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Chapter 12

Previously… With a heavy heart, Jackie leaned over to her nightstand and flicked off the light. She fell asleep to the sound of her muffled sobs.

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Donna, Fez, and Kelso walked down the basement steps quickly and burst into the room. As usual, Hyde was sitting in his chair staring blankly at the TV, wisps of smoke drifting around him. He glanced up at the arrival of his friends.

"Donna. Kelso. What are you guys doing here?" he asked dully, not really caring about the answer.

Donna held out an envelope. "There's a flight to New York leaving in three hours and you're on it," she said proudly. Kelso and Fez were grinning widely. Hyde watched the three of them suspiciously.

"What the hell for?" He sat up slightly in his chair. Fez threw up his hands, exasperated.

"Because you have been a miserable lump for a month and we are your friends. I needed some help, so I called Donna and Kelso to get them to come down. We took Eric's secret stash of money and bought the ticket half an hour ago."

Hyde stared at them in shock. "Are you guys serious?"

"Man, you should see yourself right now," Kelso said, pointing and laughing. "You're all bent outta shape over a chick! It's great!" He nodded enthusiastically at Donna and Fez, still laughing. The redhead rolled her eyes, then turned back to the miserable lump in his chair. But he didn't seem so miserably anymore. Without a word, he stood up and walked to his room. Fez clapped his hands in victory.

"Yay," he said happily. Donna smiled at him.

A few minutes later, Hyde stepped out of his room with a small duffel bag and a jacket. He punched Kelso, who was still laughing at him, in the arm as he passed by the couch.

"Later, guys. And tell Forman thanks."

"What about us, we're the ones who went all the way to the airport and bought you a ticket. That wasn't Eric's idea," Fez said indignantly. Hyde shrugged.

"Yeah, but Forman's the idiot who left the stash here. Like you three would actually dip into your own money to help out a friend." No one argued. He smiled. "Bye." Without another word, he walked out of the basement, slamming the door shut behind him. Fez looked back and forth between his remaining friends, smiling.

"I'm so glad you guys are back. After abandoning me like a little puppy left on the side of the road in a soggy cardboard box!" Fez stomped his foot angrily. Kelso and Donna watched him apprehensively. He took a deep breath. "Sorry about that. I'm just feeling a bit emotional," Fez said shakily. Donna patted him on the shoulder comfortingly. He smiled.

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Hyde yawned widely until he felt his ears pop. He'd never liked flying. There was something unnerving about being trapped in a metal container going five hundred miles an hour 30,000 feet above the ground. But the plane would be landing soon and would finally be able to see Jackie. Their nightly phone calls weren't nearly enough. They always ended with her tearing up and begging to come home. It was getting harder and harder for him to tell her she had to stay.

Hyde gripped the armrests tightly as the plane's wheels made contact with the ground. He tried not to think about how dark it was behind the thick fog surrounding the machine. Or how the hell the pilot could see more than four feet in front of him. When they finally slowed down, Hyde breathed a sigh of relief and began so stand up. The woman sitting next to him grabbed his arm.

"Excuse me?" she said snottily.

"What?" he replied shortly, not willing to listen to some old lady ramble on about 'back in the day.'

"You're not supposed to stand up yet. In fact, the captain hasn't turned off the fasten seat belt sign." She pointed upwards to the dim yellow light coming from the ceiling of the plane. Hyde scowled at her.

"Do I look like I give a crap?" Without waiting for her reply, he stood up and opened the compartment above the seat to pull out his duffel bag. Shaking his head, he swung it over his shoulder and began pushing people out of the way to get to the front of the plane. When did I get this desperate? he wondered, slightly humiliated with himself. But then he heard Jackie's voice in his head telling him he was amazing, he was worth something, that she loved him. And his reputation didn't seem so important anymore.

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"Why the hell don't these stupid places have elevators?" Hyde mumbled angrily as he stomped up yet another flight of stairs. After an hour long taxi drive and a six block walk, he finally made it to the college. Where it took him another thirty minutes to find Jackie's dorm and a quick call to Donna on a dirty payphone to get her room number. "Goddamn colleges with their stupid buildings and stupid fraternities…" People gave Hyde funny glances as he muttered to himself under his breath. He jumped up the last few steps and turned left into a dim hallway. "Sixty seven, room sixty seven." He smiled in relief when he saw the two numbers glowing dully from a door. He quickly whipped off his sunglasses and hooked them onto his t-shirt. Without wasting another second, he brought his fist up and knocked loudly. Soft footsteps could be heard from the other side of the door, along with murmuring voices. It swung open.

Hyde stared at her for a long time, taking in every detail. She was rubbing her wet, dark hair vigorously with a towel. The short robe she was wearing didn't do much to cover her legs, smooth and shapely as he remembered. Little droplets of water dripped down her neck and disappeared under the cotton material covering her. He breathed in, letting the sweet, familiar scent of her shampoo fill his senses. But the utterly shocked look on her face was far better than anything else. He smirked at her when the towel fell from her hands.

"Hey Jackie. What's up?" Hyde asked casually, trying to keep his zen. Which was difficult when all he wanted was to hold her body against his as close as he possibly could while keeping them two separate people. A huge smile lit up her face.

"Steven," she said, so softly he barely heard her.

"Who's at the door, Jacks?"

Hyde glanced behind Jackie and looked in the direction of the voice. His face hardened at the sight of a tall, blonde man with a towel clinging to his waist walking to the door. He grinned at Hyde.

"Hey," the man said coolly, leaning against the wall. Hyde looked at Jackie, trying to control his anger. Her expression had changed from ecstatic to terrified. With a steady voice that even gave him chills, he replied.

"What's going on here?"

I know, I know. You hate the ending. But the next chapter should be up in less than a week, so trust me. Everything will be okay. Unless I get bored and feel like mixing it up a bit. ; ) Which I do sometimes.

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