Author's Note: Inspired by the episode "Kelso's Serenade" (2.21).

Jackie had no idea why her first instinct was to turn to Hyde. It just seemed like every time Michael broke her heart, there he was. And he always made her feel better.

If she really thought about it, she supposed it was because, although Hyde would never admit it, they understood each other. She had yet to forget when Hyde told her last year at the prom that his soulmate was with someone else. Michael was constantly 'with' someone else, and so Hyde understood. It wasn't like Jackie could turn to Donna; she had Eric and Jackie had not the smallest doubt that Eric would ever cheat on her.

So that left Hyde while Michael was off sleeping with Laurie and God-knows who else.

She supposed that was what brought her to this moment, this moment when she was leaning in towards Hyde, fluttering her eyes closed and bringing their lips together in a spur of the moment kiss. If Hyde's soulmate and Michael could be with and do whatever they wanted with whoever they wanted, why couldn't she and Hyde?

But Jackie didn't have any time to feel guilty or sadistically satisfied or whatever else she would have felt because the very second she brought her lips to his, he pulled his away. If it weren't for the residual tingling feeling across her lips she would've wondered if she'd even managed to kiss him.

"No, bad Jackie!" Hyde scolded, sliding across the seat of Jackie's car to get as far away from her as possible.

"But Hyde, I thought we agreed that you were alone and I was alone…" Jackie's voice was trembling, so much so that she had to stop speaking or she might burst into tears again.

"Jackie, I'm trying to help you out here, all right? So just listen to me." Hyde kept his voice calm and he was being earnestly sincere with her so she really tried to listen to him. "You gotta realize that you can do better than Kelso."

"But what if I never find anybody else?" Jackie said. After all, Michael was her soulmate, and if she couldn't be happy with him she wouldn't be able to find happiness with anybody else.

"No, you will man." His blue eyes searched hers, as though they were pleading with her, trying to get her to realize something, but Jackie had not the slightest clue what. "You'll find somebody great."

And then immediately it was like there was a switch. Hyde's demeanor shifted. No longer was his gaze reaching for her, but suddenly his eyes were closed off a million miles away, and oddly, it left Jackie feeling cold.

"See, I myself, don't like you." Even his words were clipped now. Jackie couldn't help but wonder if he had realized he was being too nice to her and took a quick step away. "I find you abrasive. But if I didn't know you and I had never talked to you, I'd think you were totally hot," he said, shrugging.

Jackie wasn't sure how to feel about that. But she presumed that this was how Hyde tried to help people in his own strange, possibly rude and somewhat malicious way. So even if it kind of offended her, she knew he was just trying to help. Plus, he'd told her she was hot. "Thank you, Hyde."

He nodded, a childish grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Anything for you, doll."

Jackie didn't know why, but her for some reason, those words made her heart flutter.

And then Jackie drove. She had taken Hyde to Sizzler and then the mall to buy him new boots. She didn't realize how good it could feel to do something nice for someone else until tonight.

They drove most of the way back to the Forman's in silence. Jackie had no idea where Hyde's head was at, but she was too busy mulling over his words from before. You'll find somebody great. Something about that was tugging at the back of her mind. Jackie and Michael had made it no secret that they were each other's soulmates. So why would Hyde tell her she could do better than Michael, that she would find someone else, someone who was great? Wasn't that supposed to be Michael? But Hyde had been so serious, and she had known he was trying to make her see and understand something, but she still didn't know what that was.

By the time she pulled into the Forman's driveway she was contemplating asking him. But she also worried that she didn't want to know what Hyde was trying to tell her.

Focusing back on the present, Jackie found Hyde standing outside of the passenger side door, peering in through the window at her.

"What?" Jackie asked. He had been looking at her expectantly and she realized he had probably said something.

"I said are you just going to sit there?" She could tell he was slightly annoyed to have to repeat himself.

"Um, I guess not," she said slowly. After another moment she pulled the key from the ignition. She had expected that their night was over after she brought him back to the Forman's so she was surprised Hyde still was okay with her sticking around.

"Do you know how to play chess?" Hyde asked as they walked to the door to the basement.

Jackie scoffed. "Not exactly."

Hyde held open the gate for her and shut it behind him. "Shoulda figured," he mumbled under his breath. "What about checkers?"

"Yeah, I know that one," Jackie said as she pushed open the door to the basement. "Hyde, why are you still being so nice to me?" she asked as she hung her coat on the rack right next to the door.

Jackie watched as he just shrugged and made his way over to the shelves beneath the stairs. He dug around for a minute, eventually pulling out the checker board and checker pieces. Then he went and sat in his chair, placing the game stuff on the wood table between his chair and the couch.

He looked up to find her still standing next to the door. "Do you want to play, or what?" She thought she saw him roll his eyes.

"Sure," she said hesitantly. She adjusted the hem of her shirt before walking over and sitting across from Hyde on the couch.

"You sure don't make it easy," Hyde said as he started setting up the board and pieces.

Jackie looked up at him, surprised. But he was smiling slightly, and he must've sensed that she was watching him because he looked up at her briefly before returning to the game pieces.

"Ladies first," he said, gesturing to the board with his hands.

Jackie reached across the arm of the couch and moved one of her pieces. She watched as Hyde did the same and then she began planning her strategy. But, before she could, she needed to say something.

"Hyde, will you be my friend?"

Hyde turned his attention from the board game to Jackie. "Sure," he said, then proceeded to make his move.

"Really, that's it? That's all you have to say?" Jackie crossed her arms, chagrinned.

"Oh, and I just took out one of your pieces." He smiled, obviously very pleased with himself.

"What?" Jackie looked at the board, mortified to find that three moves into the game Hyde was already winning.

"Look Jackie, I agreed to be your friend, okay?" Hyde said. "Can we just leave it at that?"

"Yeah, okay." Jackie was eager to agree, but only because it was her turn and she had just found a move to knock out one of Hyde's pieces too.

This time it was Hyde's turn to stare at the board in surprise.

"That's right," Jackie leaned back. "Read it and weep."

"Jackie that doesn't even make any sense." Hyde gave her a look.

Jackie started giggling. "So what? I'm winning."

Now Hyde gave her a look that told her he thought she was crazy. "Hardly."

The rest of the game went on that way, until Hyde ultimately won. Not willing to let him keep the victory, Jackie challenged him to a rematch and was able to come out the winner the second time around. By then it was getting late and Jackie didn't want to let Hyde get the upper-hand again so she thought it was time she get heading home.

"Yeah, let me just grab you that Coke first." Hyde rose and started heading for the stairs. After the first game, Hyde was going to go get sodas but Jackie wanted to start the rematch so he had put it off.

"Thank you," she called up after him but he was already up the stairs.

She draped her coat across his chair and picked up a magazine from the table and began flipping through it. Maybe she didn't have to leave just yet.

Then Michael burst in.

He was accompanied both by a guitar and Fez. Jackie then had the misfortune of having to watch both Michael and Fez serenade her for her heart. Jackie was surprised to find herself unmoved, by not just Fez, but Michael too. If her newfound friendship with Hyde had taught her anything it was that sometimes it was just a friend that you needed because tonight Hyde had been the only one who had taken the time to help Jackie with what she needed, whereas Michael and Fez were more concerned with how to 'get' her, ignoring Jackie's need altogether.

"Hey, what's going on?"

Jackie spun around to find Hyde, two open Cokes in hand, reaching the bottom of the stairs. She eagerly took one from him. "Nothing. Nothing at all," she said cheerily but sent proverbial daggers through her eyes in the direction of Michael.

"Thank you Hyde, for tonight." She gripped the Coke bottle with both hands. She looked down at Hyde who had sat down in his chair. She wanted him to know how serious she was about that. "It was very special."

Then, forgetting about the two idiots in the background, she leaned down and gave Hyde an earnest kiss on the cheek. The truth was, she felt guilty about kissing him before, but not because of Michael. She felt guilty because Hyde deserved better then to be kissed out of vengeance, and so this time she kissed him amicably, as a friend who really appreciated him.

Jackie wasn't sure she'd find someone else great like Hyde had said she would. But she knew that tonight she had found a great friend in Hyde. And she knew that even if things didn't ever work out with Michael, she'd have a friend in Hyde forever.