A/N

Hey guys! This is my first story so its kinda bad but its fine. I love That 70s Show, especially Jackie and Hyde and season 8 never existed. Anyways this is most likely a two-shot but can maybe become a multi-chap or something IDK. This takes place a few months after 5x09 so they're all still in high school. Tell me what you think!

Jackie absent-mindedly bit down on her nails as her gut slowly twisted tightly inside her. Normally, she'd be disgusted by the thought of her chewing her own nails and even risking chipping away at her brand-new manicure, but she couldn't stop herself. She hardly even cared. Her heart was starting to beat out of her chest and her breathing got shakier with each breath she took which was supposed to be calming her down but was failing. She paced around outside the bottom landing of the basement steps. The only clear image running through her mind was Steven.

She needed to tell him. He was her boyfriend and he had a right to know. He's sadly also been through this before, knows the swirl of dark thoughts and insecurities that come from being left by your own parents. The people who brought her into this world. Supposed to protect her. Care for her. At the very least supposed to give a damn about her. Maybe Steven would be able to talk her through her feelings and tell her that it was gonna be okay. That the reeling chaos inside her brain wasn't going to last forever. She hoped it wouldn't. She doesn't think she could bear it.

Jackie thought back to her sitting alone in her pink bedroom just three nights ago. She was sitting on her bed and listening to her Captain and Tennille record. She was combing through the latest issue of Cosmo and was so fixated on the article titled 'Top 5 Signs He's in Love with You'. She had proclaimed her love for Steven Hyde a little over two months ago and had still she got nothing from him. She knew it was hard for him to admit his love for her because the "I love you"s said between Bud and Edna were nothing but empty and meaningless. And she tried to understand and be a patient girlfriend. But saying patience wasn't her strong suit was the understatement of the decade. She just wanted to know if he felt the same and quick because it was eating her alive. She remembers thinking back to her own parents and starting to question if their proclamations of love meant anything and if the decline in the frequency of the phrase between to two was a good thing or a bad thing. It was then when she felt a familiar darkness within her, the same one that had been trying to consume her from the past few months. Just at that moment, the ring of her desk phone interrupted her thoughts. Hoping it might be Steven, she picked up the phone by the second ring. But instead of the deep and gruff voice of her boyfriend, she was greeted by the voice of her mother.

"Jackie, Darling?" were the only words that came through the phone. The first words she had heard from her in months.

All her feelings from a moment ago were forgotten as the pent-up feelings of hate she had gathered towards her mother in the past few months and from many years of maternal neglect resurfaced as a white-hot flash throughout every nerve ending in her body.

"Mom? Is that really you? I thought they didn't have phones in Acapulco" Jackie responded with sarcasm dripping from her voice. "Because I don't see any other reason you would ignore your only daughter after her father was thrown in jail and she was left home alone for 5 months".

She was more than angry. She was downright pissed. She couldn't even begin to channel the anger she felt as she was reminded of the struggle of having to fend for herself in her own home. Having to deal with sleepless nights because she was kept awake by every creek, moan, and shadow of the large Burkhart mansion. Having to fire her maid and her only company, Marissa, because she could no longer pay her paycheck. Having to pretend she wasn't hungry after a day of school whenever she was offered to stay over at the Forman's for dinner right before accepting their invitation anyway because it was the "polite" thing to do and not because she hadn't eaten since the night before. And the worst of all, having to hide it all from the Forman's, the gang, and even her beloved Steven. She couldn't let them know what life has been like for her recently. She was Jackie Burkhart, and Burkhart's didn't have tough times.

"No need to be hostile Jaqueline, and just so you are aware, I left Acapulco three weeks ago. The men there got to be such a bore…"

"No surprise there", Jackie not so discreetly mumbled. "You know, you said you were coming straight home to Wisconsin right after Daddy got caught"

"I know dear, and I meant to I swear, but you know how things are." Her mother let out her traditional condescending airheaded laugh which put Jackie over the edge.

"No, I don't know how they are!" she nearly sobbed.

"Well, it's very hard for me to stay away from the glamorous life as you should know by now. And honey maybe if you carried the Burkhart genes of being the only thing men desired, you would understand it a little better. I know you have that boy Michael, and yes, he's mighty fine but I don't think he has the capability of making you millions."

"Mom, Michael and I…" she started with frustration before being cut off.

"Well anyway, I just called to tell you that I think you're old enough to not need me anymore. I can tell your doing just fine on your own and to be honest I'm just having the grandest time. "Jackie began to hear loud rustling and undecipherable voices over the phone. "Oh dear, I'm sorry to say I have to go. Javier is taking me to lunch. Kisses!" And with that, the line went dead.

For the next three minutes, Jackie sat on her bed in utter shock. Coming back to her senses, she wiped away the tears that she didn't even know she had cried only to find she couldn't' stop them from coming. As the silent tears streamed down her face as she finally came to the realization that what she had been fearing for the past months had come true. Her mom had abandoned her. Maybe Pam was right all along, that she doesn't deserve to be loved, not even by her parents. They had wanted to get away from her so badly that they went to embezzle 60,000 dollars from the city and hideaway in a booze-filled Latin American country, not ever to return. She felt numb.

Jackie was slowly brought back to reality, getting herself mentally prepared to waltz into the basement as her usual cheerful self. She then planned that she would discreetly ask Steven to meet in his room so that she could tell him about her mom. Maybe he could save her from the personal hell she was living.