Disclaimer: I do not own That 70s Show.

A/N: Hey! This is up way later than I wanted it to be, but it was a very long week with school and shit. But here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy. For context, this would be the night Jackie refers to at the beginning of episode 3 when she says, "Hey, Steven, I had fun last night."

And before I forget, I got a comment on the last chapter asking about when Jackie started calling Hyde 'Puddin' Pop.' I'd like to apologize for that - that would be one of the instances where I forget I wrote it in Summer Lovin' but it's not actually canon. So, in SL I wrote about where the nickname originated but I forgot to mention that in the last chapter. I'm sorry if I confused anyone. I'll try to remember all the references I make and note them in the Notes so people who haven't read Summer Lovin' aren't left lost.

Sorry again! That's it for real now. Thank you for reading :)

The Camino came to a shaky stop in the Burkharts' driveway, and as soon as the car shut off, the street elapsed into eerie silence. Hyde hated it. At the Formans, and even his old house, back when he lived with his Ma, it was never so quiet. The silence just reminded him of one of his favorite philosophies – rich people don't know how to have fun. Not real fun anyway.

Except Jackie. She was an exception to that rule - she knew how to have a good time.

Shaking the thought out his head, he grabbed the box that sat on his passenger seat and hopped out the truck, kicking the door closed before walking up her porch steps.

The door swung open seconds after he rang the doorbell, and Jackie stood on the other side, a smile already on her face. She was always freakin' smiling. It was frustrating and endearing.

"Steven!" she exclaimed in that high-pitched voice of hers. As if she weren't expecting him. "You bought pizza."

He looked at the box. "Yeah, well," he shrugged.

She stepped aside as he stepped in, following their usual protocol for when he came over. He stood to the side while she locked up the door, then waited for her to lead the way up her stairs and into her bedroom, which was the only room in the house he actually liked.

Jackie's house was huge and hollow and so clearly meant for rich people. No matter what room he was in - even in the damn bathroom, with all those fancy towels and other useless crap - he felt severely out of place. But Jackie's room was cool. It felt like its own entity, separate from the rest of the building. It actually had personality.

Not to get him wrong - it was hideous. Her room was disastrously colorful and festive, decorated with stuffed animals and tiaras and posters of The Captain & Tenille and other artists who sucked.

But the best parts of her lay scattered around in less visible areas. A small pile of papers lay on her vanity table, scribbled over with her loopy handwriting. Next to those was her favorite lip gloss (which was watermelon flavored, but Hyde could never much tell the difference between watermelon and strawberry and cherry when he was kissing her). Underneath her phone was a piece of paper where she had all the phone numbers she would ever need. It was old, and at the top of the page was Kelso's name, complete with a heart dotting the 'i.' On the bottom shelf of the desk beside her bed were a stack of books Jackie claimed never to have fully gotten through; but one day, while he had been waiting for her to finish her hair, he'd flipped through them without her looking and noted the way the pages were worn and bent and found lines highlighted all throughout the books.

"You didn't have to get a pizza," Jackie babbled loudly. "My parents left money for food." She grabbed something from the table then turned around to flash it at him, along with a grin - a crisp twenty dollar bill.

"So your parents went to some fancy dinner party where they're gonna eat more food than some people eat in a month, and they left you here alone with twenty bucks."

Jackie gave him a judgmental look. "You can get a lot with twenty bucks, Steven. You should know that."

Hyde rolled his eyes at her just as she stuck her hand out, handing him the money. "What's that for?"

"For the pizza."

Unease unrolled in his stomach. What did it say that Jackie thought he needed to be paid back for a damn pizza? "Forget it," he said, pushing her hand away.

"No it's fine," Jackie insisted. "I was supposed to spend it on dinner anyway."

"Don't worry about it, Jackie," he replied, his voice resembling a warning not to push too hard.

Course, she's Jackie, and pushiness runs through her damn veins. "Money doesn't matter to me, Steven," she snapped back, and he knew there was no malice behind her words, but Jesus.

"Money matters more to you than it does to me," he said through gritted teeth.

She glared at him and he could feel the tension building between them - and not the good kind.

"Look, I didn't pay for it, all right?" he said finally, forcing himself not to get annoyed over her words.

"So how-"

"Leo ordered it at the Fotohut for dinner. Then he left before it got delivered, so I took money out the pan and paid for it and figured I might as well bring it over." It was a true story. He hadn't been planning on telling it - figured he'd score some points for being thoughtful - but it was better than her acting like she owed him for doing something nice. This was exactly why he never did anything nice.

"You stole?"

"Yeah, Jackie, I stole."

She rolled her eyes and shoved the twenty dollar bill in her pocket. "You make things so difficult."

"Can we eat now?"

"Fine."

Blowing out a breath he set the box on the floor then accompanied it there, leaning his back against her bed frame.

"Why are you sitting on the floor?"

"As opposed to the dining table you have in your room?"

"That's disgusting," she balked, ignoring his sarcasm.

"Quit actin' like a princess and sit down."

"You disgust me."

"You gonna do this all night?"

"Do what?"

"Get on my nerves."

Jackie huffed but conceded, settling on the floor next to him and folding her legs underneath each other. Hyde handed her a piece of pizza and she took a bite, humming softly under her breath, her frustration with him already forgotten.

Over an hour later, they were still on the floor, though Jackie had her head in his lap and her feet stretched out in front of her and her mouth running a marathon. He'd stopped trying to keep track what felt like ages ago, once he lost track of all the names spewing out her mouth.

If things were the way they were over the summer they'd be making out by now. But Jackie'd been slowing things down for weeks now. He knew it was probably because of all the crap going through her head - guilt mixed with a bunch of other feelings - so he hadn't brought it up, not wanting to push her. But he helplessly missed the days over the summer when it was easier to pretend a clock wasn't weighing them down. The pressure was so heavy now that he knew if they didn't relieve it soon, they would break, and that would be it.

"I still have to figure out the rest of my outfit, though," Jackie talked on. "I have to look my best. It's the beginning of the school year, I'm a junior, and if I want a serious shot at making captain next year I have to start from now. And those girls are bitches. I need to look so good it'll scare all the losers and less pretty people away from me. Everyone knows the person who hangs out with all the best-looking people are most popular. And if I'm the most popular I'm bound to make captain."

Hyde tried his best to sound interested. "You enjoy all this?"

Jackie frowned. "Making my way up the social ladder? What's not to like?"

He stared down at her. "You don't actually have fun doing all this crap."

"Yes, I do," Jackie promised. She didn't sound like she meant it. "It's important to me. Look, help me pick a top."

She sat up and jumped to her feet, running over to her closet and disappearing, popping back out seconds later holding two tops up from their hangers.

"What do you think? Which one should I go with?"

In Hyde's honest opinion, the only differences worth noting were that one was red and one was white, and that the red one had a lower neckline. He pointed to it. "Think you should try on that one."

An exasperated smile split across Jackie's face and she rolled her eyes in his direction. Then she shrugged and walked towards him. "Fine."

Hyde raised his eyebrows quizzically. "Really?"

"Why not?" she shrugged and smiled again, stopping at his feet. "Be right back."

She bent down and kissed him quickly on his mouth then skipped into the bathroom. Hyde pressed his lips together. How did he get to a place where the tiniest kiss sent his pulse racing?

Thoughts - the most annoying and frustrating kind - screamed so loud in his head that he was tempted to get up and turn up the music...which was the worst kind of disco imaginable. He hoped Jackie wouldn't take long. Her presence made it almost impossible to think.

He stood up and stretched, relieved to finally have his ass off the ground. He'd gotten uncomfortable about halfway through Jackie's rambling, but seeing her laid half on the floor and half on top of him had been too rewarding to shake her off and stand up.

He was still standing when Jackie reopened the bathroom door and twirled out, her hair bouncing perfectly around her shoulders. "So?"

The top wasn't as low cut as he had thought, but it still dipped generously below her chest, and what he couldn't see there was made up for with the piece of her stomach on display before her jeans covered up the rest of her. Jackie also looked extremely hot in red. He told her as much.

"You look hot."

She smiled and sauntered over to him. "Duh. But hot enough?"

His eyes scraped up and down her body. "Yeah, hot enough."

He couldn't stop looking at her. Not without some serious effort and concentration that he wasn't willing to put in. Jackie was...she was the textbook definition of all things pretty. He was sure he'd never seen anyone look as good as her, and sure he never would.

"What are you thinking?" she asked in a softer voice, her eyes meeting his.

What Hyde was thinking was that in lit class a couple days ago, some dumbass had asked a question about a word he didn't know. So they had to spend half the class going over word definitions and why it's important not to just skip over big words just because you didn't know what they meant. Anyway, the word had been opalescent, which Hyde remembered because he thought it was a damn ugly word. It meant having multiple colors or something like that.

What Hyde was thinking was that maybe it wasn't that ugly of a word, because sometimes, in the right light, Jackie's eyes were different colors, and they weren't ugly at all.

"Steven?"

But he damn well couldn't tell her that. "You should wear this one," he said. His throat sounded dry.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," he said. He desperately didn't want to talk anymore. He grabbed for her waist and bent down - only for her to hold up a hand and take a step back.

"Wait! Did you wash your hands?"

"What?"

"After the pizza! They could still be greasy and I have to wear this outfit soon!"

"Are you-" Hyde closed his eyes, counted to three, then marched towards the bathroom. He had thought he knew patience before Jackie. But being with her required a whole new category of patience he didn't even know existed.

He washed his hands, made a show of drying them completely for her, then walked back to the center of the room, folding his hands across his chest. "Can I kiss you now?"

She was blushing. "Please."

Then she stepped forward and put both her hands around his beck, pulled him down, and kissed him.

Jackie loved making out with Steven so much. And she was getting sick and tired of trying to slow things down until he made up his mind. She couldn't do it anymore.

Every time she told him to wait or to stop felt like a jab at herself, not him. She wondered if he was as frustrated as she was. He didn't act like it. In fact he didn't push her at all. Which only made her want him more.

God. She could be waiting forever. Who knew how long it would take him? She couldn't do it. She couldn't torture herself any longer.

"Steven, wait," she forced herself to say, for what she hoped would be the last time.

He sighed, his body sagging against hers, but he pushed himself away from her, putting an unwanted distance between them. "What's wrong?" he asked with a tired voice.

"Steven, we need to talk. For real this time." She bit her lip.

He took another long, deep breath, then ran his hands over his face. When he looked at her again, she couldn't read anything from his eyes. "Yeah, okay." And he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at her expectantly, attuned to whatever she had to say.

Great. This wasn't going to be easy.

"Steven," she began, and her heart battled against her chest as if it were pleading with her not to have this conversation. "I don't want to do this anymore." If Jackie thought he looked distant before, it was nothing compared to how he looked now. As if he regretted every decision he ever made that led him here. As if regretted ever touching her. He wasn't understanding. "Not like this."

"You invited me over tonight so you could tell me that?"

"No." She moved forward and tried to touch his arm but he stepped back out of reach. "No, Steven, you're not understanding."

He interrupted, "No, I get it, Jackie. It's-"

"No, you don't." Jackie took another deep breath and prayed to God that she wasn't about to lose him. "No, you don't get it all. You have no idea how much I like you, Steven." She looked away from him and blinked hard. If she lost him she would never forgive herself - for losing something that didn't even belong to her. "I like you so, so much, and I-I can't keep pretending like...like there's nothing else here for me, like this is just a fun fling. I know - I know you don't date and I know how you feel about it and I know Eric and Donna want this to stop and that Michael makes this complicated, but…" She drew in another breath. "But I can't pretend anymore. I don't want to. I'm so tired of sneaking around and I'm exhausted of going to bed every night wondering if things between us are gonna end soon. Because I like you, and I don't want it to end."

She stopped talking and waited, her eyes still focused away from him. But when no answer followed she turned her head and looked back at him. He looked so deep in thought that Jackie wasn't sure he would hear her if she spoke.

"Steven?"

He blinked and she could see him swallow. Several lifetimes passed, and in each of them, Jackie saw Steven and her together, happy and in love, and together. She hoped this lifetime wouldn't be any different.

"I don't want it to end either."

And it was far from the most romantic thing she'd ever heard, and only a sentence compared to her rambling, but Jackie felt such relief that she was sure she'd just lost half her weight in worries. She had the greatest urge to rush at him and hug him until he had to leave. But she forced her feet to stay on the ground.

"You don't."

"No, man." He drew in a breath then let it out with, "I don't."

Jackie nodded. "So...what are we?"

"I got no idea, Jackie," he said truthfully.

"Okay." She smiled then, her first real smile in days. "I don't care."

He sounded relieved too. "Good."

And they met in the middle, neither of them able or willing to stand so close yet so far from each other anymore.

And the way he kissed her made her knees go week, so he put his hands on the back of her thighs and hoisted her up and then kissed her even better.

And when he whispered her name against her lips Jackie knew this was the happiest she'd ever been.

"Steven," she said with a giggle between kisses. "Steven, wait."

He sighed and leaned his forehead against hers. "What now?"

"One more thing. Put me down."

Steven did as he was told, letting her slide down and out of his grasp. Not wanting to be fully separated, she snuck her hands into his, holding onto them tightly.

"What are we gonna do about Eric and Donna?"

"Tell 'em to stick it where the sun doesn't shine."

"I'm serious. They're so-"

"Annoying."

"Well, yeah, but they kind of have a point. Don't you think we should tell him?"

Hyde ducked his head down, for a few seconds, like he needed a moment to think and breathe, then looked back up at her with clarity. "Yeah, I think we gotta tell him. He's gonna find out anyway. Eventually."

Jackie tried not to let her heart soar too much when she heard that. Eventually sounded like such a long time away. Eventually. She and Steven would still be together when eventually came, and then afterward too.

"Should we tell him together?" she asked earnestly.

At that, his hands tightened around hers. "Nah. No, I think I should tell him myself. He - well, he's probably not gonna take it well, and if you're there it'll only make it worse."

Jackie looked at him sympathetically. He sounded nervous. She squeezed his hands back. "You think he'll be that mad?"

"He's Kelso," scoffed Hyde. "Even if he's not that mad he's gonna act that mad."

Jackie nodded again. "Yeah. Okay." Then she added as an afterthought. "I know it's stupid and I shouldn't care, because he left me, but I don't wanna hurt him."

"I know." Hyde's thumb brushed over her hand, and it sent tingles way up to her heart.

"But I'm happy. With you. And this."

Steven smiled at her. "Good." Tugging on her arms he brought her closer and laid a kiss on her forehead. Jackie's eyes fluttered close at his touch. "Wanna go for a drive?"

"Right now?"

"Why not?"

Jackie smiled. "Okay."

"C'mon."

He let go of her hands to bend down and grab the almost-empty pizza box along with his jacket and whatever else he had brought with him. Jackie's eyes followed him adoringly the entire time.

She didn't think he noticed until he set the pizza box down and turned to her, with mock exasperation written all over his face.

"Jackie," he explained. His voice was quiet and softer than she'd ever heard it. "You gotta quit lookin' at me like that, man. It does things to me."

Jackie's cheeks heated up, and she closed their short distance to press her face into his chest. She looked back up at him, with all the same emotions in her eyes. She couldn't hide them. Not nearly as well as he could.

"I don't think I can stop."