"Last night, huh?" Jimmy asks, looking at where Alex sits across from him. "I bet you can't wait to get home."

Alex shrugs. "I don't know, I mean… I've had fun here, too." She blushes and mentally kicks herself. "I shouldn't have had as much fun as I did, but…"

Jimmy waits for her to finish her sentence, and when she doesn't, he simply nods with a smirk on his face. "I'm really glad I met you," he suddenly says, looking in her eyes.

A tiny smile appears on Alex's face. "I'm glad I met you, too." She pauses, thinking. "I kind of assumed you'd stop talking to me once we had sex."

"Well, I've been that guy before," Jimmy admits. "There's something about you. I don't know, I just… really like you."

Alex blushes again, fighting the stupid smile that keeps appearing on her face. "That makes this so much more complicated, though." She thinks about Matthew and frowns. "I never thought I'd do this, you know? I swear, I'm not that person."

"Maybe we're soul mates," Jimmy casually says, causing Alex to laugh and then feel foolish when she realizes he was serious.

"I… I don't know," she finally says, shrugging.

"Are you gonna tell your boyfriend?" Jimmy asks.

Alex bites her lip. "I'm honestly not sure. I just want to see how I feel when I get back."

Jimmy nods, visibly disappointed.

"It's not like anything serious could've happened between us anyway," Alex points out. "You're all the way out here and I live in Michigan."

"We'll see each other again, though," Jimmy states.

Alex thinks about that, and how strange it will be. "Yeah, I guess we will."

"I wonder what things will be like then," Jimmy says.

"Maybe you'll have a girlfriend by then who is ten times better than me," Alex comments. "You'll forget all about me and then I'll come back here and you'll have to awkwardly dodge conversations with me."

"That will never happen," Jimmy says, his voice serious. "I know how I feel."

"Yeah, but we're young," Alex says. "You can think you feel the strongest feelings ever and they won't compare to what you'll feel in the future."

"Are you talking about me or you?" Jimmy asks, giving her a knowing look.

"I'm just putting things out there," Alex simply says. "Anything can happen."

Jimmy nods slowly. "Yeah, and that leaves us with the possibility that the next time you come visit, things will be exactly the same… between us, I mean." He leans towards her and affectionately tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "I hope it will be."

Alex's eyes are wide as she looks into his blue ones, and he leans in and kisses her.

…

"What time are you leaving tomorrow?" Donna asks her friend before sipping the beer in her hand.

"I was thinking around nine," Jackie comments. "I want to get home before dinnertime."

"Well, I'm glad you got to stay almost a full week," Donna says. "You got to see everyone, even Andy."

"Yeah, and Daniel would've killed me if he knew," Jackie admits. "Then again, it didn't go so well, so I guess he was right."

"Not at all," Donna says with a slight laugh. "Daniel gets mad because he thinks you're gonna cheat on him with Andy, since Andy really likes you and everything. It's not because he's some sage man who knows which friendships work out and which don't."

"I guess so," Jackie says with a shrug. "He even brought up Caleb Black, did I tell you that?"

Donna gives Jackie a weird look. "Caleb Black?"

"The guy I slept with when Daniel and I were separated," Jackie clarifies quietly. "The guy in my class in high school? Quarterback?"

"Yeah, I remember now," Donna says. "What did he say about it? He didn't threaten to tell Daniel or something, did he?"

"No, nothing like that," Jackie utters. "He just said he thought I couldn't move on from Daniel, and then I did that and he realized I just wasn't into him."

"I don't know why you never were," Donna admits. "I mean, he's cute, he's got money, he's—"

"I don't need to hear the reasons from you, too, okay?" Jackie snaps. "I just never felt anything for him… and I wanted my family to work out."

"Fair enough," Donna says, putting her hands up in defeat. She changes the subject. "When's the last time you heard from Kelso or Fez?"

"Oh, it must have been the last time you did, too," Jackie says, shrugging. "Fez's wedding."

"That was six years ago," Donna laments. "I wonder how they're doing. I bet Fez has kids now."

"I don't understand them," Jackie declares. "I mean, I live in another state and I keep in touch."

"You didn't until you had to move back," Donna points out. "If that didn't happen, maybe you never would have."

"Oh, I would have," Jackie retorts.

Donna simply shrugs.

The next day, Jackie sneaks past Jimmy sleeping on the basement couch and creaks open the door to Alex's room, waking her up. They leave after saying goodbye to Donna and Eric, while Alex thinks about Lisa and Jimmy… mostly the latter.

"So, you have fun?" Jackie asks.

"Yeah," Alex says bleakly.

"You probably can't wait to get home and see Matthew, huh?" Jackie tries again

"Yeah." Alex stares out the window.

"Okay, what's your deal?" Jackie asks, turning down the radio. "I'm playing my mix tape and you aren't even complaining about it."

"I don't know," Alex says with a shrug.

Jackie gives up and turns the radio back up, and Alex actually listens to the song.

Because your kiss

Your kiss is on my list

Because your kiss

Your kiss, I can't resist

Because your kiss is on my list of the best things in life

"Mom, have you ever cheated?" Alex asks and almost instantly regrets it , assuming that her mother will see right through her.

Jackie freezes. "Oh, God… you heard me talking to Donna last night, didn't you?"

"Um…" Alex nods, relieved that her mother didn't think she was talking about herself. "Yeah."

"Oh, honey," Jackie says, her eyes looking worried as she remains fixated on the road. "Shit," she mumbles to herself, trying to come up with the words.

"Was it on Dad?" Alex asks, somewhat surprised.

"You can't ever tell him," Jackie says adamantly. "We were separated but he'd never forgive me."

"That's kind of bullshit, Mom," Alex points out. "He cheated on you when you were one hundred percent together."

"After all of the times I threw it in his face since it happened, he'd call me a hypocrite," Jackie says and sighs. "Yeah, it was when I was separated from your dad, you know, when we lived here years ago."

Alex nods, listening.

"I ran into this guy I went to high school with. He was kinda my male counterpart in my grade until I dropped out," Jackie laments. "You know, most popular guy in class, that type of thing. He asked to hang out, just to go out for a drink or something, so I did. We wound up going back to his place."

"Was it like… you knew it was wrong but you wanted to do it?" Alex inquires.

"No, I wanted to do it," Jackie states. "I was so pissed off at your father still, and I hadn't had sex in months."

"Ew, Mom," Alex says, making a face. Then, she turns serious again. "So, why didn't you end up dating this guy then? Did you not like him?"

"Oh, I definitely liked him," Jackie says. "He was hot, he thought I was cool, he had decent money… I just in the end felt too guilty because your father and I weren't divorced and I would have had to explain it all to you kids." She pauses. "That was another thing; he didn't have any kids. I had no idea how he would do with you two." She bites her lip. "And then, not long after, your dad came, crying for us to come back, and that's what I did."

"Why do you think Dad cheated on you?" Alex asks.

"We're getting into the serious stuff, huh?" Jackie asks, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "I-I don't know, honey. Because he's a stupid guy and he doesn't always think about the consequences to his actions. It's one thing to cheat when you're dating somebody but it's a complete other thing to cheat when you have a family, and… well, he didn't think about that."

"It was someone he dated in high school, right?" Alex asks.

"Yeah," Jackie says with a nod. "Kim fuckin' Kelly. You know, when I found out I was pregnant with you and I came back to be with your dad, she harassed the shit out of me. She threatened me a few times, until your dad finally told her to leave me the hell alone." She pauses. "She was friends with Lindsay before that."

"That's weird," Alex comments. "Did… did Dad tell you he cheated, or did you, like… catch them?"

"He told me," Jackie says. "That man can't tell a lie to save his life, at least, not to me. He cried when he told me and told me how bad he felt. It didn't make a difference, though, at least not then. Once I heard what he did, I knew I was leaving."

"I can't picture Dad crying," Alex admits.

"It's something I haven't seen much of," Jackie says, pissed off tone in tact because she's reliving the whole situation. "Can we not talk about your dad cheating on me anymore?"

"Yes," Alex says. She had heard all she needed to know.