Author's Note: Inspired by the episode "Jackie Bags Hyde" (3.8).

Hyde chanced a glance in Jackie's direction. And of course, she was smiling at him. Hyde quickly turned his head away, repressing an eye roll and feeling a wave of annoyance wash over him. He didn't know why Jackie was annoying him all of a sudden, after all, he was the one who asked her on the date, technically.

Pow!

Yeah, that and Mrs. Forman's accusatory finger-gun. That was what was annoying him. Or more accurately, his begrudging acceptance of the growing feelings he had for Jackie.

"This is the best date ever." Jackie's words broke his train of thought and he was forced to address her.

"Jackie, we haven't talked in thirty minutes," he said flatly, giving her just as flat a stare.

The moon was full tonight, and in its bright reflection he could easily make out Jackie's ravished expression as she took in every single thing he said.

"That's okay," she said, her voice unfaltering. "Steven, you don't have to say anything. I understand you." There was a hint of pride in her voice.

"Oh, you do, do you?" He had every intention of squashing that pride. He had no idea what had gotten into him tonight.

"Sure." A pause. "Okay, so you're probably sitting there thinking, 'I'm on this date with this girl who really really likes me,'" Jackie laughed nervously. "'And she's so beautiful that – '"

"Jackie." Man, was he ready to put an end to this.

But just as quickly Jackie pressed her fingers to his lips, effectively silencing him.

"Hush," she said before pulling her hand away. "And you're wondering, 'How can I open up to her when everyone I have ever loved have abandoned me? Am I even worthy of love?'" Jackie paused for dramatic effect. "Well, you are, Steven. You are."

Hyde clenched his jaw. It couldn't be enough that Jackie loved being melodramatic and histrionic. But she had actually struck a nerve, not that he'd ever admit it. So he did something he knew was mean and would probably regret in a matter of seconds. He shoved his hands under his glasses and fake sobbed, fooling Jackie into consoling him, and the very second she scooted closer to him and wrapped her arm around his shoulder, he removed his hands and blew a raspberry in her face.

Jackie immediately recoiled, first wiping spit off her chin then throwing her arms into the air exasperated and sliding off the car.

"Let's go home." Her voice was ice.

Yep, he regretted it. More than he thought he would, though.

"Oh, come on. I'm kidding." He tried to recover. "No, this is, this is all right." He stumbled for words. Hyde never stumbled for words. Crap. "We can hang out here for a while, okay?" Jackie cautiously made her way back over to him. "God," he mumbled under his breath as he reached for his paper cup. "Here, have some of my pop."

Jackie eyed the drink for a few seconds before taking it from him. "Sure," she said, a hint of surprise in her voice.

The truth was, Hyde was actually having a good time with Jackie. The air was refreshingly cool from the previous night's rain but tonight the sky was clear, with the bold moon, and more stars were visible in the sky than he had ever remembered seeing.

And even as Jackie edged herself right up next to him, taking the liberty of grabbing his arm and draping it around his shoulder, he found that he was quite comfortable, in all senses of the word. Comfortable in Jackie's presence; none of the awkwardness or uncertainty of the socially constructed 'date' they were on, as he had been expecting. But he was also physically comfortable, with Jackie tucked into his side with his arm pulling her even closer, as though she belonged there all along.

Which, he supposed, was the soulmate part of all of this. And an idea was occurring to him, it had been all night, that he would tell Jackie The Truth, the big, capital T Truth that had the potential of changing the entire direction of their evening. That was the other reason he didn't want them to leave yet; he hadn't quite worked up all the courage he needed to tell her yet.

Jackie handed him back his pop and he took a sip, stalling for time as he tried to figure out what to do. The straw tasted like sugary sweet cotton candy. Jackie's lip gloss, he supposed. He wondered if that's what her lips –

Whoa. He was not quite there yet.

Yet.

"Steven, why did you ask me on this date?" Jackie turned to look up at him without pulling her body out from his side.

He adjusted his arm around her shoulder. Well, Jackie's because there is something really important I need to tell you.

Hyde shrugged. The Truth wasn't quite reaching his throat yet, but he was put off by feeding her another lie.

"Well." She paused, contemplating this. She rubbed her arms up and down. "I'm glad you did."

Hyde suspected that this was first truly honest thing Jackie had said all night.

She was still rubbing her arms. Silently, Hyde withdrew from her, shrugging out of his coat and draping it over her shoulders. Jackie pulled it tightly around her and Hyde thought he detected a flare of color in her cheeks.

Suddenly Jackie bounded off the car, taking a few steps away before spinning around to face him. "What a beautiful night this is, Steven Hyde!" Her eyes were alight in the darkness and there was a genuine and uncontrolled smile adorned oh her face. He felt himself smile in return.

"What is this place?" She started walking around, taking everything in.

Hyde cleared his throat. "Uh, this is a clearing in the woods behind my house." Hyde hopped off the hood. He walked over to the edge of the clearing. "See, right down there is the water tower, and over there to the right is Point Place High."

Jackie looked over to where he was pointing. "Wow, you can see the whole tiny town from up here." She tilted her head to one side, her hair cascading over her shoulder. "Kinda puts things in perspective, you know?" Her voice was quiet, contemplative.

Hyde had no idea where this side of Jackie had come from. The side that knew that fashion magazines and pom poms were trivial, materialistic things and who looked at life in a more raw, deeply abstract way. And as he watched her eyes wander across Point Place from their superior vantage point, he begun to realize that this Jackie might be more real and more Zen than he could ever hope to be. And damn it, he was falling hard for this chick.

Abruptly, Jackie tore away from him and jogged back over to the Lincoln, sitting on the side of the front hood this time. "So is this like, your secret hide out or something?" Jackie waggled her eyebrows excitedly.

"Or something," Hyde mumbled.

Jackie was silent, watching his every move as he slowly made his way back to sit next to her. "And you showed it to me," she said, not as a question.

"Just you," Hyde admitted.

Jackie was understandably surprised, not only by the fact that she was the only one Hyde had ever shown this place to, but likely because Hyde had voluntarily shared that extra detail. Especially since it was not in Hyde's nature to give away these little details.

He watched her closely and unabashedly now. She craned her neck up toward the sky and held it there for a while. "So," she said eventually, nervously eyeing him. "Our first date's almost over."

"Yeah."

"What'd you think?" She smiled but he could sense the apprehension in her voice.

Hyde contemplated his answer. It wasn't that he didn't know what to think, but the issue was how much of what he thought was he willing to tell her?

"It was no worse than bowling." He went with that less serious and noncommittal answer for a reason. Jackie narrowed her eyes but Hyde had the sense that she knew he was kidding. The next words out of his mouth were a surprise to even him though. "I don't hate bowling."

That was it. He'd just admitted out loud that he liked her. Or at least liked his date with her. And he could tell that Jackie could read that subtext too, because her expression grew tentative, but still, she leaned in first.

He responded in kind, closing the gap between them. He kissed her softly at first, but then she forced it deeper, and he went with it more than willingly. He reached his hand around the small of her back, pulling her closer, needing her to be closer, and she obviously felt the same, bringing her hand to his cheek and subtly pulling him in closer.

He realized that even though he had kissed many girls before Jackie, it was as though he'd never kissed, or been kissed, before. Because this was different. This was breathing her in the way someone needed to breathe in air, while at the same time being dizzily intoxicated as everything but Jackie and her lips against his faded from his mind.

But then Jackie pulled away abruptly, leaving Hyde feeling cold and his lips oddly naked.

"Huh." Her voice cracked and Hyde noticed her hands just barely trembling. There was a pregnant pause, and it felt like Hyde had waited a lifetime before she said her next words. "Okay, I didn't feel anything."

Her words were void of any of the emotion and deepness that she had been speaking with before, and Hyde was struck, wondering what exactly caused this shift in her attitude.

"Nothing?" he asked.

"No, I mean the kiss was hot but…" Again her words seemed empty, somehow. "Well, did you feel something?"

"Uh…no." There was no way he'd admit to feeling something if Jackie was going to be like this. "Well…"

Well, Jackie, here's the thing. We're actually each other' s soulmates and believe it or not, I actually did feel something. A lot of something, to be honest. And I would swear that you did too.

The words simply could not make it out of his mouth.

Jackie, we're soulmates, Hyde's mind desperately plead.

"No."

He touched his lips softly. He could still feel the impression of her lips against his. But still, the feeling was fading fast, like a dream when first woken.

He wondered if he'd ever live that dream again.