rolled his eyes.
"I talked to Roy at work and he offered me the night manager job, its easy and comes with a residence as part of the salary, so basically Jackie and I can live there for free, which means she doesn't have to get a job and can keep focusing on school" he told them grudgingly, he wanted to run that part past Jackie in private because he was afraid she wouldn't like living at the hotel in a little apartment.
"what about collage?" Donna asked indignantly
"I wasn't planning on going before all this, and Jackie has a collage fund her folks can't touch cuss it's from her grandmother, so when she's ready to go to school me and my skill as a short order cook will follow" Hyde snapped irritably at his old friend who he wasn't too pleased with just then.
"I guess it really is settled then" kitty mused softly, then laughed and grabbed Jackie to hop excitedly "were going to plan a wedding!" she cried happily, making Jackie's face light up, if the Forman's were ok with it she had nothing left to worry about.
-Later that night in the basement bedroom-
"Steven?" Jackie called from the corner of the cot where she sat scribbling in a notebook
"yeah doll?" he answered sitting up in his chair to give her his attention
"why marriage?" she asked curiously
"what do you mean?"
"well, you could have just as easily gotten my dad to write you permission for me to live with you until I'm 18" she explained
Hyde smirked at her and crossed the room to sit on the cot and gather Jackie into his arms.
"I know doll, but I want to marry you" he admitted sounding shy
"you do?!" she hadn't expected that to be part of it
"do you have to sound so shocked?" he asked slightly offended
"I do yes" Jackie replied seriously "explain" she asked softly, her heart in her eyes
Hyde took a deep breath before letting her in on all his secrets.
"you're my family doll, wherever we are is home because I'm there with you, I…. love you, and I want you to know that no matter what else happens to us, were in it together" he tried to put into words how he felt about her.
"I love you too" Jackie breathed back, it was the only answer she could think of.
"that'll come in handy I'm guessing" Hyde smirked at her, then turned serious again "I don't take this lightly Jackie, I want you to know I'm serious about all of it, especial you" Hyde told her urgently
"and I want you to know that I didn't say yes to avoid living with donna, I want you" she told him seriously
"do you now?" he asked with a raised eyebrow
"don't let it go to your head" Jackie drawled, then smiled and kissed him.
THE END
A/N so, depending on feedback this is the last chapter, unless people want a wedding and happily ever after epilogue this is the end, if you don't want it to be let me know and I'll think about doing one more, but otherwise….
