"Jackie, I'm going to talk and you're going to listen."

Jackie's head swung around to the doorway of our hotel room as Donna's firm voice sounded throughout the room, and I arched an eyebrow curiously at her forwardness—but of course, that's Donna for you. "What is there to talk about?" Jackie asked smoothly, gazing innocently at Donna for a few seconds before switching her gaze to the large suitcases she'd piled on the queen sized bed.

"No—you don't talk, you listen." Donna stepped into the room, shutting the door behind her. There was no escaping that could be done on Jackie's part—Donna had her cornered and the petite brunette knew it. She simply gazed in silent submission as her red-headed friend neared. "Jackie, I've watched you. You've fallen twice, you slept the whole plane ride and hardly talked, and you didn't even demand that you have the plane's finest wine given to you. Something's wrong, and you're going to tell me."

Jackie frowned, chewing anxiously on her lower lip as she moved away from Donna and towards me, attempting to half-hide behind me, but I folded my arms over my chest slowly. I stepped a bit to the right of her, glaring at her irritably. "Jacks…"

She'd lost. She knew it. She'd lost this battle, and she knew full well she'd have to tell Donna herself or I'd tell her. Donna was too smart for Jackie to keep her little charade up.

"Alright, fine. You want to know? You want to know what's wrong? I'm sick, Donna. Really sick." Jackie gazed steadily at her friend—my little spitfire. Her arms crossed over her chest, and her lower lip was jutted out in something between a pout and a desperate frown as she looked from Donna to me. "You happy now?"

Donna seemed to have been stunned to silence, and she simply stared at Jackie. "Sick? Like, strep throat sick or…?"

"No, Donna. Really sick. Like, cancer sick."

Staring blankly at her friend, Donna's breath caught in her chest sharply, biting down on her lower lip. "What kind?"

"Breast cancer," the petite girl said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. I knew just how hard it was to admit something was wrong with her—this was Jackie we're talking about. She's the materialistic one… the one absorbed in looks, happy endings and stuffed animals in the form of unicorns… remember? Yeah, the ditz. That's Jackie. This serious side of her was a side people didn't normally see—and by the looks of it, Donna blamed the sudden mood change on the illness (so did I).

As Donna's jaw dropped to the ground, her arms slowly opened up to envelope a near-tears Jackie in a comforting hug—suddenly, I felt oddly out of place.

"Don't worry Jackie; you'll get better," she said quietly, rubbing her left hand in small circles on Jackie's back.

"Of course I will, Donna! Someone as gorgeous as me has to get better. The world would end if I left it—we all know that!" Jackie said in exasperation, looking at Donna as though she was stupid. This as least, was a step towards the old, more materialistic Jackie that we'd all grown so accustomed to.

"When you are gunna tell everyone else?"

"Me? Tell them? And ruin the trip?" Breaking the hug, Jackie took a step back from Donna. "Donna, I can't do that. Besides… if I tell them, Fez'll just want to cart me around everywhere, and I can't have a foreigner carrying me—wait.. actually, that sounds like a good idea.. my own personal foreign slave!"

"Jackie, that's illegal," Donna said with an eye roll and a highly amused smile as she sighed heavily at her petite friend.

"Yeah, well… so? Someone as gorgeous as me can't be locked up in jail! That's Steven's job. Besides, I bring an incredibly bright sparkle to your stupidly gray, dull lives."

I was suddenly incredibly alert, and my eyes narrowed as I reached out a hand to shove Jackie's shoulder. "Watch it. Just because you're sick doesn't mean you get to pick on me."

"Of course it does, Steven. Read the manual."

Shoving her shoulder again, she giggled, curling up against me once I sat down on the bed. My arm wrapped around her shoulders as I shot a look at Donna—a "leave now" look. She scowled irritably at me before she quickly darted out of the room once I leaned over to kiss Jackie (Donna was never one to enjoy watching the two of us kiss… that was Fez – the perv).

I drew back as soon as Donna left, looking at Jackie with the tiniest of smiles. "That wasn't so hard, was it? You could at least tell Foreman, you know. Everyone says he's the wimpy, understanding type."

Jackie shoved my shoulder, much like I had done to her earlier, as she laughed quietly. She stared at me for a few silent moments before her head dropped to rest on my shoulder. "Eric? Understanding? Steven, he's done nothing but be rude to me ever since I first joined this lame little group of yours." Jutting her lower lip out in a pout, she let out a loud huff. "He even let Rhonda get a key to the basement before I did."

"Yeah, well… nobody wanted you to have a key, Jacks. You're really annoying—but you're like a drug. You're freakishly addicting," I said slowly, shrugging despite the squeal she let out as my shoulder slammed against her head as I did so.

"Hey… you're not supposed to say things like that to your hot girlfriend that you usually wouldn't have a chance with. Read the freaking manual, Steven." Smiling as she lifted her head, she blinked wearily before scooting back to lie down on the bed. I followed suit, lying down next to her, my arm around her waist. Her face was buried in my chest, and almost immediately, her breathing slowed. I closed my eyes, thinking she was asleep as I tightened the arm that was around her waist.

"You know I'm putting you in Mickey Mouse ears, right?"

Aww, shit.

Author's Note: So sorry it took so long- I've been bogged down with homework. I hope you like it so far, and thank you to my wonderful reviewers!