A/N so I put chapter 1 out in a rush 'cus I had errands to run, and even if I hadn't the punctuation still would have sucked. In my defense, and this isn't a very good defense, I was home schooled and most of my study in English was vocabulary for some reason? Also, dictation, because we all know how often that comes up in this day and age…

At any rate, I don't have a beta and even if someone offered I probably still wouldn't because I don't have much time to devote to writing fan fiction, I have like – four hours on Thursday mornings to whip out a chapter, so please bear with me and take me as I am.

Time passage in the coming chapters will come in chunks to speed progress, also to keep me from getting bored.

Point place middle school, half way through the school year, the stand of trees behind the library

"so, what are you doing this weekend?" Jackie asked when she couldn't stand looking at the history book held on her knees anymore.

Hyde looked over from where he'd been laying in the shade "same thing I do most weekends, go hang out in the basement to avoid quality time with Edna, and you?" he asked with false brightness

Jackie shot him a hard look "so you're going to go hang out with the friends that you're ashamed to let know I exist?" she asked with dangerous calm.

He let out the same sigh he did every time she brought this subject up "I'm not ashamed of you Jackie, I've told you that roughly 627 times, and I've meant it every one of them, also, they know were friends" he told her firmly

"then why don't you ever invite me to go with you? If you're not ashamed of being friends with me what's stopping you?" she demanded indignantly

Hyde couldn't help but laugh softly, she really didn't get it.

"well I am ashamed, but not of you jacks. More like, I'm ashamed of them and I don't really want to make you deal with them." he explained thoughtfully, the more he thought about it the more he decided that what he'd told her was the truth, he hated the idea of his friends picking on Jackie and he had no doubts they would.

"if they're that bad why are they your friends?" she frowned trying to understand what he was saying.

"it's not that they're bad, it's that they're how they are and aren't very good at dealing with change" he knew what he meant, he just didn't quite know how to explain it to someone who hadn't known his other friends for as long as he had?

"I don't get it" she admitted irritably, she hated when she couldn't understand things which was probably why she studied so hard.

"see, it's like this – say I took you over there? They'd be weird and suspicious and either grill you like a war criminal or act like you weren't there, and I don't want you to deal with either scenario" he told her seriously

"so, you're trying to protect me?" she asked smiling sweetly at him

"I never said that" he denied flatly

"you care about me" she sing - songed at him

It was a repeated argument of theirs, where she would claim he would be lost without her and he would respond that he was only slightly less pissed off when they hung out. Privately Jackie feared that Hyde hung out with her at school out of guilt for what a jerk he'd been the first week, whereas Hyde was afraid Jackie would drop him any minute for how different their social standing was.

"admit it Steven" she said throwing an apple at him from out of the depths of her bag "without me your life would be colorless and drab, like the Kansas part of the wizard of Oz"

"I wouldn't go that far, but I'd definitely have a greater risk of scurvy" he smirked, biting into the apple she'd used as a missile.

The smirk slid off his face when he saw the expression on hers, trouble was brewing and Jackie could make an impressive amount of trouble if she chose.

"at first, I was just kidding, but we've been friends for a few months now and you still keep me far away from your other friends, it's starting to make me think you really are embarrassed to be friends with someone like me and that hurts" she told him with a vulnerable honesty he wasn't accustomed to, his other friends didn't talk like that, well maybe Eric?

"this is one of those things where I have to prove what I'm saying isn't it?" he asked suspiciously, he had a sinking feeling like the only thing that would satisfy Jackie about the whole thing was going with him to the basement.

"you don't have to do anything Steven, I'm just going to wonder about it otherwise" she said with a shrug, she already knew better than to pressure him about anything, the stronger you went at Hyde the harder he dug in his heels.

"this is a bad, bad, bad idea" he muttered darkly then took a deep breath "do you want to come with me to the basement and meet the gang?" he asked with another sigh.

"how long would we have to be there?" she asked with narrowed eyes

Hyde gaped at her "you just spent ten minutes making me feel like a dick for not having invited you there and now you're trying to set a time limit?!" he cried in disbelief

"well" she began

"no, no 'well'" he cut her off "what gives Jackie?" he asked seriously

"nothing" she tried to claim, but she was doing that thing where she couldn't look him full in the eye.

"you can tell me Jackie" he promised

She toyed nervously with the end of one pigtail while she worked up the courage to talk.

"I'm not cool like you, and if you see me around all your friends that are more like you you're going to start to think I'm lame" she murmured in a scared voice, he sometimes forgot how young she was because of how smart she was, but that was part of the problem. Jackie had skipped a grade, she was actually a year younger than him, 13 to his 14 and sometimes it showed.

"you think I'd let them tease you?" he asked highly offended

"I don't know?" she mumbled

"not a chance Jackie! I won't let anyone mess with you, you got that?!" he demanded, forcing her to look up and meet his gaze.

"but they're your best friends" Jackie tried to remind him of how things were,

"you are too" he told her with considerable effort, he wasn't good with emotions that weren't anger.

That got him the smile he'd wanted.

"Saturday at about noon, meet me at the park and we'll go to the basement for a while, if it's too boring or if you just don't like it there, I promise we'll go somewhere else and hang out until you have to go home" he told her in the voice she couldn't refuse.

"ok" she agreed softly, her stomach churning at the idea of meeting his friends now that it was becoming a reality.

Saturday came and Jackie accompanied him to the basement, it started off mildly enough – he introduced her to his friends as 'his friend Jackie' and they barely acknowledged her presence until the commercial break.

When they did turn their collective attention to the new arrival in their midst it wasn't what he'd been hoping for. Kelso was learning at her like she was the first girl he'd ever seen and it was putting Hyde on edge, he hadn't brought Jackie over as a gift for Kelso and he was willing to go to drastic lengths to make that point known. Donna seemed to react to another girl's presence as a threat to her standing as the pretty girl who hung out with boys, and Eric…well actually he hadn't really done anything but wave 'hi' and ask if she was in his social studies class, she was.

"so, Jodie, what are you doing tonight?" Kelso asked giving her his 'suave' look Hyde knew for a fact he practiced in the mirror, it looked more like he was having a stroke though.

"it's Jackie" she replied flatly "and none of your business"

"gee, thanks again Hyde for bringing your new friend here" Donna said sarcastically

Hyde glanced at donna with a curious expression "and your reason for getting an attitude is?" he asked unconcerned with Donnas reaction, since over the years she'd shown her penchant for making a big deal out of nearly nothing.

"oh, I don't know? Maybe that you're subjecting us to some pep squad kid without asking any of us first and now you're just sitting back while she's a brat to Kelso who's just being friendly!" Donna said in her most sanctimonious tone, one that never failed to put him from 0 to pissed in under 30 seconds, and this time she was insulting his friend like she wasn't even there.

Ask their permission to bring a friend with him?! Who the hell did she think she was talking to him like that?! He was about to say some things that would seriously change their dynamic when Eric spoke up.

"he doesn't have to ask our permission to have other friends Donna, that's kind of weird if he did" Eric told her in his awkwardly nervous way,

"I didn't say he needed to ask us if he had other friends, but he can't just bring them here and force us to put up with them without checking with us!" she told him forcefully,

"seems to me that what's really going on is I'm forcing Jackie to put up with you dill holes" Hyde said angrily

"its fine Steven" Jackie said getting up from the couch and brushing off her denim skirt, it killed him a little to notice how much effort she'd put into looking nice to visit their crappy hang out. She'd approached it like a special occasion that required careful thought, he knew the purple sweater was new because he'd never seen it before and something about the thought that she'd gone to any amount of trouble to come there and be treated this way, was infuriating him.

"yeah, screw this. Come on Jackie let's get out of here" he said getting up and placed his hand on the small of her back to lead her out of the basement.

At the door Jackie stopped with her hand on the door knob and turned to his friends,

"thank you for having me over Eric" she said politely and walked out the door.

Hyde glared at them before following her up the stairs, he was not going to forget this.

"so" Jackie began while they walked down the street in the general direction of her house "that could have gone better" she noted mildly

"I tried to warn you" Hyde fumed, not angry with her but still too mad to keep it out of his voice

"yeah, you did" she admitted with a sad smile "I guess I just don't understand what I did to make Donna be so mean?" she said with a frown that made him want to do violent things to people.

"you didn't do anything Jackie, she's just like that. She always has to be in charge and act like she's smarter and more grown up than us, most of the time I ignore her crap 'cus it's easier but for some reason she got to me today" he said, sounding confused by his own reactions.

"I still don't get it, but also I wanted to thank you for sticking up for me with your friend Michael, he was…he scared me a little" she admitted in a small voice,

She was only to the point with liking boys of wanting to hold hands, so when Kelso had started paying too much attention to her and started sitting closer and closer to her she'd started to panic silently, but Hyde had noticed and he'd stepped up to protect her and she was grateful.

"don't mention it – really, I mean that, and don't you ever sit there silently if you're scared or uncomfortable ever again! What if I'm not there to notice and step in and some creep pulls something like Kelso did?! Are you going to just take that crap because you don't want people to think you're a brat?! Who the hell gives a damn what people think?! Listen to me Jackie, people liking you isn't ever worth doing things you're uncomfortable with" he told her so seriously he barely seemed like himself.

"I didn't mean to" she whimpered looking scared and remorseful, which wasn't what he was going for.

"no man, you didn't do anything wrong! that's the whole point, you didn't deserve how Kelso was acting, you didn't do anything that caused it. Just because you looked pretty doesn't give him the right to put the moves on you, you always look pretty so you're going to have to learn to be heard and stand up for yourself and if guys still won't back off I'll be there to kick some ass!" he vowed darkly

"you think I look pretty?" she asked shyly, but a happy little smile was lurking at the corner of her mouth.

Hyde gave her a hard look "that's the part you retained?" he asked disbelievingly

"I heard the rest" she defended herself and crossed her arms defiantly

Hyde groaned, he had a sudden flash of insight that this girl might very well be the end of him, but he didn't mind too much.

"if I admit you look pretty can we stop standing in the street talking and go to your house already?" he asked wearily, the whole day so far had been exhausted.

"yes" she told him with a nod of her perfectly braided head

"fine!" he growled and took a deep breath "Jackie – as you well know already – you look…very…pretty today" he ground the words out through his teeth with obvious discomfort, his face took on a reddish tint that Jackie wisely chose not to comment on, especially since the added 'very' was all his own.

"come on Steven, let's go see if Gladys will let us have a snack this close to dinner" she said suggested happily and took off down the street again, Hyde thanked whatever higher power had his back for Jackie not pushing the conversation further and followed her to her house.

Jackie returning to the basement never came up in conversation after that day, Hyde didn't want her subjected to his other friends (who he was on less than amicable terms with for the moment) and Jackie would never again put herself willingly within range of Michael Kelso if she had a choice in the matter. After that day in the basement he had developed a belief that he and Jackie had something between them, and tried his best to get her attention almost every day.

His arm was now habitually covered in bruises from Hyde's attempts to explain leaving Jackie alone was in his best interest. Donna was rude and snotty to Jackie whenever they were in the same place and Eric was just twitchy in general. but his basement friends eventually adopted the belief that since they didn't physically see Jackie and Hyde spend time together, that they must not be friends anymore.

When he told Jackie about it she laughed so hard she fell over on the couch in her den.

"oh, we are sooooo letting this ride!" she had chortled

"we are?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, he didn't see the humor that she did.

"we are, we must! It's our civic duty to let them act like total morons!" she cried animatedly

"that's not what 'civic' means Jackie" he pointed out

"stop ruining my fun Steven! I refuse to miss out on watching them look that stupid!" she ordered him with one pink painted nail pointing dangerously at him, he could only nod agreement.

Neither of them knew then how long the whole thing would end up going on, if they had they might have chosen a different course of action. But then again, not being hassled because his friends only saw what they wanted to, had its perks.

Unfortunately for the two, three teenagers in a basement weren't the worst of their problems.

It wasn't long into their friendship that they learned they had something major in common, neither of them had a happy and secure home life. When Jackie learned just how bad Edna was she cried, but when Hyde found out about Jackie's parents it was only her big pleading eyes that kept his temper in check.

They banded together for support, because there wasn't much else they could do. When Edna brought home some sleaze bag who eyed Hyde in a way he wasn't in a hurry to decipher, he climbed out the window and walked to Jackie's where she let him in without making him explain.

And when Jackie's parents got into one of their many drunken fights where she couldn't hide from the screamed accusations of infidelity among much else, she called Hyde, before she knew it he was there climbing through her window and bustling her into her walk-in closet where they had a little den built in the very back. With the door closed she couldn't hear her parents as much and 14-year-old Hyde would awkwardly hold her and tell her it would all be ok.

If someone had told him at the beginning of the school year that a tiny, multi colored pixie would become the most important thing in his life, he would have laughed in their face, but here he was and he wasn't going back. Jackie being in pain made him miserable, and no matter how dark his mood got or how angry he became, Jackie's smile could disperse it.

They spent the majority of summer vacation together at Jackie's house, her parents had gone to Europe and left her in the care of the maid Gladys, who thankfully trusted that Hyde didn't have any ulterior motives in his friendship with Jackie, so let him stay as much as he wanted.

When school started again they faced the first day of high school side by side, and breathed identical sighs of relief when they compared schedules and found they would be together for most of the day. They had grown very close – codependent if you wanted to be a jerk about it – and preferred being together to any other scenario. Which led to a slightly awkward conversation when Jackie pointed out a little sadly, that no boys ever asked her out.

"that's probably my fault jacks" Hyde admitted between eating French fries, he'd noticed the same thing but wasn't as confused about it as she was.

"how? Are you going person to person and telling them not to ask me on a date?" she asked curiously, she could picture him doing that to protect her, he took that particular role very seriously.

"I think we both know I'm too lazy for that kind of thing" he smirked

"then how is it your fault?" she pressed

He'd been dreading a talk like this because he feared that the truth would push her away and he wasn't prepared to give up their friendship.

"because they all see us together all the time and even though everyone knows were not together like that, they're probably scared to approach you because of me" he told her

"why would they be scared? I'm not very scary Steven" she just wasn't getting it

"well you can be, but I meant me, guys don't approach you because they're afraid of me" he went for the blunt approach this time.

"you're not scary" she argued, with the high esteem of him that he treasured.

"not to you, but to most people around school I'm a scary dude and they probably think that if they date you and you get upset in any way ill appear and rip them apart" Hyde explained patiently, then seemed to consider what he'd just said, "which is true" he added with a shrug.

"so, what your saying is that while I hang out with you I'll never date?" she asked sounding scandalized

"it's starting to look that way, 'cus believe me – it's not that they're not interested in you jacks" he assured her

"that sucks" she stated bluntly

"I could always hang around less to make them think it's safe to talk to you?" he offered, trying hard to be noble for her benefit.

"no! I don't need to date right now, but I do need you Steven, you know that don't you?" she asked clutching his hand fearfully, she couldn't stand even the thought of losing her scruffy bad tempered best friend.

"yeah, I do jacks, right back at'cha" he said reassuringly

"you know, it wouldn't harm you to say you care about me" she told him pointedly

"you'd think that, but it would actually" he teased

"dammit Steven!" she snapped, glaring at him for being so difficult about such an important thing.

"calm down Jackie, I don't have to say it all time for you to be the most important thing in my life" he told her casually, and Jackie wisely chose to leave it at that. She knew, even though he wouldn't admit it often, that he would always be there for her because she was his priority just like he was hers.

So, when Jackie called one night in tears, Hyde didn't hesitate to rush to her side, totally disregarding the snow storm in his path. He climbed to her window with practiced skill and crossed to where she was huddled crying as fast as possible.

"jacks you gotta tell me what's wrong, you're scaring me" he murmured softly to his distraught best friend. Jackie threw her arms around him in a death grip and sobbed against his shoulder.

He'd never seen her this upset and it was freaking him out!

"Jackie, please calm down and tell me what's going on?" he pleaded gently

"they were fighting" she choked out between racking sobs

"ok? That's not new" he said confused

"th-this t-time they said something awful Steven!" she cried, pulling away enough to look him in the eye.

Hyde felt his stomach drop to his feet and his heart joined it, whatever had happened was worse than he'd thought, he was sure. He smoothed the damp hair away from her face tenderly.

"what did they say jacks?" he asked trying to be brave

"they decided were moving away" she whispered desolately, and collapsed against his chest again.

He was dying, there was no way he could possibly survive this feeling! All he could do was wrap his arms around Jackie and hold her tight while his life came to an end.

A/N don't worry, it's not over. But be warned that the next chapter starts in a different place, but that's all I'm saying!