Jackie entered Grooves Record Store with her head held high but her heart at a very low place. It would be a complete lie if she said she wasn't nervous. It was taking all her will power just to calm her shaking hands. This would be the first time in a long time that she confronted Hyde without trying to burn him. She felt like she did on their Veteran's Day date, completely nervous about what he would think of her.

Jackie was a little surprised when she didn't see Hyde behind the counter but Leo, who seemed to be incredibly fascinated with some pens.

"Um, Leo?" She tried getting his attention while cautiously approaching the counter, still looking in her peripherals for Hyde. Leo didn't seem as if he heard her.

"Oh Leeooo."

Still nothing.

Jackie rolled her eyes. "LEO!!!" She shouted.

Leo seemed to jump 3 feet in the air. "Loud Girl! Man you scared me."

"Sorry about that..." She put on her best charming smile. "You wouldn't perhaps know where Ste… I mean Hyde would be….would you?"

"He's not here Loud Girl."

"Well, where is he?"

"Said something about his mom dying and needing to leave the store for a while."

Jackie felt the blood draining from her fingers and toes. "His mom died?"

"Yeah man. I feel bad for the kid." Leo's face seemed to display a genuine visage of sympathy. He then looked down. "Aren't pens crazy man?"

Jackie sighed. She knew that was all she was going to get out of Leo about the situation. She ran out of the store in hopes of finding Hyde and finding out what happened.

"Bye Loud Girl."

Sounds of acoustic guitar and slow singing filled Hyde's bedroom in the Forman's basement. His lamp on the night stand was the only light filling the room, leaving a soft yellow glow. Hyde rested against the back wall on his bed while sipping on a bottled beer and slowly tapping his foot along to the music. He hadn't really even been thinking about Edna or her dying. Every time a memory would occur he tried to push it away with something less stressful. Now he was just trying to ease all his pain away with a little bit of country music and alcohol.

Jackie entered the basement and couldn't help but notice how dead it felt inside. Dead like Steven's mom. Jackie shook the thought away as she closed the door behind her, slowly easing her way across the floor and to the back where an oh-so familiar room was. She hadn't been in this part of the basement in so long. She gathered in the dusty scent of the wooden walls around her. Usually anything dusty made her feel bad and worry about getting dirt on her clothes, but the smell of this part of the basement always seemed to soothe her. Jackie reached the doorknob of Hyde's bedroom when she suddenly stopped herself.

What am I supposed to say to him? I know we haven't talked in a long time but I'm sorry your mom's dead. Jackie took deep breathes through her nose as she calmed her nerves and shaking hands. She was even more nervous than before. This encounter spells out nothing but bad. She could predict he would either be really, really Zen, which always ended in them arguing and fighting, or he would be very pissed off and not want to talk to her.

Maybe I should just leave and come back another time? Jackie turned around and began slowly walking towards the couch. NO!! You came here to make sure Steven is okay. Who cares if you get in a big fight? At least you'll know he's okay. Jackie quickly walked back to the door before she could talk herself out of it again.

Hyde shook awake from his trance when he heard the demanding clicking of heels outside his bedroom door, followed by a light knock. He really didn't feel like talking to Mrs. Forman at that moment. For all he knew Bud could have came and talked to her trying to be the nice guy again. What a dick.

"Come in." Jackie's heart jolted in her chest at the sound of Hyde's voice.

Hyde listened as his bedroom door slowly creaked open. He put the beer down on the floor to avoid any further conversation about coping with things from Mrs. Forman. When he looked up he couldn't believe his eyes.

There Jackie stood, wrapped up in her red winter jacket, hands in pockets and eyes peeking out through her raven black hair. He felt his entire body stand still for that brief moment in time as he took in all of her beauty. A sense of déjà vu came over him of the first time Jackie ever came into his room looking just like that. It had been the first time she spent the night with him in the basement. She looked just as scared and nervous then as she did now.

"Hi." She finally said.

"Hi." Hyde backed up, returning into his original position on the bed but never taking his eyes off of her. Jackie wasn't sure if his look of shock was a good thing or a bad thing, but either way she mustered up the courage to sit on the edge of his bed. She felt his eyes follow her the whole way.

"Leo told me about your mom." Hyde watched as she crossed her ankles and looked down at her boots. Her words didn't really register with him too much. He was still just so shocked she was actually in his room.

"Oh… uh yeah." Hyde was quickly brought back to reality and the situation at hand. He leaned forward and picked up his beer again to continue what he was doing before.

Jackie took in the surroundings. Everything looked exactly the same as the last time she saw it. It was as if nothing had changed at all in the time they weren't together. She noticed country music playing from the tiny radio in the corner of his room. She knew he secretly listened to country music whenever he was sad about something. Donna mentioned to her once before that it was all he would listen to when they were broken up after the nurse incident.

"So, how did she die?" Jackie looked at his face searching for the emotions she was hoping to find. She watched as he took a deep breath and stared off to the far end of the room.

"Some kind of bone cancer." Jackie nodded, unsure of what to ask next.

Hyde looked back to the girl sitting next to him. They hadn't been like this in a long time. The sincerity was new but he didn't want to do anything to screw it up at that moment. It felt too nice to ruin.

Jackie looked back to Hyde and was met by his uncovered blue eyes. She felt a gasp squeeze in the middle of her throat, her mouth refusing to let it out. You can't show weakness now. Jackie realized just how long it had been since she had looked into those eyes full on, with him looking back at her. She never wanted to look away, but it was too soon for that.

"So, um" She looked down again and scooted closer to him on the bed, leaving only about a foot in between them. "How are you doing?"

Hyde took a few gulps and really considered the question. Horrible… the woman I have hated my entire life is dead and I'm suppose to not care but I do. "I don't know."

"Well that's, um, understandable." Jackie gave a slight laugh as she began examining her finger nails, trying to do anything but look directly at him.

Jackie's answer intrigued Hyde slightly. "How is it understandable?"

Jackie's eyes widen as she looked back at the broken man before her. She knew it was just a simple investigation of her opinion, but the question seemed loaded with so much more. It was as if hidden questions were laced behind it and her next response meant more than anticipated.

"Well, she did abandon you and never even attempted to make contact with you, something a mother is never suppose to do." Jackie turned her head and looked back into Hyde's blue eyes again. "But she was your mom…"

Hyde let out a sigh. Why did she have to "get" him so well? "Yeah well, that seems to be the dilemma." He took another long sip from his beer. "Do you want a beer?"

Jackie grinned and took his offering. Staying for a drink meant staying for a lengthy visit. "Sure."

Well it wasn't exactly a peace offering, but it was something.