Author Note: Not everyone is thrilled to be going home

Chapter 40 – Coming Home

Steven Hyde's bed was more comfortable this time but his dreams were making him crazy! All he could think about was Jackie in that pretty sundress and then here comes Sam in high heels and a tube top. Then there's Jackie eating dinner looking like a fresh drink of water and Samantha whining about shellfish. Jackie on the stage with a microphone singing and the crowd adores her and who does she run to? Forman! What kind of crazy fucked up world did he come back to?

He scrubs his face and rolls over. Now there would be six more hours on the plane with his "wife" – the woman he chased after. Not the girl he really wanted…he chose the only female that wasn't too much to handle. Now she'd turned into an adulterous whore – he knew it and his pride couldn't take two divorces under his belt. Forman already had one and Hyde wasn't trying to compete with him on that, but dammit why did he snag Jackie?

Jackie was supposed to be the girl waiting there for him while he explored his destiny. She was always waiting for him…it didn't matter if the affair was with a nurse, a stranger in his bedroom or his stripper wife. Jackie was always there. It was like a secret comfort he could keep in the back of him mind in case things went bad. Now things were bad and he didn't have her to fall back on.

Maybe…just maybe there was still hope.

*

Everybody's luggage was lined up on the tarmac and the travelers were standing in the shade of the airplanes wings. Rhonda was holding Fez's hand and he was holding tight to his bag of candy. Brooke and Kelso were playing catch with Betsy. Samantha was bitching about her blisters and sunburn and Hyde just turned a deaf ear. He had told her to reconsider her shoes and she didn't listen. He just watched as Jackie left Eric's side to walk into the flight office.

"I'm going to talk to Forman for a minute." He muttered and left Samantha to find someone that would rub aloe vera on her shoulders. Hyde jogged over to the limo where Eric was leaning against the trunk.

"Forman, so hey we haven't really talked much on this little trip have we?"

Eric looked over and could see his reflection in Hyde's aviator glasses. "No, I guess we haven't. This was all for Kelso anyways."

"Yeah, he's finally getting hitched. Brooke's a great girl."

"Yeah, she's a good friend. He got lucky there."

"How are your folks?"

"Hyde, what do you really want to talk about? I know it's not about the trip or my parents."

Steven Hyde drew himself up to his full height and exhaled. "It's Jackie man. I want her back. I can't stand being married to Samantha."

Eric closed his eyes. He knew this would be coming one day and thankfully Jackie was in that building. "You can't have her man. She's happy – she's successful and she's my girlfriend."

"But you guys – I mean you're not living together."

"No. But that's going to change."

"So I still have a chance." Hyde said hopefully. He looked up to see her standing at the door of the flight office. Sexy jeans and a tank top, her long dark curly hair falling over her shoulders – God, he could even remembered what she smelled like.

Eric reached out a hand and grabbed Hyde's arm. "Leave her alone. If you care about her at all, let her be."

Hyde looked down at the strong arm that was holding him back. "Forman, if it's meant to be…it's meant to be." He took one last look at Jackie as if he was remembering this moment and turned on his heel to walk back to the others waiting to board the plane.

Eric was unsettled with the Steven Hyde conversation – he put those feelings aside and smiled as Jackie flew into his arms. She kissed his lips, "Guess what?"

He smiled at the precious girl in his arms. "I don't know. What is it?"

She held up a plastic card. "I got extra frequent flyer miles. Do you know what that means?"

He grinned and shook his head no. "Not a clue." She laughed and grabbed his hand, "That means that when you and I fly again, we get to go first class!" Still holding her hand, Eric pointed at the Steele Company jet – "That's not first class?"

She laughed, "No, that's a business plane, I'm talking big jet airliner with champagne and in-flight movies and you and me sharing a blanket." Eric kissed the hand that held the magic card. "Well, now if that's first class then let's ditch this ride and take a taxi home." He teased.

She swatted his arm. "You goof, I want to go home and this time I promise not to work on the plane okay?" He tenderly cupped her cheek and got lost in those blue/green eyes of hers. Yep he was falling head over heels in love with her. "Well then I promise not to fall asleep. Shut up and kiss me." Jackie's lips softly grazed his and he felt her tug on his bottom lip and his heart started pounding like crazy and his stomach was going loop-de-loop all over again.

Steven Hyde watched the display with envy. Yeah, they looked like they were in love but Jackie loved him first. Kelso didn't really count and Eric wasn't even real. Jackie would know the difference.

*

The flight back to Kenosha was amazingly quick. Fez and Rhonda napped while Hyde tried to make polite conversation with Brooke's mother. Kelso and Betsy watched the clouds from the window and Brooke sat back listening to her family talking quietly. Eric and Jackie were talking about silly little things and nothing at all and it was so intimate that Hyde could only grit his teeth.

The plane landed and the Kenosha group started to get off the plane. Kelso gave Hyde a clap on the back and a "call me" while Brooke gave him a discreet kiss on the cheek. Eric nodded and Jackie barely looked at him. Once all the guests were off the plane, the stewardess told Hyde and Sam they could sit wherever they wanted.

Steven Hyde wanted to sit on the old cracked yellow couch in the basement of the Forman's house in Point Place. Las Vegas just appeared to become the façade it really was. Now he was flying back to a loveless apartment and the cool desert winds.

*

The cab dropped Fez, Eric and Jackie off in front of their apartment. Fez was quick to run his candy stash upstairs with a "Hey guys, I'll call you later!" Jackie stood there with her luggage. It seemed strange that after all the time she and Eric spent together in the timeshare, now she had to go back to her apartment and he to his one bedroom.

Eric rocked back on his heels. "So…" She looked back at him, "So….what a great trip huh?"

He smiled at her, the afternoon sunlight making gold streaks in his hair. 'It was the best trip ever."

She fretted with her hands. "I should go - to my apartment. I should just…go." She almost whispered the last word. Eric stepped closer catching her fingers in his hand. "Should I follow you?" She looked down at their clasped hands and didn't want to be alone without him anymore. Her heart was beating frantically in her chest.

"Do you want to?" Was this what she wanted? Was it too soon? He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her soft ones. She felt the shiver in her toes and kissed him back. She loved the smell of his cologne and the soft skin of his shaven cheek and the feel of his hands on her face. She wanted him – she just wanted Eric Forman and nothing else seemed to matter.

"Jackie – I may be rushing things by asking this but…"

"Yes. We should definitely move in together."

Eric blinked. How did she know what he was going to say? "Uh, yeah, that's what I meant. I mean, I don't want you to feel – um…"

"Oh Eric, we spent a whole weekend together and no one got hurt. My cooking doesn't kill you – we both work and I think I'm madly in love with you."

Eric almost fell over. "Wha-what did you say?" He reached over and held on to the pool fence to support his legs. "When did you decide this?" He was shocked to the core – Jackie Burkhart was in love with him?

She smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist. "It kind of sneaked up on me. I thought I just wanted to be your friend but then I wanted to be more than your friend and then it was too late."

He could hear it in her voice when she said, "It was too late because I had already fallen in love with you." She looked him straight in the eyes with an unfaltering gaze and he realized that she wasn't kidding. Some of the blood finally came back to his head. "So me and you being roommates is a good idea?"

She shook her head slowly. "No…you and me sharing a bedroom is a good idea. The other room will be my office. Are you up for the challenge?"

"Oh Missy, you have made me a happy man." He pressed her face against his chest and she could feel his heart thumping wildly. "Forman, you're squishing my cheeks!" He laughed and eased up on the hug. She looked up. "We have some plans to make."

"Coming home was never this sweet!" He said to no one in particular.

*

A/N: loop-de-loop - I don't know if that's a real word but it supposed to describe the actions a plane takes when it somersalts in the air.