Flashback

Hyde was sitting on the water tower, drinking a beer. He wasn't very focused on anything other than the beer in his left hand and the cigarette in the right. He looked at the sky until he heard someone else making their way up the last few rungs of the ladder. He turned just in time to see a brown head of hair appear.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone was up here," she began as she began to descend again.

"That's cool."

Jackie hesitated, not knowing if that meant she could stay or not. She decided to stay anyway since she didn't really have anywhere else to be. Plus, it's not like the scruffy guy owned the water tower. She climbed back up and sat down a couple of feet away from him.

"Beer?" he asked, extending a can to her.

"Um, sure, why not?" She took the beer and considered trying to open it herself but decided against it. "Can you open it for me? I just got my nails done and I don't want to chip them or anything."

Hyde looked at her like she was crazy but took the can, opened it, and handed it back.

"Thanks."

They sat in silence again for a minute but it didn't last long.

"So what are you doing up here? Aren't you a junior?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So, prom's tonight. Why are you here when you could be at prom?"

"Because I don't do dances."

"Why not?" she probed.

"Because they're stupid."

"That's not true. Dances, especially prom, are meant to be romantic. You get to go and spend time with someone you really like and dance. The only day more important than prom is your wedding day."

Hyde stared at the girl like she was stupid. "If it's so special why aren't you there?"

"Because some idiot told all the guys at school I was going with him even though I told him no like a thousand times."

The only guy Hyde knew that was stupid enough to do that was Kelso and he remembered Kelso saying something about taking a cheerleader to prom, even if she hadn't said yes yet.

"So then why didn't you just say yes to Kelso?" Hyde asked, actually intrigued. He took a puff of the cigarette.

"Because he may be a good looking guy but he's like pretty like a girl, not handsome like a man should be. Also he's really stupid. How'd you know he was the one who did it?"

"Cause Kelso's the biggest moron I know. He's the only person I know that's stupid enough to do that."

"Oh."

"Yup." Hyde finished his beer and dropped the can over the railing. He pulled out another one. "That and he kept talking about how some cheerleader was playing hard to get by continuously turning him down. There aren't too many cheerleaders smart enough to turn Kelso down."

Jackie nodded and then they returned to silence for a few minutes while they drank their beers. Hyde put out the butt of his cigarette before breaking the silence.

"So cheerleader, that answers why you're not at prom but why are you up here? Isn't it a little too dirty for you to be hanging out up here, especially with a burnout like me?"

"I love the view. It makes me think of Paris."

"Seriously? I mean, looking over Point Place's down town area makes you think of Paris? That's kind of pathetic."

"Well, I've never been to Paris but my mom always tells me about it, or at least she does when she's home. This is the closest I've ever come to matching her description with my own eyes."

Hyde nodded.

"What are you doing up here?"

"Didn't have anything else to do and Red would kick my ass if he saw me sitting around the basement drinking his beer and smoking."

"Is Red your dad?"

"What?" he asked, thrown off by the question for a second. "Oh, I mean, uh, no. He's my friend's dad. I live with them though."

"Huh," she nodded.

"Yup."

Again they fell back into silence and again it didn't last long.

"Do you mind if I ask why you live with them?" she inquired quietly.

Hyde looked at her very closely. When he saw that she actually interested, he spoke.

"Well, my dad ran out on me and my mom when I was little. Then last year my mom took off. She'd disappeared for a few days at a time before but after a few weeks she called and said she wasn't coming back. The Formans, that's the family that took me in, they stopped by to check in on me and overheard the conversation. They didn't give me an option other than to say that I should pack my bags 'cause I was moving in with them."

"Well that was nice. It sucks living alone."

"What do you know about living alone cheerleader?" Hyde demanded, even though he already had an idea. She had already made it seemed like her mom wasn't around much and the sadness in her voice made something click to him.

"I, uh, meant that it must have sucked living alone. Also, my name's not cheerleader. It's Jackie."

"Okay, Jackie," Hyde sighed, "what do you know about living alone?"

"I told you that I didn't mean to make it sound like I knew what it was like to live alone," she replied, talking quickly.

"Whatever," he shrugged. The hell if he was going to sit here and fight with her about her life. He didn't really care enough about anyone to have that argument, let alone a snotty cheerleader.

They returned to silence.

"You want another beer?"

"Sure," she agreed, taking the can he offered her.

Again, the two were silent for a minute.

"So what's your real name?" Jackie asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, everyone calls you Hyde but that's your last name right?"

He nodded.

"So what's your first name?"

Hyde hesitated but responded. "Steven."

"That's cool," she smiled, repeating the words he had used earlier.

"Yup."

Silence fell again between the two. This time however the silence wasn't broken with words but by Jackie's stomach growling. She blushed as Hyde looked over at her, an amused smirk on his face.

"What the hell was that?" he laughed.

"Nothing."

"Are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure it was your stomach growling."

"Fine, it was my stomach. I haven't eaten and I'm a little hungry."

Hyde lost the smirk and now looked concerned. "What do you mean you haven't eaten? Haven't eaten since when?"

Jackie shrugged, not wanting to answer his question. He continued to stare at her, waiting for an answer.

"Yesterday," she mumbled.

"What? You haven't eaten since yesterday? Why not?" he demanded.

Neither was really sure why he cared so much but for some reason it was important to both of them that he did care.

"I don't know," she lied.

"Jackie," he pushed.

She avoided looking at him as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Come on," Hyde instructed, standing up.

"What?" She looked up at him.

"Come on. You like shiny things right?"

"Of course. What kind of girl doesn't like shiny things?"

"Well, we're going to buy you something shiny to cheer you up."

"Okay!" Jackie beamed, jumping to her feet.

Hyde picked up the cooler with his beer in it and began to climb down the ladder. Jackie followed him down. She noticed Hyde's eyes wandering up her skirt but didn't say anything. He dropped the last two feet to the ground when the ladder ended. When she reached the bottom rung, Hyde grabbed her waist and gently lowered her to the ground.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

"Whatever," he responded, equally quiet, his hands still on her waist.

She stepped back a second later.

"So where are we going to find something shiny at ten on a Saturday night in Point Place?" she asked. Suddenly her expression changed from curious to horrified. "You're not going to break into a jewelry store or something are you?"

Hyde chuckled. "No. Just get in the car."

She looked over and spotted a black el Camino maybe ten feet from the ladder. How the hell had she missed that when she got here? She got into the car anyway.

They drove towards town and Jackie turned to stare at Hyde when he pulled up in front of the Fatso Burger drive-thru. He smiled at her and placed their orders. When they pulled up to the window Jackie glared at him.

"You promised me something shiny."

"And here it is," Hyde grinned, handing her a cheeseburger wrapped in tinfoil.

"You suck."

"Why? I promised you something shiny and here's something shiny. You have no right to be mad."

"You suck," she repeated angrily.

"Whatever. Just eat," he instructed her.

"Do you know how unhealthy this is for you?"

"Um, yeah but that's what makes it great," Hyde shrugged.

"It's also what makes you fat."

"Jackie, trust me, you're not going to get fat from one Fatso Burger meal."

"But what if I do?"

"Jackie, you have a great body. One Fatso burger is not going to kill you."

"You think I have a great body?" she smiled.

"What?" Hyde demanded, looking at her like she was crazy.

"You heard me."

"Whatever," he shrugged, biting into his burger.