A few hours after leaving Hyde's condo, Jackie found herself outside Jason's house. She didn't know if he was there or not, but she thought of the one place she could be open and calm. It had surprised her months ago how safe she felt around Jason; how much of herself she was able to expose to him. It was one of the reasons she was so drawn to him when they first met. He was the first guy she felt completely at peace with.

That alone should be reason enough for her to consider him her knight in shining armor, or at least that would have been the case hundreds of miles away about a year ago. That Jackie Burkhart would have already planned out their wedding complete with baby names and china pattern. The new Jackie Burkhart, however, was a closed off, cynical girl who shuddered at the lack of completion in fairy tales and couldn't find any satisfaction in the stepford wife dream.

For that reason, she couldn't open up to Jason the way he wanted her to. After they tried dating for a short period of time, it was evident that his feelings were not reciprocated and they had been friends ever since. Jackie knew, however, that Jason's feelings for her had never lessened, so coming here to talk to him about Hyde was something she was dreaded doing. The problem was she had no one else to speak to.

Jackie knocked on the door, part of her hoping Jason was in class or the library so she couldn't hurt him, but she really wanted his advice. After a few seconds, she heard the bolts unlocking and then Jason was at the door. He stood there with a plain shirt and jeans wearing reading glasses. His hair was frazzled and he looked exhausted. Jackie could only assume he had been studying. She couldn't help but laugh at the figure standing before her.

"I'm glad I amuse you miss" he said playfully rolling his eyes. "Come in" he continued while moving to the side giving her room to enter. She quickly embraces him before walking towards the living room. On his coffee table are numerous books and crumpled sheets of paper.

"Jason, I can come back later and let you finish this." She knew how much he hated being distracted while studying. She always admired his dedication to school. If she could go back to high school, she would focus more on her studies and less on boys and cheer-leading. Maybe then her life would have been free of all the drama it had.

"No, it's fine babe. I needed a distraction. Wasn't getting much work done anyway. Do you want a drink?" he asks while clearing the table.

"Sure."

Jason walked over to the wine cabinet and poured two glasses of white wine. "To what do I owe this pleasant surprise may I ask?" He hands Jackie a glass and sits next to her.

"Thanks," she starts while taking the glass, "I wanted to talk to you about something, but I'm afraid it'll be awkward."

"What is it about?" he asks.

"Hyde" she whispers. Just saying his name in front of Jason was guilt inducing.

"Oh, I see" replied Jason taking a swig of his wine."

"We don't have to talk about it, it's fine forget it" she added quickly noticing how tense he got.

"No, it's fine babe. You can talk about him."

"Are you sure? I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

"It's fine Jackie." He took another sip from his wine and began fiddling with a pen.

"Okay, well...I went over to his place today and we had a good time, just catching up and it was fun until, well...he kissed me."

"He kissed you!" asked Jason slightly alarmed.

"Yeah, we were arguing about everything that happened back then and then he just kissed me."

"What did you do?" Jason asks.

"I...I kissed him back. I don't know what came over me. It felt like I was back in Point Place. Like I was that same girl and it felt right until I realized that I'm not her anymore and that he really fucked me over. Damn it, you probably think I'm stupid now don't you?"

Jason looked at the girl sitting next to him and it surprised him how afraid she seemed, how doubtful she was of herself and it infuriated him. In the months he'd known Jackie, he had never seen her show so much insecurity and ass soon as this guy pops back into her life, she becomes the same little girl she swore she left behind.

"Jason?" Jackie asks after he doesn't respond.

"Sorry, it's just...forget it."

"No, please, tell me" she begs.

"Jackie, this guy comes back into your life and it's as if he never left. He has all this power to make you feel unsure about yourself. Now he goes and kisses you and it's as if you forget all the crap he put you through. He's the reason you had to leave everything behind and start over. Don't get sucked back into that life."

"I'm not, I just needed your advice."

"Advice for what? If you should give him another chance because he's a different person now? Let me tell you something, he's not."

"I knew I shouldn't have talked to you about this, let's just forget it alright?" she says.

"Too late now. You want to know what frustrates me most? That you can so easily consider giving this guy another shot, after everything he put you through, yet you can't even consider a relationship with me."

"Jason, please don't go there. We both agreed we're better off as friends" she replies.

"You're smarter than that. You know I can't be your friend because I'll always want more."

"God damn it, what is this, is it so hard for any guy to just be my friend? Is that too hard of a demand?"

"You can't be friends with someone you love, it doesn't work...But I'm sure you know that since you still love him. That's what this is all about, that's why you can't just be his friend...why you kissed him back."

The sudden change in mood between the two was something neither had expected. It had gone from happy to angry, and now it seemed like sad good bye. However, Jackie couldn't accept losing someone else in her life, especially when Hyde would be the cause, again. She refused to give him that much power.

"Jason...I don't know whether you're right or not, but I know that you are the only person I have who understands me and loves me unconditionally. I love you so much, just not in the way you want me to. I wish I could have those feelings because you're the most amazing guy I have ever met, but I just...can't. I hope you can forgive me for that and still want to be part of my life because I wouldn't know what to do without you, but I will have to understand if you want nothing to do with me."

"Jackie, stop okay? I'm not going anywhere. You know that. I'll just have to live with the fact that the woman I love is in love with someone else."

"Jason, I-"

Jason interrupts her and says, "It's fine. I'm...just going to get back to studying. Let's just talk about this some other time."

"Okay." Jackie grabs her purse from the floor and watches as Jason grabs his books again and settles on the couch. Before exiting his house, she says "Jason I love you."

Without looking up from his books, he responds "bye Jackie."

Over at his apartment, Hyde decides to call the Formans. Whenever anything went wrong in his life, which was basically all the time, they always made him feel better. Now, that he had possibly messed things up with Jackie again, he needed their reassurance. As he waits for someone to pick up, it dawns on him how much he resembles Eric now. The old Hyde wouldn't have told Jackie the things he did or call the Formans to ask for advice. The old Hyde wouldn't put so much effort for a chick, even if it was Jackie, and he sure as hell would not have left Point Place for something he was unsure of.

"Hello?" answers a voice on the other end.

"Hey Forman" Hyde responds.

"Hey man, long time no speak. How's California?"

"Eh...Listen is your mom there?" Hyde asks.

"You called to speak to my mom?"

:I just need to ask her something. She there?" asks Hyde again.

"No, she and Red when to the Piggly Wiggly to buy a watermelon."

"A watermelon Forman?"

"Mom found a recipe for a drink and...well you know mom."

Hyde laughs. He can imagine how annoyed Red must be, surrounded by people while Kitty picked out the perfect fruit, which would take her at least thirty minutes.

"Yeah, can you tell her I called when she gets back? I have something I want to talk to her about."

"IS everything alright man? I mean no offense but you calling mom to talk about something...it's a little strange" says Eric.

"Everything's cool, it's just, um..."

"Spill it man."

"Look Forman, you can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you alright?"

"Yeah man I won't" replies Eric.

"I kissed Jackie."

"You what? You guys are back together so soon? You just started hanging out. Man Hyde you're good."

Hyde rolls his eyes. Leave it to Eric Forman to always make assumptions before knowing the entire situation. That's probably why he tends to mess things up so royally.

"We're not together Forman. We were just hanging out and I...I got caught up."

"What did she do? She probably slapped the hell out of you huh?" asks Eric with a slight laugh that irritated Hyde.

"No, actually she kissed me back, and then we argued. Things don't really change do they?" asks Hyde realizing that he had fallen into the same old habits as before.

"Well then you better figure out a way to change them because this is probably your last chance buddy."

"I know. Listen Forman, just tell your mom to call when she gets in. I still want to talk to her."

"Yeah man, I'll tell her. Oh and Hyde?" starts Eric.

"What is it Forman?"

"Don't fuck this up again" says Eric sternly.

"I'll try not to" replies Hyde before hanging up.

Messing up is not an option. There was no way he was going to make the move to California be in vain. He also would not forgive himself if he screwed things up with Jackie again. He just couldn't go back to being a miserable burnout. He would end up self-destructing for sure. No matter what he had to do, he was going to find a way to make Jackie a part of his life again, preferably as more than just his friend.