So sorry for the huge delay! I so appreciate the reviews - you really encouraged me to keep going with this story - I promise you a new chapter will be up soon. I hope some people are still following this story xxx
Hyde's foot furiously tapped the floor as he folded his arms across his chest and glared at his so-called friend.
He wanted to bolt.
God, he wanted to bolt.
But he also wanted to witness this sad exchange between idiots so that any other burns and insults directed at Jackie would be justified. Yeah, every time the brunette ran back to the bumbling moron Hyde was sure he felt his skin thicken. So he was equal parts annoyed and hurt, when Jackie told Kelso he should wear the blue tie.
"But why?" Kelso stomped his foot like a child and looked down at Jackie.
Jackie rolled her eyes. "Because it matches the dress, Michael," she told him.
"But if I wear the blue one I gotta pay Mark twenty dollars. I don't wanna pay him twenty bucks, Jackie. I just wanna wear the tie I already own."
"Oh, Michael, you're so cheap! Just give your brother the money or go buy yourself your own blue tie. Like I've told you a million times before - investing in good quality formal menswear is an investment into your future. Stop being cheap!"
Kelso pouted and stomped his foot again. "Fine! I'll steal a blue tie tomorrow."
"Good." Jackie nodded then flicked her hand toward the door. "Now go away, I'm trying to talk to Steven."
Hyde quickly stood up. "No, it's cool, I was just going."
"Wait, Steven, we weren't finished." Jackie grabbed his hand, her eyes slightly panicked. "Michael's going now." She turned toward Kelso and narrowed her eyes. "Aren't you, Michael?"
Kelso was still pouting. Still looking like a damn fool. God Hyde wanted to knock him the hell out. Sitting there listening to Jackie and Kelso talk about the prom was nauseating.
"But you haven't told me what flowers to get," the taller boy mumbled, throwing both ties over his shoulder.
Jackie sighed. "I don't care what flowers you get her -"
"Then why're you being so harsh about the tie?" Kelso asked.
Hyde's brow furrowed. 'What flowers you get her'? Jackie really wasn't going to the prom with Kelso? His chest felt a little lighter at the revelation and without even being consciously aware of it, he sat back down on the bed next to Jackie.
"Because you keep bugging me about it!" Jackie answered her ex. "I keep telling you that I actually have my own life but you won't quit harping on about what you're wearing to prom. Now I've told you what to wear you can leave me alone."
"But the corsage-"
Jackie's lips pursed. "I-don't-care!"
A slight smile flashed across Hyde's face as Kelso mumbled something about missing 'the old Jackie' and left the room in a huff. It had always been somewhat satisfying for Hyde to watch Jackie crush Kelso's spirit bit by bit. And even though he didn't care - he did after all have thick skin when it came to her - he still felt more relaxed in that moment than he had all week.
So relaxed in fact, that he lightly kicked at a box full of stupid trophies and said, "So, you still want a hand unpacking some of this crap?"
To which Jackie enthusiastically replied, "Yes!"
They unpacked in silence for what felt like forever, both actively avoiding bringing up the prom or Kelso. Hyde was relieved she wasn't going to the stupid dance with her ex but it still didn't mean all was forgiven and that they were back to normal. Normal...what the hell even was 'normal' with him and Jackie? Normal used to be them taking swipes at each other out of complete contempt; then it all of a sudden became normal to hook every time they were alone; and for a while it seemed it was normal to do both.
But now nothing felt normal.
Hyde shook his head as he placed a small 'Prettiest Ballerina 1971' trophy down on the dresser.
"Jackie, you know you're not here forever right? Just until Rosa or your ma gets back."
Jackie didn't look up as she arranged her perfume bottles. "Yeah I know," she sighed.
Hyde reluctantly picked up another trophy and placed it next to the others. "Then why bring all this stuff?" he asked, eyeing Jackie curiously. "In a couple of weeks you'll just have to box it all up again and go home."
Jackie sighed again and tucked some strands of hair behind her ear. She looked a mess. Her eyes were red and puffy and without their usual spark, and the oversized Point Place High sweater she wore was a tell-tale sign that she didn't care about anything anymore. Hyde could relate. Being ditched by your whole family and having to move into the Formans' wasn't the proudest moment in a teenager's life.
"I brought these things coz they're mine," she said as she flopped down on the bed. "If I can't be at my own house I should at least be able to have some of my things around me."
Hyde nodded. He could sort of see what she meant. But a swimming trophy won when she was five years old? Why would she want to bring that? He didn't get it, but then again, he didn't get Jackie, so he continued to unpack her crap.
When he turned around ten minutes later Jackie was curled up on the bed fast asleep. Hyde pulled up the blanket to cover her small frame and left the room as quietly as he could. It had taken all he had for the last 30 minutes not get into a screaming match with her; to not utter the words he so wanted to speak - that Jackie was a game-playing bitch who couldn't handle not getting her own way. The words had been on the tip of his tongue for the past week but he'd held them in out of respect for her as the mother of his child. If only she'd had the same kind of respect for him as Tyler's father. If only she'd thought about how he'd feel before saying yes to Kelso. His hand clenched as he walked into the kitchen but he quickly relaxed it when he saw Kitty fixing warm milk on the stove with Tyler in one arm.
"She's been quiet tonight," Hyde said as he scooped Tyler into his own arms.
"Yes she has," Kitty agreed. "Babies know, you know?"
Hyde looked at her confused. "Know what?"
"They know when their mothers are upset. Tyler probably senses that Jackie isn't herself at the moment so she's being a good girl and giving her mom some time to adjust." Kitty nodded while she poured milk into two cups. "Poor Jackie."
Hyde rolled his eyes and Kitty gasped.
"Steven! Why did you just roll your eyes young man?" she demanded to know.
Hyde shifted in his seat and moved his sleeping daughter higher up his chest. "I didn't," he lied.
Kitty narrowed her eyes but brought a cup milk over for him all the same. "Oh yes you did! Now I hope you're not still being a broody brood over Jackie saying she'd go to the prom with Michael? Because if you are, then you just need to get over it okay?"
Hyde was taken aback. "Excuse me? Get over it? I'm sorry Mrs. Forman but I am so not gonna get over it just like that. What she did was bitchy, plain and simple." He took a sip of his drink before adding, "Oh, and sorry for the cuss word."
"Steven, I'm not worried about the cuss word, but I am worried about you and Jackie," Kitty said. "That girl has been through a lot over the last few months and you not talking to her right now isn't helping."
"No disrespect, Mrs. Forman, but I really don't wanna talk about this with you," Hyde said. When he moved to stand Kitty put her hand on his shoulder signalling to him that he wasn't going anywhere. Normally he would've shrugged the hand off, but it was Kitty so he couldn't be his usual abrupt self.
"Well you need to talk to someone, Steven, and I haven't seen anyone else trying to talk sense into you this week so I guess that means I'm it!"
Hyde exhaled loudly before brushing his lips across Tyler's forehead. "Fine," he relented. "You can talk all you want. But it's not gonna make any difference. Jackie's been behaving like a spoiled brat and I'm done with it."
Kitty frowned. "But you have to at least try and see things from her perspective. In the course of a year she's become pregnant, lost her mother to the beaches of Brazil, lost her father to prison, had a baby, and now lost Rosa for the foreseeable future - that's a lot for anyone to go through, let alone a 17 year old child."
"We all go through crap in our lives, Mrs. F. Doesn't mean we get to do what we like and crap all over our friends."
Kitty looked solemnly at Hyde and squeezed his hand. "Jackie hasn't been thinking clearly lately, Steven. The pregnancy hormones are still settling down and she's barely been sleeping. Add to that what's going on with her parents...you can't really blame her for making a few silly decisions can you dear? She deserves a break don't you think?"
"She's had her fair share of breaks," Hyde said thinking back to the time he got arrested for the cheerleader.
"Just like someone else I know," Kitty said raising her eyebrows. "How would you have felt if every time you made a stupid decision Red and I stopped talking to you?"
"We're not talking about me though." Hyde wasn't gonna admit it but he could kind of see Kitty's point. Maybe he hadn't looked at the whole picture and only chosen to see the bits he'd wanted to see. Not that he'd wanted to see Kelso's ugly mug all the time, but it'd sure popped up quite a bit over the last few months.
Just like Hyde had known it would.
"Well, we kind of are, dear."
"Fine," Hyde relented, "I'll talk to Jackie more if it makes you happy."
Kitty smiled. "And you'll be nice to her and make her feel welcome while she's here?"
Hyde shrugged. "Sure."
"Oh you're a good boy!" Kitty exclaimed as she stood up and put her cup in the sink. "Now I'm off to bed. Sing out if you need any help during the night."
"Will do," Hyde told her knowing full well he'd never wake her up in the middle of the night for help with Tyler. He and Jackie had the routine sorted, even when they weren't even speaking to each other. "Good night, Mrs. Forman."
"Good night, Steven."
...
The Next Afternoon
Strapping Tyler into her pram, Jackie was startled when the sliding door quickly opened. She clipped the last clasp and looked up to see Hyde returning home from work.
"Oh, hi," she said as she carefully tucked a pink blanket snug around the baby.
"Hi," Hyde replied. "Where are you two off too?"
"The Hub. The others left a little while ago and I said I'd meet them there once Tyler was fed."
"I'll drive you."
"No it's fine. It's such a beautiful day out there I thought the walk would be nice."
Hyde jingled his keys. "You sure? You usually hate walking anywhere."
"That was before I had a beautiful pram and a more beautiful baby to parade around," Jackie half-teased. "People can't admire our child if she's hidden inside a car, Steven."
"That's true," Hyde smiled, stepping aside so Jackie could push the pram through the door. "Well enjoy your walk."
"We will!"
Jackie stepped outside and inhaled deeply before exhaling slowly. Her exchange with Hyde had been painfully polite, as though they were acquaintances meeting for the third time. It had been like that every time Tyler had been up through the night; courteous conversation about whether the baby had burped, pooped, fed enough, or slept enough. It was so sickeningly cordial that Jackie had feigned sleep and stayed upstairs until Hyde had gone to work that morning, and she'd hoped this walk would have her gone before he returned.
Argumentative Hyde she could handle; polite Hyde she could not.
Polite Hyde meant he didn't care anymore. Like there was nothing left fighting for.
The breeze was warm on her face and by the time she left the driveway she was finally relaxed. Life sucked, there was no doubt about it. But with a fresh face of make-up on and a new pair of jeans Jackie was trying hard to get back to being her old self. The old Jackie who didn't cry 24/7. The one who wasn't an orphan.
"Lucky I have you," she said, smiling down at her baby who beamed back at her mother with piercing blue eyes. "You are just the prettiest thing I've ever seen. And I've seen lots of pretty things, Tyler...I've looked in the mirror at least five times a day for the last 15 years - so I know pretty when I see it - and I think you're going to be even prettier-"
"Jackie, wait up!" a voice called from behind.
Jackie turned around and was a little disheartened to see Hyde jogging to catch up to her and Tyler. She bit down on her lip and looked back down at the baby.
"It was meant to be just you and me," she whispered. "I don't feel like idle chit chat with your daddy."
"Hey," Hyde panted a little when he reached them. "You walked fast."
"Its called power walking," Jackie said. "It gets rid of the fat without making me sweat like a pig."
"Oh yip, whatever. Anyway, thought I'd take a walk with you guys." He bent down and gently pinched Tyler's cheek. "Hi bubba!" he greeted her.
"Why?" Jackie asked, watching the obvious delight in her daughter's face as she gazed at her father.
Hyde stood up and shrugged. "Why not?"
"Because you have a car."
"But I figured I may as well see what all this fresh air business is about n go for a walk with you guys."
Jackie started walking again, conscious of the man walking next to her. "Whatever."
They walked in silence for two blocks, the only noise the sound of cars whizzing by and school kids playing on the sidewalk. Hyde would sometimes blow a raspberry at Tyler or tell her to look at something stupid she couldn't even see. But he didn't talk to Jackie, and she didn't talk to him. Mostly because she didn't know what to say.
When they rounded the corner to The Hub Jackie exhaled again, relieved to know her friends were inside and the awkwardness would soon be over.
As they crossed the carpark, Hyde said, "Man, we would'a been here ten minutes ago if we'd brought the car."
"But the point of walking was to get some fresh air."
"I would'a opened the windows for you," Hyde said, holding the door open for her and the pram. He grinned at Jackie as she passed and she rolled her eyes back at him.
"Always the gentleman, Steven," she smiled.
"You know it, doll."
The gang were sitting at their usual table by the restrooms so Jackie hurried over. On cue Donna jumped out of her seat and reached for the pram.
"Can I get her out?" the redhead asked, already undoing the safety belt.
A tanned arm shot out between Donna and the baby. "No, you baby hogger. Jackie said next hold was mine," Fez said, lifting Tyler out of her mobile bed and into his arms.
Donna swung her head around, her eyes wide in disbelief. "Jackie! Are you gonna let him do that? Why does he get her?"
Jackie sat down in the booth next to Fez and lightly shrugged. "First in first served," she told her friend. "I don't mind who holds her so long as I get to have a shake in peace."
"What flavour?"
Jackie looked up to see Hyde standing across the table. Was he offering to get her a milkshake? Two nights ago when she'd asked him to pass her the salt he'd flat out ignored her, so this was a major turn around.
"Um, vanilla?" she tentatively answered him.
Hyde walked off to the counter while Jackie turned her attention to her friend's conversation. Before wishing she hadn't.
"Fez," Eric started. "Deal with it, man. You don't have a date now and you're not gonna get one by next weekend. You're riding solo to prom, my friend."
Donna nodded. "Yeah, hate to say it, Fez, but I have to agree with Eric. Your chances are pretty slim."
"Ai!" Fez grumbled, jiggling Tyler in his arms. "But Kelso swore to me that there would still be fatties and uggos needing a date. That sonofabitch lied to me!" When he realised he'd cursed in front of the baby he gasped. "Oh baby, please forgive your Uncle Fez," he said looking down at her. "Your Uncle Fez is just very upset because your stupid Uncle Kelso is a lying scoundrel!"
Jackie crossed her legs and sighed. "You guys, do we have to talk about prom?" she said quietly, keeping an eye on Hyde who was still ordering her shake. "I've come here to get away from my problems, you lot talking about that is just gonna start another argument."
"Easy for you to say," Fez scoffed. "You had a date but did not want it. I, on the other hand, don't even have a date to get rid of."
"Fez, please don't ever bring up my prom date again, okay?" Jackie was swinging her leg furiously under the table. "I'm not going, it's over, can we please all forget about it."
"Fine with me," Eric agreed. "I've had enough of living in World War 3. The less said about you and Kelso going to prom together the better."
Just as Eric finished the last of his sentence a vanilla shake slammed down on the table.
"Sorry," Jackie peered up at Hyde nervously. "I told these morons I didn't want to talk about prom."
Hyde pulled out a chair next to Donna and sat down. "Doesn't bother me," he said, folding his arms across his chest. "You guys are free to talk about whatever you want."
Jackie's heart sunk a little. He really didn't care anymore. He wasn't getting all jealous and possessive. He was just being a co-parent, going for a walk with her and their child and hanging out with their friends. Jackie had burned the last bridge holding them together as anything more than friends, and he was over her.
She sipped on her shake in sadness.
"There's got to be someone in this town who'll go with me," Fez said, his eyes scanning The Hub in hope.
Jackie pushed her straw into her drink and scowled at Fez. "If you don't stop talking about the prom you're never holding my baby again!"
"But..."
"Zip it, Fez!"
"Fine! But just know, lady, that as soon as you're not around the prom is all that I will be talking about." Fez slumped back in his seat and held Tyler close, probably in fear that Jackie would take her off him. But she wouldn't, because she was heartbroken and trying to make herself feel better by drinking 1000 calories.
"Well," Hyde said grinning, "this is fun."
"It sure is," Eric said sarcastically. "Remember when we used to do actual fun stuff? Like play with slingshots and bottle rockets and have afternoon circles...when did that stuff stop?"
Donna frowned at him. "Eric, you did all of that last weekend."
"So seven days ago then?" nodded Eric.
"Lucky you, man." Hyde stretched his arms above his head. "I can't remember the last time I did any of that. I'm a 40 year old man living in an 18 year old's body."
Jackie's heart sunk even further. Now she'd become the noose around Hyde's neck. The tight rope keeping him from living his life. She couldn't have felt any more crap than she did right then. So she drank more of her shake.
"Y'know, we can change this," Eric piped up. "We don't have to sit around here on a Saturday afternoon watching everyone else. We're young, we should be having fun! And I know just the place..."
"If you say your basement I'll slap you, Eric," Donna said seriously.
"No! Not my basement! Simon Middleton is having a pool party this afternoon. They have two kegs, guys. Not one, but TWO kegs!"
When Jackie saw Hyde's face light up she sighed. He'd probably go to the party, meet a blonde skank and screw her brains out. This was shaping up to be the worst walk to The Hub ever.
Hyde stood up abruptly and held his arms out across the table. "Fez, gimme the baby," he ordered. Next he looked at Jackie. "Hurry up and finish your shake, Jackie."
Jackie glared at him. "Excuse me?"
"C'mon!" Hyde was frantically strapping Tyler into the pram, not caring that he still hadn't told Jackie what the hell was going on.
"Steven! We only just got here. I'm not ready to go!"
"Jackie, no time to talk, let's go." With that, Hyde and the pram were already bolting towards the door. Jackie took one last sip of her shake before sliding out of her seat.
"I don't know what's going on with him," she said apologetically to Donna. "I'll call you later."
This time it was Jackie jogging to catch up to Hyde who was crossing the carpark heading for home.
"Steven!" she called out, not caring that a group of juniors from school were watching. "Can you just wait?"
Hyde stopped and let her catch up to him. "Sorry, man. We just gotta hurry."
"Why?" Jackie asked as they power walked along the main road. "So you can shower and change ready for your big night out?"
Hyde looked at her puzzled. "No. So we can catch Mrs. F before she pours herself a wine."
"Why?"
"Jackie, do you really want her drinking while she babysits?"
Taken aback, Jackie reached for the pram handle and stopped it. "What? You're asking Mrs. Forman to babysit?"
"Yeah," Hyde said nonchalantly. "We both need some time out and you've been expressing your milk stuff, right?"
Jackie nodded, both scared and excited at the thought of actually leaving the house without Tyler.
"Mrs. Forman's been gagging to babysit her so let's let her."
A smile crept across Jackie's face. She couldn't believe Hyde actually wanted her to go with him to Simon's party. Maybe the fresh air had knocked some sense into him.
"Are you sure you want me tagging along?" she asked, seeking just a little reassurance.
"You sure you wanna tag along?"
Jackie nodded.
"Then start power walking, doll."