A/N: A big thank you to those who have been reviewing! I've been updating consistently everyday due to the fact that I've been writing pretty much any second I've had free time (which, admittedly, hasn't been much; I've worked every day this week) and I'm a little farther along in the story than what I've posted so far. I seldom get hit with inspiration like this, so I'm really trying to go with it before it runs out! Many thanks, and a belated merry Christmas!

…

A week had passed, and Jackie made sure she was constantly by the phone, awaiting the phone call where Nate would profess his love for her and tell her he changed his mind.

She had cried herself to sleep each night and pretty much only emerged from her room for meals. Her appetite was increasing, which deeply disturbed her. Abandonment was always her biggest fear; next was getting fat. She definitely didn't want both to happen to her—especially at the same time.

Jackie felt perpetually exhausted, which she was thankful for because she was actually able to sleep and escape the horrible reality of her life. She was constantly resisting the urge to call Nate and either beg him to stay with her through this process or relentlessly bitch him out. Kitty tried to get Jackie to talk about it, but for the first time in her life, she didn't really feel like talking about herself.

"Hey, stranger." Eric poked his head in her door. "I was, uh, wondering…" He trailed off, looking sheepish.

"Spit it out, Eric," Jackie snapped, raising her eyebrows at him.

"You still have some… stuff, don't you?" Eric inquired.

"Stuff, like… oh, yeah." Jackie frowned. "Guess I can't be doing that anymore."

Eric nodded. "Just trying to help you out," he offered.

"Yeah, right," Jackie said sarcastically. "You're just out."

"Actually, Hyde's out," Eric corrected. "He and Fez are in the basement, so…"

Jackie sat up and got off of the bed. She dug in her nightstand drawer for a moment before pulling out a bag. "Here you go."

"Thanks," Eric replied slowly. He looked back at her. "You know, maybe you should hang out with us. It'd be nice to get out of this… funk that you're in."

Jackie scoffed. "Can you blame me, Eric?" She shook her head. "Why would I want to hang out with two of my ex-boyfriends? Oh, hey, did you call up Michael, too?" She rolled her eyes.

"I mean, you hung out with Kelso when you were dating Hyde," Eric pointed out.

"Yeah, but I wasn't a fat, pathetic loser then," Jackie spat.

Eric smiled, amused. "I think you're much less of a loser now, to be honest… and you're not even showing yet, Jackie; what are you talking about?"

"Yeah, well, I've gained six pounds," Jackie stated, disgust evident in her voice. "I'm gonna have to start exclusively wearing sweatpants." She fiddled with the top of her high-waisted jeans. "I actually had trouble buttoning these today."

"Nobody can tell," Eric said flatly. "And sweatpants aren't the end of the world. Maybe they would've been in that shallow, little world you lived in a few years ago, but you're, like, beyond that now."

Jackie just shrugged, still frowning at the waistband of her pants.

"Aren't you sick of being alone?" Eric asked her.

Another shrug.

"Maybe a little," she admitted.

"Then come down to the basement," Eric urged. "Hyde and Fez aren't gonna be mean or anything. They're actually really pissed about that Nate guy."

"Really?" Jackie asked in surprise, and then remembered that these were people who cared about her, or at least did at some point. "Okay… I'll come down with you… but keep the smoke away from me!"

"We'll hold off for a bit," Eric promised.

They went down both flights of stairs and were greeted by the sight of Hyde, sitting in his usual chair, and Fez, who was on the couch.

"Look what I've got," Eric said excitedly, dangling the bag in front of Fez's face as he sat next to him on the couch.

"No way." Hyde eyed Jackie, who had just sat down in the other chair. "You had that?"

Jackie shrugged. "Well, it was from before. I would get bored at the apartment."

Fez turned to face his ex-girlfriend. "Were you holding out on me?" he asked in shock.

"Fez, you would come here to do that," Jackie pointed out. "I didn't have anywhere to go."

"You could've came along," Fez replied, and Jackie shook her head vehemently in response.

"Alright, enough talking," Hyde said. "Let's light up."

"Hyde, maybe we should… wait a little bit," Eric suggested, nodding his head toward Jackie, who instinctively put a hand on her belly.

"Right." Hyde nodded slowly. "'Keep forgetting about that."

It was quiet for a moment and Jackie began feeling like maybe she should have stayed upstairs.

"You know," Jackie said, "I am pretty much only alternating between two moods—nauseous and starving, neither of which are too pleasant—so… maybe I'll just go back upstairs."

"Well, wait, which one are you?" Eric asked.

"Starving," Jackie admitted.

"Well dinner should be done in an hour," Eric pointed out. "And there are popsicles in the deep freeze."

Jackie appreciated him trying to convince her to stay, but this was just a little too awkward. "Popsicles aren't very sustaining," she said, giving him a small, gracious smile as she stood up. "I'm just gonna grab something from the fridge upstairs and hang out until dinner."

"Okay," Eric said, defeated, as the brunette went up the stairs.

Hyde looked between Eric and Fez. "Okay, now let's light up."

They broke out the stash and sat in the circle as they always did.

"Yeah, I can tell Jackie's pregnant," Fez stated after taking a hit. "Her breasts have gotten much larger already."

Eric rolled his eyes at the comment. "Yeah, well, she's pretty pissed 'cause she gained a few pounds in the past few weeks."

Hyde passed the joint to Eric. "I'm pretty pissed 'cause her body didn't look like that when I used to see her naked." He grinned at his perverseness. "Don't get me wrong- it was nice, but this is much nicer… for the time being, anyway."

"Yes, those pounds could only have gone to her boobs and her ass," Fez agreed eagerly. "I'll admit, it'll be sexy when Jackie has a big pregnant stomach."

Hyde choked upon hearing Fez's comment.

"Guys, this is weird," Eric whined. "Can we, like, stop talking about this?"

"Okay, Forman, but you've gotta admit, she looks pretty hot," Hyde commented.

Eric did always think Jackie was attractive and he definitely had noticed her body becoming a little more voluptuous lately, but there's no way he was going to say that, especially not to her ex-boyfriends. "That's gross, man. Jackie's my friend, okay?"

Fez coughed in surprise. "You and Jackie are friends?"

"Yeah, I noticed you were being extra nice to her earlier," Hyde said. "When the hell did this happen?"

"Well, when you live with someone, you get to know them a little better," Eric stated. "And she's a little less insufferable than I thought."

Hyde smirked. "Oh no. She got you, too, Forman."

"Did not; not even close," Eric replied defensively. "She just… she doesn't have anybody, okay? And… this whole situation is, like, really messed up."

"Could've been worse," Hyde said as he dropped some ash from the joint in the ashtray. "Could've been Kelso."

"I don't know, man," Eric responded. "I mean, Kelso's dumb, but he's not a bad dad. He definitely wouldn't have abandoned Brooke when that happened."

"Speaking of Kelso, does he know about this?" Fez asked. "I haven't talked to him lately."

Eric and Hyde shook their heads.

"I wonder how he's gonna feel about it," Eric thought aloud.