I love all you reviewers!! I get all giggly every time I read a new one. Thanks so much to the people who keep reading this story. You guys are awesome!!! Okay, in this story Eric never writes the letter breaking up with Donna, so they're still sort of together. Hope you like this chapter!!

Chapter 7

Previously… He kissed Jackie on the temple and fell away with her, into dreams he wouldn't remember in the morning.

Donna wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Her breathing was still shaky, and her hands weren't as steady as they should have been on the steering wheel. She didn't know how long she had been driving for, but her tears had come as soon as Hyde left. 'God, he's actually going to do something for the woman he loves, not leave her to rot while he jets off to the other side of the world,' Donna thought angrily. But she saw Eric's face in her mind, smiling the way he always did just before kissing her and more tears came. Why did he have to go? Why couldn't he just stay here with her? They could have been so happy.

But deep down, Donna knew that wasn't true. He wouldn't have been able to go to college with her and she never would have seen him. And now she was alone, still living with her dad, with nothing to look forward to but extremely grim prospects for her once-bright future. Didn't she used to have plans? Wasn't she going to be a journalist? Her breath caught at the thought. How long had it been since she wrote anything besides letters to her boyfriend? Fresh tears filled her eyes as she thought about how far she had traveled from her dreams. And for a man who wasn't even on the same continent anymore.

Donna ran her hands through her crimson hair. She had been doing that a lot lately, ever since she dyed the blonde back to its original color right after Eric had left. It didn't suit her. She felt so much like a Barbie, it was nauseating. Not to mention it was also Laurie's hair color. That couldn't mean anything good. She sighed and glanced at the clock on the dashboard. Startled at the time, she looked closer. No, it was right. 7:30 in the morning. She had been driving in circles for three straight hours. Donna turned the car around and headed back towards her house. She realized that, for the long time she'd been driving, she never came within ten miles of the border of Point Place. And that thought made her sad, for reasons she didn't understand.

She finally pulled into her driveway just as the dawn was beginning to break, purposely averting her eyes from the Vista Cruiser next door. She took a deep breath and stepped out of the car. Donna checked her reflection quickly in the window of the car, wiping away a few stray tears before walking into her house. She smiled at the note from her dad on the counter. He had left it there a few days before, reminding her of the number of the pizza parlor if she got hungry while he was in Florida. As though she didn't know how to make herself a decent meal (she ignored the lump of burnt macaroni and cheese she had ruined the night before). Suddenly overcome with exhaustion, Donna plodded up the stairs to her room. Without turning on the lights, she fell facedown onto her bed.

Only to find it was already occupied.

Donna jumped up, screaming. She ran to the wall and flipped the switch, grabbing a thick book from her desk on the way. She spun around and rolled her eyes at what she saw.

"Please tell me you two didn't do it in my bed," Donna sighed in exasperation as she lowered her improvised weapon. Jackie and Hyde sat up, blinking at the harsh light that had woken them up. And to the redhead's annoyance, they both appeared to be naked.

"Oh my god, Donna, I'm so sorry," Jackie said, covering herself up with a sheet, "but, you know, we were caught in the heat of the moment, and there wasn't a whole lot of time to just run over to the basement. And your bed is way more comfortable than Steven's tiny cot anyway." Jackie stopped her rambling and looked at her friend guiltily.

"Hey, I resent that," groaned Hyde, pulling the sheets over his head to block out the light. Donna shook her head.

"Okay, you two seriously need to get out of here. Did you even think of what could have happened if my dad had been here?"

"Well, he isn't, so stop freaking out okay? Look, we can just leave right now," Jackie said and started to get up.

"Oh, no you don't." Hyde grabbed her by the waist and she fell on top of him laughing, completely forgetting her best friend was there. They began whispering to each other, causing Jackie to giggle even more. Donna made a face when the couple started making out.

"God, you two are disgusting," she said and threw the book she had been holding at them.

"Ow! Damn it, Donna, fine we'll leave! Just get out so we can get dressed," Hyde yelled. Donna threw her hands up in the air and walked out of her room. Too many minutes later, they walked out hand in hand, still laughing but, thankfully, fully dressed.

"Took you long enough," she muttered. She wondered why their happiness was pissing her off so much. Hyde shrugged.

"Hey, don't give the advice if you're not willing to suffer the consequences," he said as they walked down the stairs. Donna glared at their retreating forms.

"Just so you know, a naked Eric has been in that bed," Donna called after them. She smiled at Jackie's squeal of disgust. She stepped back into her room, shuddering at the sight of the rumpled sheets coming off the mattress. Sleeping in that bed no longer seemed like an option, so she sat down at her desk. 'Maybe I'll write to Eric' she thought, pulling a notebook toward her. But what came from the pen in her hand was something she never expected.

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Jackie and Hyde were already bickering that same day (after a bit more early morning delight). They didn't get out of bed in the early afternoon. Jackie coaxed him from his room carefully.

"Come on Steven, it'll be fun. I promise," she sang out while pulling him by the hands. He groaned loudly.

"Jackie, I don't wanna go," he whined.

She stomped her foot and glared at him. "Oh you are going, Steven Hyde, whether you like it or not!"

He smiled. "But I just want to stay in bed with you. We were having a pretty good time until you planed this little field trip." She smiled up at him sweetly.

"I know, baby, but we can't just have sex all day. The Forman's are awake," Jackie said. "It might be a little awkward for you to have to explain why you were screaming so much."

"Well, I imagine when they see you naked in my bed they'll understand," he responded with a smirk.

She scoffed. "No way would I let myself get caught by them! The minute I hear them coming down the stairs, I'd be out the door in a second."

"Way to stick by me, Jacks," Hyde sighed, shaking his head. "You know, I was hoping you might be a little more loyal." She squeezed his hand.

"Maybe in a different situation, but if that were ever to happen, you would so be on your own. You saw how much they freaked out when they found me in your bed last time. And that was when we were just sleeping. Now, let's go."

Jackie tried to control the growing smile on her face, but she found it impossible. She was with the man she loved more than anything in the world, and he was opening up to her like he never had before, telling her he loved her for no reason, only because it was true. His soft whispers to her she heard an hour before were still making her shiver with happiness. Jackie gently eased the basement door open and pulled her Puddin' Pop through it. He made a face and tried once again to pull her back into his bedroom. But Jackie was just as stubborn as Hyde, and she stood her ground. Within several seconds of their stare down, the electricity in the air drove them into each other's lips and it was several minutes before they came up for air. Jackie opened her mismatched eyes and looked into Steven's blue ones. She stuck out her bottom lip and pouted.

"Please Steven," she said, "it would mean so much to me." She tried not to smile as he rolled his eyes and led her out the door with his arm wrapped around her shoulders. 'Oh yeah,' she thought, 'he loves me.'

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Hyde sat with his arm around Jackie in a booth at the Hub, trying to ignore the sinking feeling that had grown in his chest since he woke up. She was so happy, bouncing up and down, constantly pulling his head towards hers for another kiss, and even though he was loving it, Hyde knew it wouldn't last. In two days her winter break was over and she would be leaving for New York again.

Jackie leaned her head on Hyde's shoulder and wondered what was bothering him. He already seemed distant, but not the way he had been a year before (thank god). He was hiding something from her, and while she preferred a secret over pushing her away, her imagination was running wild. What could have possibly happened to make him act this way? She thought of everything, from the completely ridiculous (he had joined a cult) to the almost plausible in a way she didn't want to think about (he had gotten someone pregnant while she was gone). She glanced up at him again, hoping so much that she was seeing something that wasn't there, but his doubt was all too apparent in his eyes.

"Steven?" she said tentatively. He glanced at her.

"Yeah?"

She opened her mouth, but suddenly looked away. "Nothing. Forget it." Maybe she was overreacting. He would tell her if he had anything on his mind, right? Jackie didn't want to be the one to ruin the day. "Everything's fine."

Hyde didn't believe her for a second. She was hiding something. He couldn't believe it. This had to be some kind of record. They hadn't even been back together for a whole day and already she was upset. He pushed her hair away from her neck and began kissing the exposed skin lightly. He looked up and tried not to smile when her eyes fell shut. He kissed his way down her neck until Jackie's blouse got in the way. Hyde lowered it off her shoulder and his lips continued their warm, wet path along her body.

Jackie bit her lip. God, he was way too good at that. She held back a moan when his hand drifted down from her shoulder, dragging itself across her waist. She let her head fall back against the wall when his fingers began tracing patterns on her upper thigh, his lips continuing to melt the skin on her shoulder. Well, he wasn't going to do this to her in public without her doing it right back to him. With a thrill she realized that was probably his plan. Brilliant bastard. So she wrapped an arm around his waist under his shirt. 'Let's see how he likes it,' she thought. He caught his breath, and suddenly, with no idea how, she knew what was bothering him. And she knew exactly how to fix it for both of them.

"Steven," she whispered.

"Uh-huh," he murmured against her flesh.

"Tell me not to go." He lifted his head and looked at her, confused.

"What?" he asked, surprised.

She wrapped her arms around his waist tightly, burying her head into his chest. "Please, Steven, tell me not to go to New York. Tell me to stay here with you."

Hyde stared at the top of Jackie's head in shock. How the hell did she know what he had been thinking about? But, of course, she had probably been thinking the same thing.

"Jackie, I cant do that," he replied softly. She pulled away from him with fury in her eyes. He stared back at her, wondering where the anger had come from.

"Why not?" she spat. "Do you even want me to stay? Was I just some stupid lay for you, is that why you said what you did last night? God, you don't even care do you!"

Jackie stood up from the booth quickly and walked to the door. She knew it was childish of her and guilt was already seeping into mind for what she had said. She knew with her entire being that he loved her but her selfishness, however smaller it had become since being with Steven, took over. All she wanted at that moment was to be with him and he was letting her go back to school, where they would never see each other. Is that what he really wanted? With fresh tears in her eyes, Jackie pushed open the door to the Hub and ran out into the sun.

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Okay, not too sure about this chapter. Please review!! I really want to know what you guys think!