It's Jackie!!!! - crimsinsky - That '70s Show [Archive of Our Own] (2024)

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

Announcer: Here’s our girl in her own spin-off series of The Basem*nt Gang starring none other than Jackie B. Burkhart. Will we get to see any familiar friends in her new life? Of course, what kind of a question is that? She’s looking for love, money, career. She’s looking for that one elusive thing we’re all chasing…LIFE!

Cut to the opening credits of Jackie doing everyday things in fabulous outfits. Going to work in a cute stylish suit, meeting up with her new fabulous friends for drinks in a sexy yet understated co*cktail dress, meeting very important people at a gala in an evening gown dripping with diamonds. Jackie in a space suit… wait….What?

“Earth to Jackie, come in Jackie.”

“Jackie, are you even in there?”

A hand waving in front of her face shook her from her daydream.

“You sampling Hyde’s stash without us?” Eric asked her.

“Sorry,” she apologized shaking herself out of her daydream, “I was thinking about something, I got distracted. Were you saying something?”

“Yeah, I was asking you what day you’re moving. Donna said we’re helping you pack up.”

“Oh, right.” She was trying to get a grip on herself. It’s not like these were tough questions, she was just out of it today. “Saturday. I’m moving in Saturday but if that doesn’t work it’s fine. I can handle it.”

“Jackie, you don’t have a car,” Donna reminded her.

“I’ll manage,” she assured them again. After everything the last year, she was determined to take care of herself.

“And Red would kill me, so does noon work?” Eric asked. Since he’d come back from Africa, the pair had gotten along much better. Though neither would dare to admit to the term friends.

Jackie wanted to argue, but how the hell was she going to get her boxes across town without some help?

Resigned to her fate, she gave in, “Yes, that would be great thank you, Eric.”

“You’re welcome, Devil,” he gave her an affectionate smile. They’d both matured the last year and he knew she’d been put through the wringer.

Donna glanced back and forth between them, “Yeah, this is weird. I don’t know if I like you getting along.”

Jackie scoffed, “Excuse you, we are not getting along.”

“Obviously not.”

She kept the laugh to herself and shook her head. “Sorry, my mistake.” Donna enjoyed the pair getting along, but she loved pointing out and listening to them argue about still being enemies. They’d gotten past whatever teenage issues they had, but for some reason refused to admit it.

“I can’t wait to fix up my new apartment, it’s going to be so stylish and cute, and I can do whatever I want.”

“Didn’t you do that already?” Donna asked.

“Fez said you flooded the apartment.”

“One time,” Jackie defended herself. “And he always neglects to tell everyone I fixed it with the landlord and got him a better parking space. Anyway, I have to get going, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Jackie collected her things and left.

The couple watched her go and waited until they were sure she was gone.

“Do you see what I mean?” Donna asked.

“Yeah,” Eric sadly agreed. “She’s trying so damn hard to seem like she’s fine.”

“Right, like moving her stuff without a car or help.”

“What’s that about?”

“I don’t know.” Donna admitted, “All of a sudden she got this really independent streak but not in a way that makes sense.”

“When did that start?”

Donna thought back on it. “Maybe a couple months ago. We were trekking through the woods looking for Fez, and she went MIA after that for a few weeks and then became this.”

“Are you sure she’s not mellowing out? Now that she’s older, away from high school.”

“No, she didn’t just mature. It was fast, she just got quiet, maybe sullen is the right word. Then lately she’s been like this, where it seems so forced.”

“You don’t think she got possessed by a pod person or a robot, do you?” Eric asked hoping to lighten the mood.

“I wish, that sounds easier to deal with.”

Eric had nothing to say. Donna was worried about Jackie, and now that she’d pointed it out, so was he. He’d gone away for such a short time, but when he’d come home everything was topsy-turvy. It was like everyone had gotten lost.

He hoped they could find their way back.

Chapter 2

Chapter Text

CHAPTER 2

“You don’t have to move out.” It had been a messy breakup, not an angry one, but not easy either.

“Fez, that’s nice and all, but my boyfriend and I broke up after two weeks of dating. Then my ex-boyfriend starts dating my ex-boyfriend. If that doesn’t scream you need to move out I don’t know what does?”

“It was an accident.”

Jackie cringed. It wasn’t that Fez liked Michael or boys, they had all questioned it over the years at least once, it was that it was Michael.

Of all the boys’ Fez had to date, it had to be Michael Kelso.

She accepted it because it made sense. But she had also yelled at Michael, mainly as payback for the way he acted when she was first with Hyde.

Thinking back to that argument.

“Of all the guys out there you had to hook up with my ex-boyfriend? Seriously Michael?”

“I mean if it was gonna be anybody I guess it would be Fez,” Kelso said shyly.

Jackie was fuming though, it wasn’t really all about Michael, but he was an easier target for her frustration. “I want you to acknowledge, that you are a hypocrite and that this is at least somewhat worse than St- Hyde and I dating. Because I dated both of you so by your rules you should not be dating.”

He scrunched up his face considering her points, she knew it would take him a minute so she got comfortable and waited.

“See I think it’s different cuz it’s guys.”

“God you are so stupid. Fine, whatever, go be together.”

“Look Fez,” Jackie said, shaking the memory of her argument with Michael from her mind. “I’m not mad at you, but it’s weird for me to deal with. It would be bad enough seeing my ex date anyone, but to be dating another one of my exes, I’d rather just start new okay.”

“So you don’t hate me?”

She gave him a soft smile, “No, Fez, I don’t hate you.”

They broke up for many reasons.

Mostly that they were both chasing fantasies. Fez wanted the Goddess he’d put on a pedestal years before, and Jackie was chasing after her fairytale knight in shining armor that would never hurt or disappoint her.

Neither one could live up to those ideals and they broke up. The messy factor didn’t set in until a week later when Jackie came home to find Michael and Fez making out on the couch.

She started apartment hunting the next morning.

“I have to go to the salon, are you sure you don’t need help?”

She waved him off, “Eric and Donna are both bringing their cars so it shouldn’t take that long.”

“It’s going to be weird coming home and you’re not here,” Fez said.

“I’m sure you’ll adjust pretty fast. But you can help me decorate my new place once I start making some good money at my job.”

“I’m going to miss you,” he said again and hugged her goodbye.

“I’ll miss you too.”

It felt like a chapter was closing, but maybe that was a good thing.

“You can come to see me soon, I’ll have a house party and you can buy me something pretty.”

“Of course.”

There was a knock.

“That’s my cue,” Fez said and opened the door to Eric and Donna.

“Look who’s leaving when it’s time to lift stuff,” Eric teased. Jackie had specifically decided to move on Saturday because Fez had to work so it would be less awkward.

Fez clapped him on the shoulder, “Don’t worry Eric, Donna is strong enough to carry what you can’t.”

Eric started to pout and Fez left for work.

“Let’s get started,” Jackie said as the phone rang.

“Aren’t you going to get that?”

“Ew, no.”

Eric and Donna exchanged confused glances.

“Just wait,” Jackie said.

After several more rings, the machine picked up. Kelso’s voice filled the apartment, “Hey Fez, see you tonight now that Jackie’s gone we can-

Jackie picked up the phone and quickly hung it back up cutting off the call.

“It’s weird that they’re dating but it’s also not,” Eric said for the millionth time.

Donna shrugged, “I think Kelso went through the whole legal female population in town.”

“There was that teacher the one time, so not even just the legal ones,” he pointed out.

“Ew, I forgot about that.”

“God, he’s such a whor*,” Jackie said to no one in particular.

She was beyond ready to move out.

Her things were organized and it would take a few trips with only Donna’s and Eric’s cars, but they’d manage it quick enough.

“Reinforcements are here,” Red shouted from just outside the door.

Jackie happily walked over and opened the door, “Mr. Forman you didn’t need-“

She stopped when she saw Mr. Forman with the Toyota, but also Hyde sheepishly standing behind him, hands shoved in pockets looking at the ground.

“So Dad, everything’s ready to go except the bed and mattress,” Eric said trying to get Red out of the middle of whatever was about to happen. He didn’t know a lot, but that little was all kinds of bad.

With Red safely removed from the situation, Jackie stood there dumbfounded.

Since his slu*tbag stripper wife- no, she was not going to degrade herself that way. Since Samantha’s two-timing marriages was exposed and she left, Jackie and Hyde had an uneasy truce. He’d stopped insulting her and they reverted to amicable near silence in each other’s presence.

Jackie wish she’d reported the skan* to someone, bigamy was a crime right, that should get some jail time. If her awful roots weren’t enough.

She scolded herself, she was supposed to be the better person after all.

Hyde spoke first. “I’m sorry, Red asked me to come, and you know you can’t say no to either of them.”

Jackie cleared her throat, “No, I get it, it’s fine. It’s a couple of hours.”

Hyde knew all of Jackie’s “fine’s” and it was never just fine. Sometimes it meant I’m mad we’ll talk about it later, or I’ll break your window and slash your tires. This fine was uncomfortable and wanting to run away. Ironically that’s just what he was feeling.

Both Jackie and Hyde did their best to avoid looking at each other or talking as much as possible.

Everyone in the room felt the awkward silence but Donna and Eric mostly discussed which car would be best for what items. Red, who normally said as few words as possible, also spoke more than usual. He knew no good would come from pointing out the tension or trying to get the dumbasses to talk.

In a whirlwind, everything was quickly packed between the four cars and ready to go in one single trip.

Jackie went through the apartment one last time. She would miss this place but it also harbored a lot of bad from the past year.

She needed this, a new year, a new decade, a new Jackie. And that started with a new apartment.

She kept repeating that like a mantra that would save her.

A new year, a new life.

She would get her fresh start and never have to look back on all that pain again.

The ‘70s were over, the ‘80s were going to be so much better.

They had to be right?

Chapter 3

Chapter Text

Jackie unlocked her door carrying a bag of groceries. She was a terrible cook, but Kitty thankfully had the patience of a saint had taught her how to make a few basic meals to keep from starving to death, though she did start smoking again for a few weeks after their first cooking lessons.

Primarily, she was living off cereal and sandwiches, but she could now cook an egg, with a lot of cringing, and make macaroni and cheese from a box. Next, they were going to move on to boiling a chicken.

On her way into the kitchen, there was a pair of legs sticking out from under her kitchen sink that definitely weren’t supposed to be there.

“Hi Mr. Forman,” she said without breaking stride. “I’d ask what you’re doing here but I think I’ve got it.”

Red answered her as if his being in her apartment unasked was a completely normal thing. “The washers were what caused the drip but I’m just checking these pipes to be safe.”

When he got out she stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, for looking out for me.”

“Stop that,” he said but Jackie knew he didn’t mean it. If it bothered him that much he’d stop using the emergency key to get into her apartment and fix things for her.

“Would you like a sandwich for your trouble?”

“No thanks, I was just in the neighborhood and thought I’d check it out.”

“Well, thank you so much for fixing that for me.” Her eyes lit up, “Oh, and I forgot to tell you last time I saw you, I got into those classes. I start next month.”

He gave her a rare affectionate smile. “Good for you, glad to see one of you not being a complete dumbass.”

“Now Mr. Forman, Eric is working on his program too.”

“Yeah, but he’s inherently a dumbass.”

“I can’t argue with you there.”

He picked up his toolbox, “I’ll come by next week and take a look at that other stuff that needs fixing.”

“I appreciate it, tell Mrs. Forman hi for me.”

“Will do.”

He shut the door behind himself.

Jackie smiled, she loved when Mr. Forman popped by for these visits. She could have fixed the sink but he’d insisted when she mentioned it. She had no idea what the other stuff was that needed to be fixed but she was sure he’d find something, or make something up.

She opened the fridge to put her food away and found several Tupperware containers that weren’t there before.

They really were the best people.

The Forman’s made her a little bittersweet about her own parents.

Pam would never be the loving homemaker type and that was ok, she didn’t need to be, but when she’d promised Jackie she wouldn’t leave her again and then ran off with a random guy to Tijuana it was too much.

She’d bailed with the car and Jackie hadn’t talked to her since.

As for Jack, there wasn’t much that she could do about that. Her father loved her but he had kept her at a distance, then the whole embezzling thing broke her heart. She’d thought he was honorable, the greatest man in the whole world, and then her world crashed and burned. It was compounded by the bitter memories of that time.

The one person she had to count on was now not even a stranger, but a person she used to love with her whole heart, who destroyed it.

The last few years had ripped Jackie apart, she didn’t know who she was before. But she was determined that if she couldn’t be who she was, she was going to become the best version of herself that she could be.

It would start with these classes. She wasn’t a scholar who enjoyed pouring over books, but she was smart, she’d studied hard in high school, and unfortunately with the insanity of the past year she’d missed some important deadlines for school.

But she’s figured some things out and saved up and until the next term applications, she would take a couple of classes locally and work until she could either save up enough to cover classes, or get a scholarship.

It was funny in the most unhumorous way how she now had to live check to check and work to make things happen that before were just a given. She never could have imagined that her Daddy wouldn’t be paying her way through school and that she’d be working to pay off her classes herself.

But she was managing, she was doing it. It was hard for her to think about it and let herself be proud of it because she always fell back to that one day in the basem*nt.

When Steven had told her she could make her own money and buy her own things and never had to be dependent on anyone else. In her fond memories, she’d let him be Steven, when he was sweet and caring.

All the others he was Hyde.

She had to separate the two because her heart couldn’t deal with the fact that they were the same person. Because one person couldn’t love you that much and then burn the ground beneath you as he’d done.

Jackie knew none of that was true, it was one person only, but the little lies made it easier to go on every day.

She shook herself out of her depressing thoughts. It was hard, knowing it wasn’t good for her, but also not being able to stop it sometimes.

No, today she would focus on the fact that someone had cared enough to make and send her some great homemade food, and someone else cared enough to fix something for her that needed fixing.

She was loved. She was living on her own and making it on her terms.

When no one believed in her, she would believe in herself.

But this time she wasn’t so alone.

She had Red, Kitty, Donna, and then loathe as she was to admit it, Eric.

She could do this.

She would do this.

Chapter 4: Might Have Been

Chapter Text

Jackie bounced the baby on her hip, except she really wasn’t a baby anymore she was getting so big.

As annoyed with Michael as Jackie was, when he asked if she would mind babysitting Betsy she couldn’t say no to some time with her God-daughter.

She had short but bouncy loose curls like Brooke, but she looked like a perfect mix of both of her parents.

“Would you like to go to the zoo Betsy-boo?”

She shook her head no.

That was a bummer because she didn’t know where else to take her that was interesting.

“Okay, where do you want to go?”

“Gmpa Ed.”

Jackie laughed, of course.

“You want to go see Grandpa Red and Grandma Kitty?”

“Gmpa Ed,” she shrieked.

Betsy drove Kitty nuts because in that household Besty had eyes for only one person in that family and it was Red. Jackie was convinced it was because Red was secretly a teddy bear deep down.

“Okay,” Jackie grabbed her purse and Betsy’s stuff and they headed down to Michael’s car where she buckled her in and they were there in a flash.

*****
Red was out in the driveway as soon as he heard the car pull up, “Jackie? Is everything okay?”

“Yes, but you have an adoring fan.”

Jackie unbuckled the toddler who ran as soon as her feet touched the concrete toward Red, she tripped over her feet once but got right back up and ran into his arms and he scooped her up.

“Just like the kettle head,” Red mumbled.

“Hopefully just with the clumsiness,” Jackie added.

Red for all his gruff, held the little girl gently and bounced her a little as he walked through the garage with her.

“You know soon you’ll be big enough to start holding the flashlight and can start helping me at the shop.”

Betsy babbled incoherently.

It was sweet but made Jackie’s heart lurch.

Once upon a time, she thought that someday soon that would be her little girl running up to Red despite his protests about not liking any of them and winning him over with her inherited cute smile, curly dark brown hair, and blue eyes.

Jackie snapped herself out of her daydream reminding herself that life wasn’t in the cards for her.

“Are you two okay for a minute?” Jackie asked, “I want to say Hello to Kitty.”

“I think I can handle her; I survived you kids.”

Growl all he wanted, Jackie knew Red Forman was a sucker for cute kids, it’s why she was his favorite out of the group after all. But then again, he had excellent taste.

Jackie found Kitty inside her sewing machine. Since she’d quit smoking and cut back on drinking, she had thrown herself into her crafts. The living room was often filled with the whirring sound of the machine.

She glanced up, “Oh Jackie, I’m so glad you’re here. I made you some towels and some pillows for your new place.”

“Mrs. Forman, you’ve already done so much for me you don’t need to do this.”

“Nonsense.” She handed over a large bag full of embroidered towels and pillowcases.

Jackie pulled one out and ran her hands over the fabric. Everything was pink and white with gold threads. The pink was her favorite shade of the color. Jackie doubted her mother knew that.

“Now the pink ones are for your bathroom and the white ones can be for the kitchen, that way you can wash them in bleach if you use them to clean something.”

Jackie couldn’t thank her, words caught in her throat. She set the items down and hugged Kitty trying not to tear up.

“Thank you.”

Kitty patted her on the back. “Oh, you sweet girl.”

She pulled her over to the couch. “Now tell me, how does living on your own feel?”

“It’s different. Sometimes I miss having someone to hang out with but then again I’m working a lot and trying to save. Then again it’s kind of nice to have my own space.”

“If you ever feel like it’s too much space you feel free to come on over. I always have ice cream in the freezer.”

Jackie somehow knew without the offer that she’d always “I’ll bring the chocolate sauce.”

“Come on and help me in the kitchen.”

“You want me to help you?” Jackie asked curiously.

“You can supervise.” Both laughed at that. “Not that I’m not happy to see you but what are you doing here?”

“I’m babysitting and brought the newest member of the Red Forman Fanclub to visit.”

“I better put on some cookies.”

Kitty pulled out a premade batter and spooned it out on a cookie sheet so fast Jackie barely had time to sit down.

“I don’t know how you do that so fast.”

“Well, the mix helps. It’s not as good as when I make it from scratch, but a toddler is a more demanding customer.”

The word customer struck Jackie, “You know, if the sewing doesn’t work out you should sell your baked goods.”

“Oh no, I only do that for the church.”

“Well, the people are missing out.”

“Go on,” Kitty waved her off as she turned on the oven and set the timer to let it warm up.

“Let’s go see my grandbaby.”

They Betsy and Red in the backyard, she was wandering around lost in the wonder of everything being different from the last time she was there.

“Would you like to come with me, sweetie?” Kitty asked.

Besty ignored her completely.

Red smirked and said, “Come here, Betsy.”

She stopped and made a dash for Red.

Kitty glared at his smug face. “I make every meal you eat Red Forman, remember that.”

He handed Betsy over and she allowed Kitty to hold her.

Jackie pushed away the thoughts of what might have been. It was no use focusing on what she could never have.

They heard the timer go off in the kitchen.

“I better take care of those cookies.”

“And I’ll clean this troublemaker up.” Jackie took Betsy inside and washed her hands and face. Betsy kept giving her the cutest looks. Some were rather familiar.

“You’re going to look like your Daddy aren’t you?”

She didn’t answer.

“Well, Grandma Kitty has something I think you’re going to like in the kitchen.”

Even if babies were gross sometimes, Jackie enjoyed spending time with her Goddaughter. She was so sweet and innocent and cute. At the rate her love life was going, unless Michael and Brooke had another, Betsy would be the only baby in her life.

Shaking her head, she tried to banish the melancholy thoughts. She was independent and she had other things to worry about right now.

With the cookies set before her, Kitty finally got some attention from the baby.

“Pretty sad you have to buy her attention,” Red was still smug over Betsy running to him.

Kitty kept smiling, “Keep it up and you’ll be eating pop-tarts every meal for the next week.”

“You know you’re my favorite,” Red smiled at her.

“Uh-huh.”

Jackie refrained from telling them they were cute, just so she wouldn’t get Red started.

And that’s how their day went on. Fussing over Betsy, light jokes, and enjoying family time together. It made Jackie’s heartache for the family she didn’t have but made her grateful for being allowed into this one as much as she was.

By the time Michael was ready to get off work that night, Betsy had been stuffed full of cookies and snacks ready to be sent back to her parents.

Michael dropped Jackie off at home after buying her a quick dinner. Betsy was asleep in the back.

“Thanks again for watching her, I don’t like to leave her at my parents.”

“I’d say anytime but school’s starting soon so I need some notice.”

“I get it, plus once Brooke is back from her summer program it shouldn’t happen. The library has a daycare area.”

“It’s really no trouble except the car, which we managed today.”

“Thanks again,” he waved and drove off.

“See you soon,” Jackie walked inside the building to a huge surprise waiting for her.

She was a girl who loved to find a package sitting by her door, some kind of gift, candy, flowers, Ed McMahon with a million-dollar check. But this one was less welcome.

Sitting on her welcome mat, drunk as a skunk, was her ex-boyfriend.

Chapter 5

Chapter Text

“Fez what are you doing here?” Jackie asked him.

“He is a lying two-faced whor*.”

Jackie closed her eyes and counted to ten. She was going to have to kill Michael, which was unfortunate for Betsy. Maybe Red would help her, he was the one who could do it best out of anyone she knew.

She leaned down, “Okay, Fez you can sleep on the couch, let’s get you up and inside, and you can tell me all about it tomorrow.”

“It is tomorrow,” he wailed.

“Shhh I have neighbors. Okay go inside and we’ll talk now.” It was late but it was still too early for Fez to be this drunk.

But Fez couldn’t get up, Jackie nearly dragged him inside her apartment.

She got him to the couch but not on it when he promptly passed out.

It was easier this way she guessed.

She went to bed, and they’d deal with it in the morning.

****

Jackie woke up not in the mood for whatever was going to happen out in her living room.

After a shower and dressing, she found Fez exactly where she’d left him last night.

She knew she could be gentler but she wasn’t banging pots and slamming doors so this was gentle.

Taking his shoulder, she shook it until he moaned.

“Stop.”

Jackie went to the kitchen and poured a bowl of cereal letting him wake up before she went at him.

“Would you like to explain what all that was about last night?”

“Why are you so loud?” Fez whined.

“I’m sorry, you were willing to be loud enough to bother my neighbors late last night, so I think it’s only fair. Now what happened?”

Kelso is cheating on me.

She understood why he showed up at her door, she was an expert in this area.

But considering that she’d been on the wrong side of a cheating assumption twice now she was willing to give Michael the smallest benefit of the doubt, “How do you know?”

“I just know.”

“Did you see something or-”

He cut in, “I just know, Jackie.”

“Okay, you know. What do you know?”

“That he cheated, or he’s going to.”

This was getting them nowhere. “Since you’re not telling me what happened, don’t do anything crazy unless you know for sure, either you ask him or you see something.”

“I saw something.”

Jackie’s heart dropped for him. She’d been there more than she cared to admit.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going home,” he stood shakily.

“Fez wait,” she stopped him. “Don’t do it, you can stay here until you kick him out or move, but don’t go back to him. You’ll regret it, I know I did.”

“But I love him.”

Jackie knew that all too well. “I will support you, but Fez be careful. And I’ll drive you home when you’ve sobered up more okay?”

Fez managed to make it back to the couch and collapsed into it.

Jackie covered him with a blanket and turned off the lights letting him suffer his drinking choices in some element of peace.

Was this what the others thought of her when she kept going back to Michael time after time?

In this case, there was nothing she could do for him. He said he knew. She would let him handle it for now.

Michael and Fez had just gotten together, and already he was cheating. She thought he’d stopped that kind of behavior well before Betsy had been born but apparently not.

With their long-sorted history and then the fallout with Hyde, it made her wonder if love was even real. Was it something anyone could grab or were the Formans lightning in a bottle?

Jackie didn’t know why her house was now the new basem*nt, the new haven of “I need a place to crash” but it was. First, it was Fez sleeping off his hangover for the day.

Then Laurie popped in for a few days while visiting her parents but didn’t want to stay with them.

Donna needed a place for a week because the university housing had overbooked the dorms and was in the process of shuffling people around and Bob was already down in Florida leaving her without a place to sleep.

It surprised Jackie that she was not as desperate for company as she thought she’d been. Sure she’d been lonely, but she also loved having her space to herself.

She almost suspected that Red was sending them her way to keep them out of his basem*nt.

Then Eric showed up on her doorstep one afternoon a week after Donna had left.

“No, I am sorry I am not hosting any more people,” Jackie declared. She needed a break from people using her stuff and making messes.

He held up a covered dish. “Uh, my mom sent me over to bring you some lasagna she made for you.”

“Oh, thank you.” Jackie flushed from embarrassing herself and in front of Eric of all people. “I’m sorry it’s just everyone’s using this place as a hotel.”

He grinned, “I heard.”

She let him in and put the food away.

“So how are the lovebirds?” she asked. It hadn’t taken long for everyone to figure out something was up with Fez, and he couldn’t keep it secret except from his boyfriend.

“I don’t know, Fez is still sulking, but Kelso is Kelso. Totally oblivious.”

“Some things never change, thanks for the food.”

“Well, it’s also kind of a bribe,” he said.

“Oh?”

“This is partly an ask from my dad, you know the guy who does so much stuff for you.” Eric laid it on thick, “Can you come to dinner at their house this week? We’re all taking turns on different days.”

“Why? Is everything okay?” As far as she knew everyone was in good health but with Red asking a favor it worried her.

“Have you talked to anyone recently?” Eric asked.

“No, not since Donna left. I’ve been busy with work and classes.”

“Right, so Hyde is moved out and my mom’s taking it really hard because everyone’s gone now and abandoned her.”

“But I was just there last weekend.” Donna had done the reconnaissance for her to make sure she could visit Hyde free.

“I know but you know how she gets. So, will you?” Eric asked again.

She melted instantly; she’d do anything for the Formans. “Of course, I will.”

Jackie wanted to ask questions, but they weren’t her right to know anymore.

Eric could see it written on her face.

“Hyde’s place is pretty cool, and he’s doing good. Like he’s almost stopped drinking.”

“Hyde?” She asked surprised. The past year he’d drank himself under the table, many a night she bitterly thought his parents would have been proud at how closely he followed in their footsteps.

Eric eyed her curiously but didn’t say why. “Yeah, Hyde.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, he said something about getting it together.”

“Well, good for him. He deserves it.” She looked at the clock, “I don’t mean to be rude.”

“Because you’ve never been that,” Eric smirked.

Jackie ignored him, “I’ve got to get to class.”

“Right, I’ll get lost.”

“Oh, what day did you want me to go over there if we’re all taking turns?”

He had forgotten to tell her, “Friday, can you do Friday?”

“Sure, for Kitty I will be there on Friday.”

“Thank you, about 6:30.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m wonderful, now get out.”

“I could give you a ride if you weren’t so mean to me,” he pretended to pout.

She could have asked but that’s not how they worked.

“My boots are made for more than just walking.”

Eric nodded to the Cruiser, “Hop in.”

Chapter 6: Story Telling

Chapter Text

Eric sat on Hyde’s new couch hanging out; WB had given him a few things for his new place and it was shaping up nicely yet slowly.

It had been bubbling up inside of him for a while and he couldn’t take it anymore after his conversation with Jackie today.

“Dude, why the hell is Jackie calling you Hyde? She hasn’t done that since she was sixteen.”

Hyde let out a breath, “I really messed up okay.”

“I know that, but Kelso is still Michael,” Eric pointed out.

“It’s complicated.”

“Look, I gave everyone space because I was gone and I don’t know what happened but dude, you married a stripper. Jackie almost married Kelso, she got together with Fez, like what the hell? Did the town fall into a hell dimension or something?”

“Kind of seemed like it.” Hyde desperately wanted a beer, no he wanted to get hammered and never have this conversation, but he was trying to make an effort. “Buckle up, Man.”

Hyde told him everything. He left Donna and Randy out of it as much as possible because that wasn’t his story to tell but filled Eric in on his part in it. Every hurt he caused Jackie, all the things he said and regretted. At least, what he remembered.

Eric took it all in, only responding flatly at the end with, “You are a bastard.”

“Yup. I know that.”

“Were all of you on acid the whole time I was gone? Some kind of government experiment? Because that’s the only way any of that story kind of makes sense. Like none of you sound like you.”

“What can I say? It was a sh*t show of a year.”

“I was gone six months. SIX!”

Hyde took it all in with little emotion, “Guess we finally lived up to our potential.”

“Man, you screwed up royally.”

“Trust me, I think about that every day.”

They sat there quietly.

“So, what are you going to do about it?” Eric asked.

“Do? I’m not going to do anything. We’re done. Jackie left town then I left town and we almost got back together and then Sam showed up. I made it worse daily and now we’re here. I did everything already.”

“Jackie might hate you but it’s Jackie, she’s never going to not care about you. No matter what kind of asshole you are.”

“Thanks, but I think that ship sailed, took on cannon fire, burned, and sank to the bottom of the ocean.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Eric agreed, “but you didn’t say you weren’t interested.”

Chapter 7

Chapter Text

Jackie showed up on Friday at Six-thirty like Eric had told her to.

She hadn’t gone too out with her clothes but she looked pretty. It was warm enough she could wear a cute dress with a jacket and she felt extra pretty. She hadn’t put in much effort lately with her clothes. Clean and polished was always her priority but she hadn’t put together any fun outfits in a long time.

For Kitty, she put in the effort.

It always gave her a warm feeling to step into the Forman’s kitchen, except when she saw the El Camino sitting in the driveway.

Maybe he’d left it there and he was out of town, maybe his new place didn’t have parking. Maybe she was an idiot making up as many excuses as she could to not have to go in and face the music.

They were expecting her, she didn’t have a choice.

She walked in and her stomach dropped the rest of the way. Hyde was setting the table.

“Jackie, what are you doing here?” Red asked confused.

“Eric asked me to come for dinner tonight.”

“Friday?”

“Yes, I’m sure he said Friday. I can go if-“

“You don’t need to do that,” Hyde cut her off. “I can go.”

“No, Kitty’s already seen you, you two will just have to play nice today.”

It was not a request, and they knew it.

Kitty walked in at that moment.

“Jackie, it’s so nice to see you, please stay for dinner. Not only do I get one of my kids tonight I get two.” She giggled so happily; Jackie knew she had to stay. No matter how uncomfortable.

But Jackie schooled her face to lie. She smiled brightly, “Thank you so much, I’d love to stay for dinner.”

“Wonderful, we’re having fried chicken. Let’s eat in the dining room and make it special.”

She went right back out to fix the table up.

“At least she’s happy, but I could throttle Eric. I told him Saturday for you because of your schedule.”

As bad as she felt for inadvertently messing up the plan, she appreciated that Red had thought about her when he’d picked the date. Even if Eric screwed it up.

“Don’t worry about me, Friday is just as good as Saturday.”

Truthfully the date wasn’t the problem at all, it was the company.

She and Hyde had spent as little time as humanly possible around each other. She didn’t know how to behave around him anymore.

Kitty called for Red and he followed her to the dining room.

The moment Jackie dreaded since seeing his car in the driveway.

They were alone together.

For his part, Hyde didn’t seem any more comfortable.

They both had so many things they wanted to say but it wasn’t the right time or place to do so.

“Look,” Hyde broke the ice, “I know we’ve been ignoring each other trying not to rock the boat but can we at least be civil and talk to each other, at least tonight?”

She resisted a snide remark and said, “Yes, but this is awkward no matter what.”

“You can say that again.”

They took the place settings into the dining room, an action they’d both done countless times when they were together.

Jackie had missed their bi-weekly dinner plans.

Kitty rushed around refusing help and set all the food out beautifully. Everyone dug in, but the room remained quiet except for the scraping of silverware.

Red could feel the tension between the kids, despite their agreement so he did something he hated. He guided the conversation.

“So, Jackie how are those classes going?” Red asked.

“I’ve only had two this week but so far it’s going pretty well.”

“Oh, that’s right, what are you taking sweetie?” Kitty chimed in, happy to have any sort of conversation.

“Right now it’s just a couple of entry level classes prerequisites. I have Intro to Business and English Literature right now.”

“You’re taking classes?” Hyde asked, trying not to sound too interested.

Jackie looked down at her plate and picked at her food, “Yeah, I picked up a couple classes at the community college.”

“That’s cool.”

Jackie looked up, she’d learned to read his expressions around the lenses of his glasses years ago.

She was hesitant, but he didn’t seem like he was making fun of her.

“Thank you. I picked those because if I switch schools those should transfer over.”

“We’re proud of you either way,” Kitty encouraged her.

“So, Steven how’s the store doing?” Red asked.

“It’s good, we always slow down a bit when school starts and ends with everyone busy. So this week was slow but it should be back to normal by next week.”

“Huh,” Red said, “and if it doesn’t?”

“WB has advertising connections with the radio station, plus print, or I advertise a sale. It usually brings in enough people to cover the loss of the discount.”

“Do you still do everything on sale or just some things?” Jackie asked curiously, she hadn’t been to the store in so long. She missed it.

“It depends, it’s usually the store or a genre. Can’t get rid of disco.”

She knew that dig was at her but it lacked the cruelty of his past insults. He’d always teased her about liking Disco. She could tell he was trying to be friendly.

“What if you picked just one or two artists, maybe they’re a little less popular or don’t have anything new out. Then people come in for the sale and while they’re waiting to look for that person they start browsing and maybe pick up something else.”

Hyde thought about it, they usually just put a section on sale, never a select artist, “That’s not a bad idea.”

“One week of classes and you’re already a wiz. Tell you what I’ll let you manage the shop if you want,” Red offered.

“Let me get at least two weeks of classes in before you offer me a job, but I won’t say no.”

Red nodded, the idea was appealing. He didn’t like where she was working now anyway.

“Then you’d get to spend all day with me,” she smiled annoyingly.

He scowled, “Never mind.”

“You know you love me,” Jackie said, not waiting for a reply she asked Kitty about her sewing projects.

“Mainly gifts for some of the church ladies, a few small things here and there. We’re talking about doing a quilting bee.”

“I’m sure yours will be the prettiest.”

“Mrs. Forman, do you think I’d be any better at sewing than cooking?” Jackie asked.

“One can only hope dear.”

Hyde snorted out a laugh. He’d never forget the hockey puck cookies, they did make great weapons against Kelso though.

Kitty looked horrified, “That came out wrong.”

“No, it’s fine,” Jackie wasn’t offended, “I’ll just hang out with Mr. Forman in the garage where I’m wanted.”

“I can always use someone who can handle the flashlight.”

“Thanks, Mr. Forman.”

“Are you doing okay in the apartment Jackie?” Kitty steered the conversation away from her faux pas.

“I am. I’m budgeting and everything and I haven’t burned anything I’ve tried to cook.” She neglected to mention how little she tried to cook but that was not the point.

“Sounds like you’re doing great.”

“Better than Kettle Head. I don’t know why he called us, but he’d panic writing his rent check and need it explained every time for the first three months.”

Jackie giggled remembering that time, “I know Brooke made a chart for him and put it in his desk so he’d stop freaking out.”

Kitty turned to Steven, “And Steven, what about you?”

“I have hot sauce and water in the fridge.”

“What about batteries?” Red asked.

“Nope.”

“You need to get some if you want to be prepared.”

“Red, that is not funny. What do you mean you don’t have any food in the fridge?”

“I was kidding Mrs. Forman. It’s fine, it’s definitely quieter than here which I need to get used to.”

“Speak for yourself. Everyone is at mine every time I turn around.”

“You need to be firm with them and tell them to get the hell out,” Red told her.

Jackie set her silverware down giving him her full attention. “Mr. Forman. Look me in the eyes and tell me that works, because I have about 5 years of proof saying it doesn’t.”

He wanted to argue with her, he even tried. “Eat your food before it gets cold.”

Hyde snickered under his breath.

It settled into comfortable conversations after that.

At the end of the night, they both stayed longer than they intended to while Kitty packed them leftovers so they wouldn’t starve.

“I’m pooped so I will wish you goodnight and I’ll see you soon. Thank you for coming over.”

“Thanks for inviting me last minute,” Jackie hugged her goodnight.

“You’re always welcome here. And Steven, I don’t care what he says you are always more than welcome to come back and stay with us. For a night or permanently.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

Kitty hugged him and went upstairs.

“See ya,” Hyde took his container and left.

Eric walked in a couple of minutes after Hyde left. “Hey everyone.”

Red’s forgotten irritation from hours before resurfaced with a vengeance. “That’s all you have to say, you screwed up, Friday was supposed to be Steven’s day.”

He looked completely confused, “I thought I was supposed to tell her Friday. Jackie I am so sorry, I know you’ve been trying to keep your distance from him.”

“It’s fine, it was awkward at first, but I think we’re okay. Anyway, I’ve blessed you with my presence long enough I’ll see you next week.”

Jackie grabbed her things and left.

Eric took the seat she had left.

“Eric, I specifically told you to ask Jackie to show up on Saturday because Friday was Steven’s day.”

“I know that,” Eric grinned smugly at his dad, “I’m not a complete dumbass.”

Red studied his son, Steven and Jackie had been a lot more civil than they had been for months. “Maybe you’re not,” he mused.

Chapter 8

Chapter Text

Hyde had intended to go home but there was a car suspiciously missing from the driveway. He drove down the block and waited. As predicted, after a few minutes he saw her walking.

Jackie groaned when she saw his car idling up the road.

As she passed he rolled down the window. “You want a ride?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Jackie you’re not walking all the way to your place at night.”

“You’re right, I’m not, I’m walking to the bus stop.”

He gave her a look, “With the weirdos and creeps?”

“It’s not like I haven’t done it before.”

“Red would kill me if he found out I let you take the bus at this time of night.”

“No, he wouldn’t.”

“Should we go back and ask him?” Hyde challenged. “It will only take a minute.”

She huffed out a sigh, she knew exactly how that conversation would end. She decided to save Red the anxiety.

“If I say yes, will you stop arguing with me?”

“Probably not,” he grinned.

Jackie got in anyway and they drove a few minutes in silence.

She’d been polite enough at dinner, but now she was aggravated. “I see you got rid of the p*rn-stash.”

Hyde almost laughed, it was such a Jackie way to say something about his look. “Yeah, I uh kind of lost my mind there.”

Jackie took the high road and didn’t say anything.

Hyde fumbled for something to say, but he hadn’t talked to her much in the last few months, longer if you counted what he could barely remember from drinking too much. “I didn’t know you were going back to school.”

“Yeah, it’s not the big plans I had but it’s a start.”

“So, uh, what happened to your car?” It had been bugging him since the day they helped her move. He figured it was a convenience thing for the day, but when they’d shown up at her new place it wasn’t there. Now she was walking alone at night. Something didn’t add up.

She was surprised Eric of Donna hadn’t mentioned it, but she knew they were good at keeping secrets when they wanted to. “I guess my mom has it somewhere.”

“Pam took the car?”

Jackie shrugged, “That’s what I hope happened, I can’t track her down again.”

“When was that?”

“Before Eric left.” She didn’t say Chicago, it was obvious his mind would jump right to that but it was more accurate. Jackie had left her letter, gone home and her mom and the car were missing.

Hyde couldn’t believe it, he hadn’t noticed she didn’t have a car that whole time. He knew he’d been in a fog but he hadn’t noticed in close to eight or nine months that Jackie’s car was missing.

“If you need a ride anywhere let me know.”

“Thanks, but I need to take care of myself.” Wasn’t that what he had taught her?

“You seem to be doing that, but it’s just a ride.”

She wouldn’t admit to him that it wouldn’t be just a ride. If it had been anyone else she might have taken them up on it, but she couldn’t with Hyde. In the months since she’d accepted taking the bus. She didn’t like it but it was what it was and she’d gotten used to it.

She needed to change the subject.

“What made you move out of the Forman’s?”

“It was past time. I meant to leave last year but things got away from me.”

“I get how that happens.” The same had happened to her. She’d been lost the past year, now she was trying to find her footing in a world she didn’t recognize.

He pulled up to her building.

“Thanks for the ride.”

“You’re welcome.”

This was the most civil they had been in almost a year. That twisted the knife a little more for both of them.

Jackie got out but Hyde didn’t pull away.

She turned back wondering why he was still there. “What are you doing?”

He looked at her confused, “I’m waiting for you to get inside.” He always waited for her to get inside whenever he dropped her off at night.

“Oh, okay. Night.”

Jackie got inside and locked up. She went to the window and waited; Hyde was still sitting there. When she turned on the light he finally drove away.

She missed that.

Having someone to care about her, he was the one who had loved her the most. Unfortunately, he was the one who had hurt her the most.

She couldn’t wait for the day that seeing him didn’t make her heart ache.

Chapter 9: Karma

Chapter Text

It was a long day. Jackie had been up late trying to finish a book report while the creative flow was going and she’d stayed awake far longer than she’d intended to.

It left her feeling tired all day and she had to go to work. She missed her days at the television studio but there wasn’t anything open right.

She’d taken a job that she wasn’t very good at because as desperate as she was for a job, they were just as desperate for a waitress.

It had taken her a while to get used to it. The smells of kitchen grease, having to touch other people’s leftover food, the rudeness she was actually very good at taking which is why they kept her on with no experience.

Now Jackie had regulars and could wait tables at the Starlight Diner. She hoped one day her mother would walk in and faint at the sight of her daughter in a uniform serving coffee and eggs to dirty strangers.

The thought often kept her going on bad days.

Sometimes Red would come in for lunch and those were the best days. He wasn’t that happy about the diner, but it wasn’t so bad. A few of the customers were a little on the gruffer side but no one gave her any trouble except when Leo appeared. But that was no more than usual, she didn’t even ask him what he wanted anymore she just gave him a plate and he’d say something weird and they’d go on with their lives as usual.

But when Red would visit, she’d take her lunch with him and he’d complain, “Damn kitchen can’t follow a simple order. I asked for a cheeseburger with extra cheese and bacon.”

Jackie merely smiled as she ate her food and informed him, “The kitchen’s actually great at following orders when I don’t tell them extra cheese or bacon.”

He’d scowl at her and she’d respond with, “You’re lucky you’re getting a burger at all. I could make them give you a salad.”

“Then I really would stop coming in here.”

“But then you wouldn’t get to see me,” she smiled broadly before going back to her food.

And every time Red came in, it was some variation of this conversation. He’d give her a slightly better than necessary tip because he knew she wouldn’t take a larger one.

It wasn’t making her millions and some days were a bit pinched, but the other staff were nice, and she could have as many meals on the house as she wanted which saved her a fortune on groceries.

Jackie saved all her extra tips for a few things, first school, she’d managed without a car, so her classes were her priority. If she somehow got a scholarship next term she’d use that money to buy a simple car to get her to classes easier. It was a struggle, but she would manage whatever happened.

She missed her friends, but everyone was busy and she guessed that was what growing up was, being alone.

Though she preferred her alone time to having everyone dub her apartment the new free motel in town.

But she was doing better overall than she had been at the start of all of this. She had a job that was supporting her even if it wasn’t that fun and glamorous, she had a nice place to stay, when she got more stable she could work on having fun.

For Hyde, it had been a long day too. He had made a mess of the store the past year, they were doing fine now and they’d never been in danger only because his employees had kept things running in his neglect but it could be going a lot smoother and that was his fault.

It had taken a while to get to the state it was in and it would take some time to even itself out.

He brought his car to Red to check her out and change the oil. He probably could have done it himself but with being behind in so many things he didn’t want his baby having the same issues because he couldn’t keep up with maintenance.

“Wondering when you’d get here.”

“You told me to bring her in after you closed.”

“I’ll take a look now and if there’s anything big, we can tackle it in the morning.”

“There better not be anything that wrong with her.”

“You tell the car that and see if it listens.”

Hyde grinned, “Do you want some help?”

“Yes, leave. You’re distracting and I can get it done faster without you. Come back in thirty to an hour.”

“Thanks Red.”

Hyde decided to wander around, he wasn’t on this side of town much and he stumbled across a diner down the block. It was as good as any place to kill an hour.

He sat himself like the sign instructed and checked out the menu.

“Hi, I’m Jackie I’ll be your server can I get you some-

Hyde’s menu fell from his hand, and he stared up at the startled waitress, she stared back at him. Shock was not the word to describe it, she was completely frozen.

She waited for the zinger, some insult about the uniform, the quality of the place if she was working there, she didn’t know what it would be but she knew he’d find something to mock her for.

A noise from the kitchen made them both jump.

“Can I get you a drink?”

“Uh, yeah a pop.”

She didn’t need to ask which kind, she returned with a co*ke. She almost dropped it three times but managed to steady her hand not to spill it on the table.

“I didn’t know you worked here.”

“No one except Red and Kitty does,” she said flatly readying herself for the insult.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“At first, I didn’t want anyone making fun of me when I inevitably got fired. Speaking of,” she glanced around at the other tables, “what can I get you?”

“Just a club sandwich and fries.”

“Coming right up.”

She scampered off to the kitchen to catch her breath. Her heart was racing.

“You okay darling?”

Sue, her boss and coworker for the day placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She was an older woman who reminded her a bit of Kitty in her motherly way.

“I’m fine, just an old boyfriend and it surprised me.”

“You want me to have Nick throw him out?”

“No, it’s not like that,” then she wondered if it had been like that. “It was just a big surprise seeing him and we’re okay but it also didn’t end great.”

“I get it, well, if he causes you any problems let us know and we’ll take care of it for you.”

Jackie smiled. The diner wasn’t fancy but it was full of some kind people.

“We’re sort of friends again, but if he starts something I’m more than willing to take care of it.”

“Good girl, kick his ass if he deserves it.”

They laughed, “Enough hiding, guess I need to get back out there.”

Jackie went back and waited on her other tables. Hyde watched her interact with everyone easily. That was never something he was good at but she effortlessly smiled and made idle chit-chat. He didn’t expect her to clear the tables but she did.

It was something he never expected he’d see.

When she brought his food he asked her if she’d sit with him.

“I don’t know,” she fumbled for an excuse.

“If you’re busy or can’t I get it.”

He wasn’t trying to call her out, but the place had pretty much cleared out.

“For a minute.”

He pushed the fries between them.

“Why doesn’t anyone know about this?” He asked curiously.

“I was embarrassed at first, it was the only place I could get a job.”

“What about the garage?”

“It was the only place I could get a job on my own without pity.”

“Red’s not like that.”

“Oh yes, he is. But I wanted to do it on my own.”

She was hardheaded, he understood that, it was one of the things they had in common.

“If you don’t want anyone to know I won’t mention it.”

“It’s okay, I guess. By now I know I won’t get fired for no good reason. And it’s not like anyone’s really around anymore.”

Sue had been watching them in the booth, it was obvious there were still feelings there. She went over to Jackie, “Why don’t you take off hun, no one’s coming in in the next half hour and all the side work is already finished.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, I’ve been running this place for over ten years. I think I can handle it.” Sue took a step away.

“I’m waiting for Red to check out my car, if you want a ride home?”

“Yes, she does.”

Jackie turned to glare at Sue.

“You said he’s not a problem, and it is too far for you to be walking at this time of night.”

Jackie rolled her eyes, Sue was exactly like Kitty.

“I will walk with you to Red’s that’s it.”

“Good enough,” Sue accepted.

Jackie walked in the back to get out of her uniform muttering about a bunch of busybodies the whole time.

Sue waved as they left, “Goodnight you two.”

Jackie was frustrated with the whole situation.

She didn’t hate Hyde and that was the problem. She couldn’t. She wanted to, knew she was completely justified but her stupid fickle heart betrayed her and she didn’t know if she loved him still, but there were still strong feelings. And she didn’t want them anymore. Part of her still wanted him despite knowing that was the worst idea in the world.

But she couldn’t help it. He had been the one person who was there for her in some of her worst moments. The other side of the coin was he was the person who had caused some of her other worst moments.

It was a war battling out between who he could be and who he had been. She could see the changes in him, but it wasn’t enough for her to trust him. And the more time she spent around him worried her that she’d fall back into old patterns and get her heart broken again.

She didn’t even want to know what he was feeling because that would complicate things. She needed that wall up between them, it kept her safe.

“You don’t have to have your feathers ruffled, I’m not going to bother you,” Hyde said.

Jackie realized they’d walked a block and she’d been brooding the whole time.

“Sorry, it’s just Sue being nosey and basically trying to set us up.”

Hyde shrugged, “She didn’t want you walking alone.”

“It hasn’t bothered her much the last few months.” She calmed down a bit, “It’s not your fault, I’ve just gotten to a place where I’m making all my own decisions and then I get pushed into something else.”

“If you don’t want me to drop you off Red can do it. I don’t want to push.”

“Thank you.”

“Why were you embarrassed about getting a job? It doesn’t seem that bad.”

“It’s not really, there were just some reasons I didn’t mention it.”

They walked a bit when he asked, “Was me being an asshole some reasons?”

Jackie stopped; her hands tucked under her arms. She could have lied but what was the point?

“Yes,” she admitted. “You were vicious about everything I did or said, and I figured it would just be another thing you could attack me over.”

Hyde nodded, for his part he looked ashamed.

“I’m not going to lie to you and say I wouldn’t have mocked you because at that point I probably would have. I know I was that way for a while, but I don’t want to be that guy anymore.”

He seemed completely genuine.

“Then don’t be, you can do better if you want to.”

“I do want to, and I’m working on it.”

Jackie continued walking with him.

“Can I make one kind of joke and then never another word about it?”

“Fine,” she said cautiously.

“It’s certainly no Cheese Maiden.”

Jackie’s face went red, “I’m never going to live that down am I?”

“No, sorry.”

It felt good to laugh even if it was at her expense, but it didn’t feel like the cruelty she’d been getting the past year. It was like who they used to be, even before they got together.

They walked to the shop together and found Red cleaning up.

“She’s all set. That’ll be five hundred dollars.”

Hyde didn’t take the bait, “For an oil change and a check?”

“I’m adding up all the food you kids ate over the years, extra fees for trying to steal my beer.”

“How about I pay you for the oil change and another twenty you can put towards beer?”

“Fine. I see you found the diner, pretty lousy food service, they never get my order right.”

“I thought it was fine,” Hyde wasn’t sure what the problem was, the food was good.

“Ignore him,” Jackie rolled her eyes at his dramatics, “he’s just mad that I threatened to tell Mrs. Forman about his cheeseburgers.”

“Alright Jackie, it’s getting late, who’s taking you home?” Red asked.

“Who said anyone was?”

“You’re not walking to the bus stop or taking a bus when there are two perfectly fine cars to take you in half the time.”

“I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

Red nodded, “Fine, Steven it is.”

“No, I didn’t mean-” she sputtered.

“That’s fine, I’ve got dinner waiting on me at home. See you tomorrow.”

Jackie huffed, knowing she wasn’t going to get her way. It was incredibly annoying.

Hyde opened her door for her, and she sulked once again.

For all the effort to control her own life, she was getting very tired of everyone butting in.

They didn’t talk on the way and just listened to music.

She thanked Hyde for the ride when he dropped her off, he waited outside until her lights turned on again.

As comforting as it was to feel that moment of safety, she was furious.

Red sat down the next day for his burger and was presented with a lightly salted chicken breast and steamed vegetables.

“What the hell is this?”

Jackie plastered on an annoyingly fake smile, “This Mr. Forman is called karma. And don’t try getting anything else, I gave everyone strict instructions that this is what you’re getting today.”

He didn’t ask why, he knew. The Loud One could be vindictive when she wanted to be, and he had set her up last night. He didn’t know how Eric had managed to get out unscathed.

“I’m sorry,” he said gruffly, “but it would be nice if you two got along again.”

“But I think I should get to make that decision.”

He deflated looking down at the chicken, “I know, you’re an adult and I shouldn’t have butted in.”

He wouldn’t have if he’d known this would be the result.

But Red ate his meal, disgusting as it was with no outward complaint.

When he went to pay Jackie brushed him off, “It’s on the house.” She also put a to-go cup on the counter.

“What’s this?”

“I’m still mad but you’re the only one who has acknowledged butting in so it’s a peace offering.”

Red took a sip, it was a chocolate malt.

“So we’re square?”

“As long as you don’t pull a stunt like that again.”

He took his drink but stopped himself from leaving, “I just wanted you to get home safe, and it would be nice if the boys helped you out once in a while.”

Jackie’s remaining irritation faded away.

She stepped around the counter and kissed his cheek, “Thank you for worrying about me.”

He gave her a small smile, “It’s what I do.”

Chapter 10

Chapter Text

Jackie found balance in her days. She worked, went to class, had her weekly dinner with the Forman’s on Friday. Hyde took Saturdays.

It was all working out.

She had a night off planned of soaking in the tub and pampering herself with candles and music and some ice cream.

As she was cleaning up her dinner plates someone knocked on her door.

She’d already paid the rent this month and her neighbors mostly kept to themselves.

“Hello?” she called through the door.

“Jackie?”

She unlocked the door and brought him in, “Fez, what are you doing here?”

“Nothing, just in the neighborhood.”

He didn’t look good.

“Fez what is it?”

“I’m fine.”

“Then why are you over here upset?

He broke down, “Kelso is cheating on me.”

“Is this the same thing or no?”

“No, it’s different I saw him.”

This was the second time Fez turned up on her doorstep crying over Michael Kelso.

She stayed out of it the first time. But sometimes instincts take over your body and reasoning.

Jackie had something to say and she was going to do it right then and there.

“Fez, stay here. We’ll talk when I get back. Go to sleep or watch some TV.”

She hugged her friend and grabbed her keys.

Hyde was sitting in the Camino. He’d been parked in front of Fez and Kelso’s apartment for an hour unable to get out. It got later the longer he waited but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He was there to apologize to Kelso for blaming him for the implosion of him and Jackie. Kelso didn’t help but blaming it all on him wasn’t accurate.

He’d been trying to fix the mess he’d made of his life. When he decided he needed to move on from the hell hole he’d dug he moved out, and while wasn’t completely sober, he’d stopped drinking almost entirely and rarely did a circle anymore.

It helped that almost everyone was gone from the basem*nt now. He only saw Eric because he still lived at home.

He’d talked to someone in AA that was a little lax on the Anonymous part, and apologizing was one of the steps. He was working through the smaller apologies up to the biggest one he owed Jackie. Today it was Kelso, he knew he should do it, but he was stuck.

But that wasn’t new, was it?

He’d been stuck for years, now it was more literal that he couldn’t will his body to get out of the car and make an apology to one of his oldest friends.

As he sat there working his will up to get out, he saw a familiar tiny brunette walk into Kelso’s apartment.

His body went cold. He shouldn’t care what Jackie did but he did. It was the biggest lie he couldn’t convince himself of. He knew he’d be in love with Jackie forever. If she ended up with Kelso it would kill him. Maybe that’s why he didn’t mind when it had been Fez she’d convinced herself she liked or loved. It had ended before it started, but deep down he knew it wouldn’t last so there wasn’t a threat. Even if he couldn’t have her there was a safety in her dating Fez.

But Kelso was it. Her first love and heartache, the one she always ran to when he’d screw up.

It didn’t matter that Kelso and Fez were supposedly together. He knew they were on the outs already so why wouldn’t Kelso run back to Jackie?

As he ticked through a mental revelry of all the things he did or didn’t do and everything about Jackie and Kelso, he almost missed her running out crying.

Jackie barely felt the cold of the night as it bit into her sink. Her anger fueled her with energy to confront Michael and kept her warm. She walked the entire way. Any other time she’d have called herself an idiot for that but it was too late when she realized she was almost there.

She pounded on the door and stormed in when Michael opened it.

“What the hell Jackie.”

“Fez is at my apartment again upset over you. I tried to stay out of it but you have got to do better. Either break up with him or start doing better because you can’t keep doing this Michael. It’s time to grow up.”

“What am I doing?”

I can’t tell you, you need to talk to Fez.

“Then why are you here?” He was confused and angry.

“Because I’m sick of you walking all over everyone’s feelings, I loved you and you cheated on me, you were with Pam and wanted me, you were with Brooke and couldn’t step up, for Fez either get it together or leave him because I’m not going to have him crying on my doorstep again.”

She realized she shouldn’t have come over, she wanted Fez to be the one to tell him and stand up to Michael like she’d been unable to do herself.

“Yeah, I screwed up with you I was seventeen.”

“Pattern of behavior,” she shouted realizing she was being unreasonable but she didn’t care. They’d never had a big blowup over all of this and she’d buried these feelings for years.”

“For someone with your track record of guys do you really want to throw that around?”

“My track record is dating two selfish guys, as opposed to you being a man whor* with any girl willing to climb in the back of your van.”

“Why are you being so bitchy to me? That’s why you can’t keep a guy. No wonder Hyde left you for the stripper.”

Kelso regretted it the second the words left his mouth, and again a second later when Jackie’s hand collided with his face.

“Ow my eye,” he doubled over.

Jackie’s hand smarted too.

Contempt seeped through her, “Screw you, Michael.”

And she stormed back out into the night.

Hyde almost missed Jackie running out of the apartment crying.

But he didn’t.

There was little that had power over him but Jackie Burkhart crying tore at something deep in his soul and even when he was often the cause of it, it killed him a little each time.

He grabbed his keys and tore off after her.

“Jackie.”

In her anger, she thought it was Michael coming after her.

He called and she kept walking fast.

Jackie, he reached out and caught her hand.

She yelped yanking her hand away with a hiss, but she stopped running.

They both stood frozen in confusion at the person before them.

Jackie’s eyes were wide with uncertainty and tears flowed down her cheeks, she cradled her hand against her chest as she and Hyde stared each other down once again.

This was a Jackie he hadn’t seen in over a year, vulnerable, soft.

For Jackie, her former love seemed so familiar, like her Steven. He was worried about her.

Hyde silently took her wrist this time and looked at her hand, it was slightly swollen, and she flinched when he touched the knuckles.

His voice was not kind or gentle, but different than the way they’d been for the past year. “I saw you leave Kelso’s,” anger seeped with every word, “did he do this to you?”

Jackie took her hand back, feeling far too exposed.

“Only his stupid ugly face.”

“What?”

“I yelled at him and punched him in the face,” she looked back up at him, “It really hurts.”

The doe eyes and the unintentional pout were something that got him every time. He never admitted that to her when they were together. She’d had enough power over him without knowing that.

“I thought I taught you how to throw a punch better than that.”

“Well, it was a while ago. Did you follow me just to criticize how I hit someone?”

Her pain was the only thing keeping him from going in and kicking Kelso’s ass. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t touched Jackie, if she was mad enough to punch him he’d said something over the line.

“No,” he said as calmly as he could manage. “I came to talk to Kelso but it can wait, where’s your ride?”

“I still don’t have one.”

“Don’t tell me you walked all the way here in the dark,” and his patience immediately disappeared.

“Fine, I won’t but I needed to talk to Michael and I needed to do it now. Don’t act concerned about me, I’ve been managing just fine.” Her anger at Michael lashed out at him. He was half the reason she was there anyway.

“Jackie, I don’t want to fight with you.”

“Since when?”

He bit back a sarcastic remark.

“Your hand seems messed up, do you want to go to the hospital or the Forman’s?”

“I’m going home,” she said firmly.

“No, you’re going to the Hospital or Kitty can look at it, those are your options.”

“Or what?” She knew she was being difficult and she didn’t care. She’d had it with all men today.

“Or I toss you over my shoulder and I pick. Your choice, it’s getting late.”

“Try it and I’ll bite you.”

He let the threat bounce off him, “Wouldn’t be the first time. Come on Do- Jackie. Just let Kitty look at it.” She was stubborn. “If your hand is messed up you won’t be able to wear any jewelry if it doesn’t heal right.”

“Fine.”

She sullenly followed him to his car and got in. It wasn’t so much jewelry, but if she couldn’t use her hand she couldn’t work and that would be an issue.

Jackie sulked in the passenger seat.

“So, why did you deck Kelso?”

“For Fez, and for me.”

“Not following.” So much of this night had him confused. It was all over the place and nothing was making any kind of sense.

“Fez showed up at my place again, said Michael cheated on him. Again. And I don’t know maybe it was because of how he treated me but I lost it and left Fez at my apartment and I told him off and then he said something and I got mad and-” she held up her hand.

“It was childish and stupid,” Jackie admitted. If she’d thought it out she wouldn’t have gone in the first place, or alone. It was stupid to show up to confront Michael about his cheating without the person accusing him of cheating.

“As someone who has hit Kelso enough times in my life, it might be childish but sometimes he needs a smack in the head.”

They pulled into the Forman driveway; the lights were still on.

“Come on Rocky.”

“I think I should have made you take me to the hospital, Red’s going to be furious.”

“Not over you, trust me.” Hyde knew without question that Red would probably burn the world to the ground for three people, Kitty, Laurie, and Jackie. She was the daughter he wished Laurie had been.

He knocked just to let him know they were coming in.

“What the hell are you doing here in the middle of the night?” Red asked. “I thought when you got an apartment I wouldn’t have these lovely late night conversations.”

“It’s not that late and we’re hoping Mrs. Forman is up?”

Jackie stepped in behind Hyde timidly. Red knew something was wrong with her, especially if she showed up with Steven after the flack she’d given him about having him drive her home.

“I’ll go get her.”

Hyde went to the freezer and came back with ice and pulled out the first aid kit just in case.

Kitty came down in her robe and noticed the first aid supplies.

“Which one of you?”

Jackie held up her hand to show it off.

“Come sit,” Kitty gestured her over to the table.

Jackie felt like a scolded sixteen-year-old all over again.

“I see you have everything out,” she said to Steven.

“I’ve been on that side of the table a few times.”

“Bend your fingers, does that hurt?”

“A little in the knuckles.”

“Hmm,” Kitty proceeded to poke at the injured area and sprayed it down. “You probably don’t need this but just in case. When you get home, I want you to ice it fifteen on fifteen off for an hour.”

“Okay.”

“How did this happen?” Kitty asked.

Jackie sunk into herself sheepishly, “I kind of punched Michael in the face.”

“I got the eye patches out in case,” Steven offered.

“It’s probably fine, but if you can’t flex your hand in the morning or it’s any more swollen you need to get it x-rayed. For now, take this,” Kitty pulled out an aspirin and handed it over.

Hyde grabbed a glass of water for her and she took the medicine.

“Do you need to talk about whatever it was?”

“No, not right now. Maybe later.”

“Do I need to go over and kick his ass?” Red asked seriously.

Hyde chuckled, “I think she took care of that already.”

Jackie blushed.

Kitty was dying to ask why the two of them were together, but she held it in.

“If you want to stay the night Laurie’s room is ready, and Steven you know your room is always yours.

“I think I want to go home, I’m only here because Hyde dragged me here.”

Hyde agreed, “She threatened me about it too.”

“If you’re sure, call me if it gets worse.”

“I will, sorry to bother you.”

“Not at all, Sweetie.”

They waved as the kids got back in the car and drove off.

Kitty immediately turned to Red giddy, “Why were they together? What happened do you know?”

“I got as much information as you did, but the Kettle Head might have been useful for once.”

Chapter 11: Death By A thousand little Cuts

Chapter Text

“Why were you at Michael’s?” Jackie asked. It made a little sense why she was there, but Hyde had no real reason to be there at that time.

“I was going to apologize to him for something.”

“You? Apologize.”

That stung, but it wasn’t without merit.

He may as well be honest with her. “I know I owe you one that I probably can’t ever make good enough, but I was going to start with Kelso. If that didn’t go completely sideways, I was going to talk to you later.”

Jackie held up her hand, “Does this count as sideways?”

He smirked, “More of a detour, sideways was more like a fist fight and I end up in jail. Turned out I was half right.”

“You know it is later now.”

He knew what she wanted. And he could avoid it and push it to later, but he didn’t know what kind of damage that would do. They were already fragile. He wouldn’t even say they were friends at this point, barely even friendly.

“Not while I’m driving.”

Jackie expected him to take her home, but he turned and went on a familiar path to where they used to hang out when they wanted to be alone.

Neither had been there without the other it was their sacred place.

He cut the engine and removed his sunglasses.

It cut Jackie that the last time they’d sat like this he’d told her he’d cheated on her. It didn’t make her feel better in this situation.

There was enough light from the moon she could see his face despite the darkness.

“I’m not sure if I’m ready to do this,” he admitted, “sure there’s stuff I’ve thought about saying every day for months but I don’t know if this is enough.”

Her words caught in her throat, “Just say it.”

“I’m sorry.” It was the simple truth. “I blamed you for a lot of stuff that was wrong with us and I always put it back on Kelso. But I made mistakes because I chose to. It’s not even Chicago, it was a lot of things before that. I got stuck in my head and I ignored you and stopped worrying about anything because I didn’t want to grow up.”

It didn’t fix anything, but Jackie felt some kind of contentment at finally hearing an apology, she fully expected that was it but he went on.

“I didn’t mean it how it came out when I said my future would be crap. I was thinking about working a job I hated and responsibilities I didn’t want. I wasn’t thinking about you when I said that. I guess that was a big problem of ours, I wasn’t thinking about you.”

Jackie stared straight ahead, fighting the tears threatening to fall down her cheeks.

“I never thought I’d hear you apologize for any of it.”

“There’s a lot more. I was going to go with you, to Chicago.”

Jackie sucked in a breath. She thought he would when he showed up at the motel, but then everything fell apart.

“I should have told you when you came back to the basem*nt but after the letter I was hurt and I thought you were playing a game with me,” he said.

“I wasn’t I swear. I was going to leave. I left the letter and by the time I walked back home my mom and the car were both gone.”

He didn’t know if that helped, but at least he knew she hadn’t been playing with him. “When I got to Chicago and then saw Kelso in the towel and heard what he said, I lost it. I know you wouldn’t cheat but I wasn’t thinking about that. I was thinking about every time you used to forgive him no matter what he’d done to you, how you both always ran back to the other for comfort. All the stuff he said to me about getting you back in the past and I left.”

Jackie knew she wasn’t innocent in their downfall; Steven was just more proactive in it.

“Steven, I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to do it and I didn’t even know I was doing it at the time, but I did run back to Michael when I didn’t have you. And you were right, I wasn’t going to go back to him, but he did try to get me back all the time. And I didn’t stop him. I didn’t know then I needed to because but I’m sorry for not realizing it.”

“You don’t have to apologize for that. Not when I screwed up so badly. I didn’t intend for Sam to happen, I swear it. But I stayed to hurt you. And in a messed up way I saw how much I hurt you and hated myself for it. It’s not the alcohol’s fault but I drank to numb everything and it made me worse. Then I was actively trying to hurt you because I knew how and I know it’s messed up but in my head I thought I would hurt less if you were hurting more.”

Jackie had seen that happen in real time. It didn’t make it hurt less. “Steven, you have no idea how much I hurt. It was bad enough you married her instead of me, drunk or not. I could have gotten over that. But you stayed with her, a stranger. When we’d been together for years and you didn’t want a future with me, you stayed with someone you didn’t know. Everyday watching you with her, like we had never happened. Her sitting on your lap, making nice with our friends who it took me years to get to treat me like a person. It was torture every day watching you turn into the very worst parts of your parents.”

He knew he’d hurt her but he hadn’t realized how deep everything had gone.

“You were my white knight once upon a time. Punching out a guy I couldn’t have cared any less about other than making you jealous for calling me a bitch, and then you to do the same and let me fall into the creek over and over.” She paused reliving the memory, “I don’t know who you were then, but I don’t like him.”

“I don’t either. I’m not saying I’m magically better or you should forgive me because you shouldn’t. I’m just saying I know I hurt you and I’m sorry for every little and big thing I did to you. Even the stuff I didn’t do, by keeping Sam here the rest of that stuff snowballed. Like I said earlier, I can’t ever apologize enough to you, but you were the most important thing in my life, and I want you to know that all my screwups had to do with me, not you. And I’m sorry you got caught in the fallout.”

Her breathing shuddered. She knew she could have done better communicating with him about their relationship issues, but since the day Eric left for Africa, Hyde had been a one-man wrecking crew on her life. A smarter person would accept the apology and move on and never speak to him again.

“I wish you had told me you wanted to come with me,” she said hoarsely, “We could have avoided a lot of hurt.”

Sadly, he asked, “Why didn’t you wait?”

“For what?”

“For my answer you just left a note.”

“The time was almost up, if I had to wait and hear you tell me no, I don’t think I could have taken it. So, I wrote that note and went home and found the car and my mom gone and I couldn’t leave.”

“I wish you’d waited.”

“So do I.” Jackie took a huge risk but her heart needed it to heal. She placed her hand over his. “I probably shouldn’t forgive you, but I need to. Steven, I forgive you. You can’t change anything that happened, but I know you’re trying to do better. And I want you to. You deserve that.”

He chuckled mirthfully, “I really don’t.”

“Yes, you do. And if you stop trying to wreck the good things in your life you might see that you can do better and deserve better. But I’ll only forgive you on one condition.”

“Anything.”

“Prove me right.”

He could not understand her unwavering belief in him. Hell in all of them. The worst things he’d ever done to anyone were the things he’d done to Jackie. The girl he loved more than anything. Yet, she was willing to forgive him.

“Shouldn’t even ask this of you but is there any way we can try and be friends again?”

“Just friends?”

“I hate that you’re not in my life anymore. I know I did that, but this awkward being stuck around each other for the Forman’s is awful. I know I’ve been horrible, but I don’t want you to hate me anymore.”

“I don’t hate you. Believe me I’ve tried and I’m tired of trying. We can’t go right back to being friends, but we can try, because being cordial and civil hurts too much. I don’t want to walk on eggshells with you.”

The truth was he’d always been her truest friend. She loved Donna but she wouldn’t lie and say they hadn’t had issues the last year. It was Steven she told about her parents disappearing, it was Steven who she’d cried to so many times. She didn’t know about Hyde, but maybe he could be Steven again.

“I miss you too,” Jackie admitted, “I can’t say friends just yet, but almost friends.” She held out her hand for him to shake.

“Almost friends,” he took her hand sealing the deal.

Jackie wiped away the tears that had fallen, “Not that this hasn’t been fun, but I left Fez at my place and it’s been a long day.”

He started the car and headed back to her apartment.

Maybe he didn’t need to apologize to Kelso just yet. You have to mean it or it doesn’t count.

And this one, this one meant more.

Chapter 12

Chapter Text

“Jackie, do you have class today or are you working?” Eric asked over the phone.

It was still morning, but Fez had already gone home.

“I have work but not until this evening.”

“Great, I need you to come to the basem*nt right now.”

“Is everything okay?”

“No one’s in the hospital or anything but it’s important.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can get there.”

“I’ll pick you up in ten.” He hung up without a goodbye.

“Oh, sure.”

She finished getting dressed and waited out front for Eric.

She got in and he was off as soon as she shut the door, “What is going on?”

“Fez and Kelso are arguing and Hyde’s raging about something and I told everyone to come over and I need another mediator.”

Jackie cringed at that information. “I punched Michael in the face last night, I don’t think I’m the right person.”

He glanced at her, “Okay maybe you’re one of the participants then. Either way, we’ve all been dragged into whatever is going on.”

“You know it was better when you asked for a favor for Red.”

“Yeah, well, I can’t threaten to put my foot in anyone’s asses so this will have to do.”

They walked into the kitchen and heard the shouting from downstairs.

“I want to know what the hell did you said to Jackie.”

“Oh no,” Eric said rushing for the stairs.

“That’s none of your business.”

Hyde and Kelso kept going back and forth.

“The hell it isn’t, she hit you and was crying.”

“That’s between me and her,” Kelso shouted. “I want to know why everyone is screaming at me. I get why Jackie punched me, I was out of line, but why was she yelling at me in my apartment?”

“Out of line how?”

“Don’t worry about it, he knows what he said,” Jackie said trying to diffuse half of the arguing.

“Everyone to their corners.” Eric pointed to the various spots, “Hyde chair, Fez, Freezer, Kelso couch.”

He looked at Jackie. “Do you need a corner or are you going to keep your hands to yourself?”

“Not if you keep that up.”

“Fair enough.” Eric waited until everyone took their spots. “Alright we’re on a bit of a time crunch here and we’re going to get this out once and for all.”

He went for Hyde who was the easiest issue to solve, but the one with the worst attitude.

“First point, Hyde, you don’t need to try and kick Kelso’s ass. Jackie seems to have done that sufficiently.” Eric saw the black eye and had heard from his mother about it already.

Jackie smiled smugly. She thought she should feel guilty, but she didn’t. She was still mad at him for what he’d said to her.

“I disagree. Jackie went in fine, and left injured and crying. I know I’ve been an ass but she didn’t even punch me when I deserved it, so what did he say to her?”

“Now I disagree,” Jackie said. “What Michael said to me is between us until I say otherwise.”

“I’m sorry,” Kelso said sheepishly.

“Good,” she snapped at him before turning back to Hyde. “I’m asking you to respect my wishes here and let it go. If I want to tell you I will. Right now, I don’t.”

Hyde scowled considering her request.

“I will tell you he said something thoughtless, but he didn’t threaten me or anything. So please let it go.”

“Fine,” it was his turn to sulk.

Eric assumed that was as good as he was going to get, “Okay one down, Kelso do you have something to say?”

“I shouldn’t have said what I said, Jackie.”

“I’m aware of that,” Jackie said hostilely. Her hand still hurt and it was going to make work more difficult than it needed to be.

“Please forgive me.”

“No.”

“But you said to Hyde-”

“Those are two different situations. I’m not forgiving you right now. You know what you said was over the line and rude. Move on Eric it’s not happening today.”

“Right, I figured.” He took a deep breath. He knew that something had shifted the way Hyde was defending Jackie and the way she wasn’t fighting him. That was definitely not something they could address in the few hours they had.

“Fez and Kelso, you are having issues. And it’s affecting the rest of us. As someone who has ignored issues until it blew up, you have to confront this.”

“I don’t even know what this is,” Kelso said.

“Wait, you still haven’t said anything?” Hyde asked Fez.

“No.”

“Well go ahead.”

“I don’t want to. He knows what he did.”

“No, I don’t.”

Jackie had dealt with a lot recently. Last night had been a roller coaster, and she was drained emotionally. So while she would like to be the kind of person who calmly dealt with a delicate situation, she snapped.

“That’s it. I’m not Mrs. Forman, I’m tired of you all running to my house at odd hours with random problems I can’t fix but refusing to fix them yourselves.”

She stood angrily to confront them both, “Michael, Fez says you’re cheating on him. You,” she turned to Fez, “keep crying to us but won’t say anything to him. Both of you talk, break up, I don’t care but do something.”

She huffed and threw herself down on the chair. No one dared even look at her.

The bomb had gone off and the silence echoed deafeningly within the basem*nt.

Kelso looked at Fez and quietly said, “I’m not cheating on you.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Why would you say that?” Kelso asked.

Jackie had been the accuser many times, something about the way he answered made her believe him.

Fez was visibly upset, “Because I know what I saw, and you are a whor*.”

“I swear to God Fez,” Jackie’s lack of patience was thinning, “I’ve been hearing that for a month what did you see him do the first time?”

“You kissed Brooke,” Fez finally admitted.

Kelso was visibly confused, “No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did. I saw it.”

“When?”

“When she dropped Besty off for a week, you kissed her.”

Kelso thought back that had been a while ago and he remembered. “On the cheek.”

“He admits it.”

“I kiss Eric’s Mom on the cheek, and nothing is going on, I mean I would your mom’s hot.”

“Do you want a second black eye?” Eric asked irritably.

“That was it? The first whole thing with you showing up drunk at my apartment was because of the cheek kiss?”

“Yes.”

“Fez, it wasn’t like that. Brooke and I do that, if you don’t like it, I’d stop.”

Eric, Hyde, and Jackie shared a look. It was shocking to hear Kelso sounding so adult about something.

“Is that it?” Kelso asked.

“No, I know about last night too.”

“What about last night? I was at work.”

“I know,” Fez nearly spit the word out.

Jackie fully understood what drove Kitty to start drinking so much. All of them were infuriating without a brain in their heads.

She counted slowly to calm herself.

This time Eric prodded them along.

“Fez, what happened when Kelso was at work?”

“I came to bring you lunch. And I saw that girl was all over you.”

“What girl?” Kelso shouted. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

In the many times Jackie accused Kelso of cheating, in which case he always had, he always played stupid claiming she didn’t know what she was talking about. This time he didn’t seem like he was playing. He scoffed and flipped it back at her. He never asked for explanations.

“I saw you through the glass that girl was on top of you.”

“Damn, Kelso,” Eric said looking uncomfortable.

“Are you kidding me?” Kelso was shaking, “That’s why I have a black eye?”

“You have a black eye because you ran your mouth,” Jackie said irritably.

Kelso chose to ignore her.

“She’s my partner, we were training. We are required to do combat and defensive training every week when we’re not on patrol.”

“A likely story.”

“Okay then, where were our clothes huh? We were dressed, we were in a room with twenty other people, did you see that?”

“What about after that?”

“I came home.”

“Alone? Or with her?”

“If you had been there, you would have seen I was alone.”

“Maybe this time,” Fez said angrily.

Something in Kelso broke.

“This time,” his voice was low and flat. “So, you’re just waiting for me to screw up again, is that it?”

Fez didn’t say anything.

“I know I cheated on Jackie, hell everyone knows that, but we were kids. I was seventeen and stupid, but that was years ago.”

“You cheated on Laurie,” Fez reminded him. “You tried to get Jackie back when she and Hyde got together.”

“And I was eighteen and stupid then. I’m not saying I’m a genius now because I’m a little older, but Betsy changed things. I might not be great but I’m not that bad anymore.”

Fez repeated his early statement, “A likely story.”

Kelso was getting more upset as the conversation went on, “Did I cheat on Angie?”

“No, because I’d have had to kill you,” Hyde said.

“Right, and did I cheat on Brooke when we were trying?”

“Obviously not,” Jackie confirmed, “because I’d have helped Brooke bury you.”

“So, in two and a half years I haven’t cheated, I have a job and a daughter but you’re just waiting for me to screw up like I did when I was a teenager?”

“No, but you know what you were like.”

“I was like that,” Kelso admitted, “I never said I wasn’t. But I’m not that guy anymore.”

Kelso thought about everything he’d just heard.

“Fez, did you bring me lunch so you could catch me doing something?”

“No,” he said quickly.

“Then why did you come up to the station? You’ve never done that before.”

“Okay fine, I wanted to see if you were at work or if you were lying to me.”

Kelso was shocked. He knew he deserved a bit of hesitation about his honesty, but this was too much.

“Why did you want to get together if you were paranoid about me cheating on you.”

“I wasn’t, but then I remembered Pam Macy, Laurie, Pam again, Laurie again. All the girls and why would you be with me all of a sudden?”

It was getting to be a lot more than the simple fix Eric had imagined, “You two need to talk, why don’t we go and leave you to it?”

“No, I think we’ve talked enough today,” Kelso’s voice shook. “I think we need a break.”

“I don’t want that,” Fez said.

“Then what do you want? Because I can’t figure it out. Maybe you can without me around.”

Kelso turned and stormed out slamming the door behind him.

The four of them sat awkwardly until a teary-eyed Fez stood. “I think I should go home.”

“Fez, why don’t you stay here? You shouldn’t be alone.”

“No, I need to go.”

Without telling them good day he left.

“As much fun as that was,” Eric shifted awkwardly, “do you guys want to hang out and watch TV for a bit?”

“I have some time before work. It can’t be any worse than watching that,” Jackie said.

Hyde being closest, flipped on the tv and Eric landed on the couch.

“I need to say something,” Hyde said.

“Go on,” Eric sighed, “if there’s going to be any more crazy confessions we may as well get it over with.”

“Hey Jackie,” Hyde looked over and waited for her to look back, “you might want to take mediator or therapist off your prospective career goals.”

In very un-Jackie like behavior, she flipped him off.

Chapter 13

Chapter Text

The three of them cleared out at the same time, Hyde offered to take Jackie home.

She wasn’t happy about it because she knew exactly what was going to happen.

He made it out of the neighborhood before asking, “What did Kelso say to you?”

“You lasted longer than I thought you would. I would have put my money down for the second you backed out of the driveway.”

“If you really don’t want to tell me fine, but obviously it upset you.”

“Ya think?” She looked down at her hand and wiggled her fingers. It was still sore, but Mrs. Forman said it was expected. At least she avoided a hospital trip.

Hyde noticed her attention on her hand. “I never asked you, how is it?”

“Hurts, but I’ll survive.”

“You always do.” He remembered her falling at cheer and he thought she’d be hobbling on crutches for weeks, one week later she was off them with barely a limp.

He dropped it and didn’t ask anymore.

That’s what made Jackie tell him. “Don’t get mad, Michael and I will fight it out between us eventually and right now isn’t the time. So if I tell you, promise me that you won’t confront him about it, at least until this thing with Fez is cleared up.”

He hated conversations that started that way, “I will promise up to a point.”

“Then I won’t tell you.

“Fine, I promise.”

Jackie knew he was probably lying, at least that’s what would happen when he heard it. “We were arguing it went around to me bringing up him cheating on me and we both said some awful stuff and then he said no wonder you left me for the stripper.”

The car jerked to the side of the road before he straightened it back out.

“Guess it’s a good thing we talked when you parked last night,” Jackie tried to make light of it.

She didn’t want to tell him, but she knew how his mind worked and not telling him would make it a bigger thing in the end.

He looked pale. “Jackie I’m sorry,” he began. “If I could take it all back, I would.”

“Stop, you didn’t say it, and it’s true. Neither of us can change it now.”

“And that’s when you hit him?”

“Yes.”

“When you say I can’t confront him, can I just go punch him in the other eye?”

“No,” she said sternly.

“I don’t have to talk to him about it. I can just take care of it.”

“You promised. Anyway, I know Michael feels bad about it, but it was a crappy thing to say and I get to stay mad about it as long as I want.”

“Wait, you can be angry all you want, but he talks about me and I just have to be cool about it.”

“Put those Zen lessons to good use,” she taunted him.

“That’s kind of contradictory.”

“I’m a woman, I get to be. I didn’t say you can’t be mad, but he and Fez are falling apart. Leave him alone for a while, later you can yell at him about it.”

“I don’t know how you’re so calm if you punched him over it.”

“Maybe I’m calm because I punched him. Maybe that’s how you got your Zen to work.”

He caught her smirking out of the corner of his eye, “I told you grasshopper, when Zen fails, kicking ass begins.”

Eric came into Grooves later that night. The store was empty, but it was close to closing time.

“Hey man,” Hyde said counting out the register.

“Hi,” Eric had a goofy expression on his face.

Hyde ignored it, if it was Forman, it had to be something weird.

Eric leaned over the counter never taking his eyes off Hyde.

It got annoying and he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Did you get something from someone who wasn’t Leo?”

“I’m not high,” Eric said defensively.

“So, you’re acting like that normal?”

“Come on details.”

“What details? Are you sure you’re not on something?” Hyde took off his glasses to check out Eric’s eyes. They seemed normal enough.

“DE-TAILS,” he said slowly. “What happened with you and Jackie?”

“Nothing happened.”

“Bull, you two could barely be in the same room a week ago and now Jackie asks you to respect her wishes and you listen, you one second away from tearing Kelso apart over Jackie crying? You can’t tell me that nothing happened.”

He did not want Forman getting involved, that was the last thing he needed. “Mind your business.”

“So, there is business?” Eric pushed.

“You are your mother’s son, leave me alone.” Hyde walked past him to put away some inventory and Eric followed him.

“Come on, I’m your best friend. We’re brothers. Tell me what happened,” he half demanded, half whined.

He was like a dog with a bone and Hyde knew he’d never get him off his back if he didn’t tell him something.

“Listen Erica, you need to keep it together if I tell you.”

He was grinning ear to ear. “Scouts honor.”

“I was at Kelso’s to talk to him and Jackie ran out hurt. I brought her to your mom and dropped her off at her place since she doesn’t have a car.”

Eric waited and nothing more happened. “AND?”

“And nothing.”

“No, see I know both of you and something else happened and I’ll follow you around looking like this until you tell me.”

“There’s something serious disturbed about you.” Hyde sighed, it had been too long of a day for all this. “Jackie and I talked and I apologized for some of the stuff.”

Eric practically squealed, “Oh my god, little Hyde is growing up.”

“I hate you.”

“The Tinman still has a heart.”

“Go away.”

Eric opened his arms up, “Come on buddy, give me a hug, let out your feelings.”

“Kelso doesn’t need to be the only one with a black eye.”

“I know that’s just your fear talking, it’s okay don’t let it bottle up.”

“Get the hell out of my store.”

Eric stopped teasing him, but he was still laughing. “You want to grab some food?”

“Are you going to keep bugging me?”

“Probably, but I’ll try not to.”

Hyde decided it was the best he was going to get. “Fine.”

They didn’t make it five steps out of the store before Eric asked, “So, when are you going to make a move?”

It was on the sixth step when Hyde shoved him into a wall.

Chapter 14

Chapter Text

It was the first time in almost a year that Jackie had been inside Grooves. Sure, she’d driven past it many times. Sometimes just to look in and remember all the good times she’d had there. That they’d had there.

The changes were minimal, a few new artists’ posters on the walls, the same old pillows, and chairs. It was like a step back in time to last year. What she wouldn’t give to take that step back before everything got destroyed.

The register was empty, and no one was on the floor.

“Hello?” she called. She was sure it was open. Maybe Hyde had left Leo on the register, and he’d wandered off.

Again.

She heard something fall in the back then muttered swearing.

Jackie had seen enough horror movies to know not to follow that sound. There was more shuffling, and Hyde finally appeared.

“Jackie?” He was surprised to see her there.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m just trying to move stuff that should have been out already and watch the front.”

“So, no?”

He didn’t dignify that with an answer. “What are you doing here anyway?” He knew exactly the last time she’d been in the store it was 324 days. Chicago was only a few days later.

Her nerves came back, she didn’t want to do this, but some things were more important than her pride. “I need to ask a favor.”

“Shoot.”

“You can say no, but I need to shadow a business for my class and write up some papers on it. You wouldn’t need to do anything with that part, but well, you have a business. And I already know most of how it works already.”

“If you want to sure, but why not the muffler shop or the diner?” He scratched the back of his head, more of a nervous tick than anything.

“I’m not allowed to use my job I thought about that, but I already know most of how Mr. Forman runs it and one of our topics is what possible changes we could make to make it more profitable.”

He nodded, “And you won’t convince Red to change a thing.”

“No, you don’t need to change anything, you don’t even have to look at the paper, but it’s a mechanic shop. He’s got pretty much all the business he can handle, and there’s not much he can or needs to change at the shop.”

“And I’m falling apart here?” He was teasing her, he could see she was uncomfortable asking a favor of any kind. But he wasn’t exactly joking.

Jackie just didn’t know that yet.

“Not like that, I mean I can come up with organization or marketing tactics I’ve learned that can hypothetically bring in more business. Hell, I can make up sales promotions based on different artists.”

“If you want to hang around here go ahead. I’m short-staffed anyway.”

“Why? Not paying your staff enough? Have you turned into the man?” She jokingly pulled out a pen, “This will be great for my essay.”

He glared at her halfheartedly, “No, my staff got the flu.”

“Sorry. I figured you had Leo on the floor again.”

“Yeah, I do,” he irritably checked his watch, “his shift started three hours ago.”

Jackie glanced around, still seeing no one, “Then where is he?”

“Who knows? Anyway, you want to start now?” He asked. “I’ve got a great angle for what you can fix.”

Jackie set her stuff behind the counter like she used to without thinking and followed him to the back office, “I’m sure it’s not that- STEVEN!” she shouted reflexively.

Her mouth fell open at the mess. Boxes were piled nearly to the ceiling in his office of merchandise. One stack was turned sideways all over the floor.

“I know,” he said defeatedly.

“Good, because if you didn’t I’d walk out of here right now and have someone come and take you to the mental ward.”

He might as well bite the bullet. It wouldn’t fix it but might now sound quite as bad as it looked without context.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it, when I was drinking I stopped paying attention to this stuff and if I didn’t feel like working I’d stack a few up until I felt like dealing with it, then I never felt like it. Next shipment a week or two later, rinse repeat.”

Jackie stared at the chaos.

She regretted this already.

“How stable are those stacks?”

He glanced over them, the one he’d knocked down scattered all over the floor. “They’re good until you mess with them.”

“I swear if anything falls on me,” she threatened.

“It won’t, that only fell because I was trying to get the top boxes down without a ladder. I’ll get the higher ones down later.”

Jackie collected her thoughts, then came up with her plan. “Okay, I’m going to look around the front and see what has room, then I’ll work on the boxes.”

“You don’t have to do that; I just want help cleaning the ones I dropped.”

“No, I might as well. You can do your inventory as I go.”

He wasn’t about to say no to help a second time. He liked the guys who worked for him, but organized they were not.

Jackie wandered the stacks and jotted down notes on artists and genres that were empty. It wouldn’t be the greatest help but it was a start.

When she got back Hyde had righted everything that had fallen. Jackie looked at the boxes, more closely. They were all blank. “So, none of these are labeled?”

“No, and they’re all mixed together.”

“That is stupid, it’s going in my report.”

“Report it away. That’s kind of how this happened. They’re a pain to sort and I got sick of it.”

“How did this happen? I mean they didn’t used to get shipped this way.” She’d helped him put away many shipments in the past.

“Someone in the offices decided it cut costs to do it this way.”

“But now you’re drowning in merchandise?”

“Exactly.”

“We can fix this,” Jackie wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince Hyde or herself. “Do you know where the inventory orders are?”

“Yes, but it’s a huge stack of them at this point and they’re all mixed.”

She looked back over everything, “You couldn’t have planned to make this any more difficult than you have. Why didn’t you leave the inventory in the boxes or at least with the stack they came with.”

“It’s not like I did it on purpose, it was worse. I’ve been working on it for a while,” he said indignantly. “And the inventory sheets come separately at the start of the month, you don’t know what is showing up when.”

She didn’t like hearing that it was worse.

How had WB let it get this bad? Hadn’t any of their friends come in and seen anything?

“How have you been going through them then?”

Hyde pulled a ledger from his desk.

“I’m not a total screw up, as I go through the box, I write down the artist, album, and how many we received. When I get through one then I go and start crossing it off the inventory pile.”

“And you’ve been doing that alone for what, months?”

“Pretty much. I can’t do anything when we’re busy, which is Friday and the weekends. Plus, whenever it randomly gets busy or someone popular drops a new album. And we’re still getting new shipments every few weeks. Those I’ve kept up the paperwork on so they’re taken care of immediately but I’m playing catch up.”

She let out a long breath.

“Some of this is your fault you know that right?”

“Believe me, I’m aware and kicking myself every time I come in here.”

“But this new system is stupid and unorganized and that’s not on you. Yes, it’s more to deal with because you’re behind but whoever set up that system made it ridiculously stupid.”

“I agree.”

There wasn’t anything more to say and just to start doing.

“Hand me some paper and grab a box. We’re going to be working on this for a while.”

They sorted through a few boxes each and the pile of finished ones slowly grew. Every time Hyde had a customer he had to stop and figure out where he’d left off when he got back. No wonder it was taking him forever to do this alone.

A few boxes in Hyde stopped, “We need to put these out on the floor or the tower is just going to happen over here.”

“Do you have any spare boxes?”

“A couple why?”

“Instead of piling the finished ones up what if we sorted them by genre as we go so you can grab what you need instead of sorting again or putting them away right now.”

“It can’t make it worse.”

“Why don’t you start sorting them out how you want them? Your indie and folk section is low by the way.”

It was tedious work.

Both of them were sore and bored.

“I’m calling it a night,” Hyde said.

“But there’s still so many boxes.” They had managed to get through two short stacks. It was a lot of progress in its own right, but there were still all the boxes stacked to the ceiling behind them.

“Jackie, we closed thirty minutes ago.”

She looked up to see the clock on the wall showing it was past eight.

“I know it felt like forever I didn’t realize it was literal.”

“Take out whatever you haven’t written down and I’ll take care of it tomorrow.”

She handed him her stack of papers, then stretched out her sore limbs.

Hyde tucked everything back in his desk, “Come on, I’ll give you a ride home.”

“That’s okay.”

“Employee policy you’re not taking the bus at night.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not an employee.”

“Well, I’m starving, I can buy you a burger at least as thanks.”

“You don’t have to do that,” they’d made a lot of headway in how comfortable she was around him, but she still didn’t want him doing things for her.

“You’ve already saved me days of work you know that? We weren’t even that busy and I managed half of what you got done because I had to keep stopping.”

Jackie wanted to protest but her stomach chose then to growl.

“Okay. Just a burger.”

She would not let herself fall back in. A slow step towards friendship was all they were working for.

That was all.

Jackie felt her traitorous subconscious telling her that she was an idiot.

Chapter 15

Chapter Text

Jackie was back the next day when he opened the store.

Hyde was grateful with everyone else still out sick and Leo AWOL.

“You know you didn’t mention how long you were doing this for,” Hyde said casually.

“Two weeks minimum. Honestly, I can probably get away with a few days,” she neglected to say that she had spent so much time here with him before she could do this practically blindfolded now. “I already have enough for one of my essays. You just have to sign my form saying I was here.”

“I’ll sign anything after yesterday.”

“Speaking of, I’ll get back to it, but you should probably start shelving.”

He grinned, “You know for someone shadowing my business you’re pretty bossy.”

“All I heard is I’m pretty, which I already knew,” she flipped her hair over her shoulder as she walked past him into the office.

He silently agreed.

Jackie showing up randomly while he worked had been such a common thing that the place seemed haunted when she stopped coming by. Since the day he started she’d stop by with lunch, to listen to music, sit behind the register just to spend time with him. She’d basically been an unpaid employee, often getting bored and helping him unpack boxes or directing customers.

He’d missed this.

He’d missed her.

*****

Jackie had successfully logged and sorted the shorter stacks over the last few hours. Whatever she was unsure of, she put off to the side for Hyde to deal with later.

She could hear Hyde talking to a customer out front. She didn’t want to bother him and he had left the ladder, so Jackie decided to start on another stack while she still had time before work.

The top boxes were awkward, but Jackie managed to get ahold of it but coming down her heel slipped on the step the box went crashing down and she was going right after it. She braced for the crash but only the collision of her knee into the ladder gave her any pain and she jolted to a stop.

The world froze for a second.

“Jesus Jackie, are you alright?”

She was dazed and trying to get her bearings. She was not on the ground, nor was she hurt more than her banged-up knee.

Then her panic set in as she realized she was in Hyde’s arms.

“I’m okay,” she said shakily. “You can put me down now.”

Hyde was glad she wasn’t hurt but he was furious. “Why the hell were you on the ladder, I told you I’d get to it?”

“You were busy I can handle going up a ladder.”

“Apparently not,” he fumed.

Jackie’s nerves bristled, but she remained calm, “Steven, I slipped alright. It happens.”

“I don’t need you falling and cracking your head open because you’re impatient.” He was trying to stop himself, but he couldn’t.

Memories of the past year flooded back to Jackie, the degradation, the insults, the plain meanness. She felt her blood boiling with all of it.

“I think I’m done for the day. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

In the second it took Jackie to get angry, Hyde collected himself enough to get it under control, “Jackie, wait.”

She spun on him. “No, you want me to see that you’re doing better and whatever else, but you’re already acting like the jerk I so lovingly got to know the past year.”

She grabbed her bag from under the counter, and slammed the door behind her, leaving Hyde to revel in his solitude.

******

Jackie had been irritable since she walked out of Grooves.

She had let her guard down and Hyde had come at her already.

Not to mention she was now having to be on her feet all shift with her knee killing her. She had just gotten over her hand aching randomly and now it was her knee, which was decidedly worse.

All she wanted was to go home and crawl into a scalding hot bath and forget that all men existed.

Sue came into the kitchen after her while she was taking a breather, “Someone just sat in your section.”

“Of course, they did, thanks.”

“Do you want me to get him?” While Jackie had been polite and worked well, she knew the girl was upset about something.

Of course, it was a him, another man getting on her very last nerve today.

“No, I’m alright. I just had a bad morning.”

“If you’re sure.”

Jackie turned the corner to find Hyde sitting at her table.

Unlike the smile she plastered on for everyone else, she scowled at him.

“What do you want?” She snapped.

He held up his hands, “Truce.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and arched a brow waiting.

“Let me explain,” he knew he had very little leeway here, “I wasn’t trying to yell at you.”

“Well, you did a very bad job at not yelling at me,” she snarked.

“I came in and saw you falling, and I freaked out okay? I shouldn’t have shouted, but I saw you falling and I panicked.”

“It’s not like I was going to sue you for me slipping off the ladder.”

“Jackie, do you seriously think that’s what I was worried about?” He said solemnly, “I couldn’t care less if you sued the store, I just don’t want to see you get hurt. I know I haven’t always done a good job of that, but it would kill me if you got hurt especially because of me again.”

Jackie wanted to be mad at him, she wanted to pour his glass of water over his head and kick him out. And with everything in her, she tried to muster up that anger, but it was gone.

She saw the sincerity in his eyes.

She couldn’t fight it; it was that genuine honesty she used to see there that always made her melt.

She deflated, but she was still upset with him.

“What can I get you? The burgers are always a hit or Nick makes good fried chicken.”

“I don’t care.”

She left and came back later with a plate of fried chicken and put it down in front of him wordlessly.

Instead of a thank you, he asked, “Do you want a ride home?”

She paused considering the offer, “Yes.” None of her usual hesitant refusals of trying to be independent.

That was a clue that he should run, but he’d made this mess and he had to face the consequences.

And he was right.

Jackie took her sweet time leaving that night. She didn’t rush wiping down the tables, wrapping silverware, or mopping.

Hyde knew it was all for his benefit.

She was toying with him but today he’d go along with it. The more she put it off by cleaning there was a chance she might cool off, there was also an equally scary chance that she’d get madder the more she stewed on it.

Eventually, they walked in silence to his car.

He took a long breath before getting in, he knew this wasn’t going to be a fun ride.

They barely made it out of the parking lot when Hyde said, “You have every right to be angry with me.”

“Thank you for the permission,” she said sarcastically.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled at you, like I said I panicked when I saw you falling.”

“Unlike the creek?”

It stung, and she’d meant it to.

“It’s not an excuse, but I was drunk then.”

“It sounds like an excuse.” Jackie knew she was being unkind, but she would not let what happened last year happen again.

“To a point, yeah maybe you’re right that it’s an excuse.” He wasn’t trying to justify his actions then, but he had lost control then. “Be as mad at me for today as you want, I deserve it and a hell of a lot more, but you have got to realize you scared the hell out of me.”

She cast a glance out of the corner of her eye.

“I came back to the office to see if you wanted to grab lunch and I saw you falling from six feet off the ground and all I could think of was you crashing and knocking yourself unconscious.”

“So, your solution was to yell?”

“I reacted Jackie, I wasn’t trying to shout at you, but I freaked out. I couldn’t help it and not like when I chose to drink couldn’t help it. I was scared that you were hurt.”

He waited and she didn’t respond, “When we were together, weren’t you freaked when Kelso knocked me off the water tower?”

She pressed her lips together tightly, she was angry but she knew how upset she was when Kitty had called her saying he was in a neck brace and only mildly injured but he’d fallen from so high up he was lucky he wasn’t dead.

“For what it’s worth I’m glad you’re okay,” he said.

It broke most of her anger.

She grumbled out a, “Thank you.”

He let her stew; he’d said all he could to explain himself.

“Why were you so angry?”

“I told you I just reacted.”

“No, I get that, but what made you react like that? I’m sure you wouldn’t have been shouting at Eric or Michael, or even Donna like that.”

He was still shaken up from their fight and watching her fall and his brain wasn’t helping him come up with an excuse.

She was going to make him say it.

“I care about you,” he kept his eyes straight ahead on the road but could feel her watching him. “I know I’m not good at showing it, but that’s all I can say. I was scared you were going to be hurt and it was partly my fault.”

She wasn’t ready to forgive him for shouting but she gave him a crumb, “It wouldn’t have been your fault. It was just an accident.”

“An accident that could have put you in the hospital because I let the inventory get backed up like it is.”

Deep down she understood, she knew he hadn’t wanted to scream at her, but there was something about all of it that crept under her skin. And it had very little to do with today.

“You said that you were drunk before, I deserve to know something. How bad was it?”

Hyde swallowed, he’d let her know it wasn’t good but he didn’t want her to ever know how bad it got.

But she was right, if anyone deserved the truth about it.

“Bad enough that if I kept on I probably would be in rehab or on the streets by now.”

She’d had a feeling, felt the evidence of it for months with every poisoned word he’d thrown at her. “So when we ended up at the creek, what was that?”

“You want to know the truth? I barely remember that night. I know we were in the woods, I remember you falling and laughing and I swear I don’t know why the hell I did it. Today, I know I should have taken a second and got it together first, but I didn’t. I can’t say what I should have done or why I did it because I was so drunk that night I don’t even know if what I remember is real or what I put together from what everyone’s told me.”

That floored her. Not only that he was being so open with her, but the admission made a lot of things make sense in the worst possible way.

“How bad is it now?”

“I don’t touch the hard stuff at all, and an occasional beer now and then. I keep all of it out of my place.”

“Just like that?”

“No, it was less for a few weeks after…” he trailed off.

“After what?”

“After Sam left.”

Jackie tried to remain calm, it was just a fact, but it was also a fact that hearing her name made her want to fly to Vegas and slap her.

“For a few weeks it was still kind of bad, I forgot to open the store once and had to lie and say I was sick and forgot after that I worked on it, like can’t drink before noon, then later, only so many per day. It took a few months to get better.”

Jackie’s heart broke at the same time she wanted to throttle him for all of it.

He pulled up in front of her building, but Jackie didn’t get out. Something felt unfinished.

“I’m glad you’re better,” she said truthfully.

“So am I, and I am sorry about today.”

“Good.”

“Do you want me to just fill out your school stuff, so you don’t have to come back to the store?”

She could do that, but it felt dishonest.

“I’m still mad at you, but I will see you tomorrow.”

“Seriously?”

“I know I should take your offer, but I want to get a good grade and I need more for my projects. But you have to work on your attitude. I know you were upset but I don’t like being yelled at.”

“I’m working on it,” he promised. “After everything I pulled on you, I don’t know why you even speak to me.”

“I shouldn’t, but like you said I still care about you too as much as I don’t want to.”

He sat there with his heart plummeting into his stomach as they said goodnight, and Jackie got out and went inside.

He knew he didn’t deserve her or her forgiveness, but maybe he could fix things so they really were friends again.

He hoped that in his panic today he hadn’t destroyed everything.

Chapter 16

Chapter Text

Jackie had just gotten off the couch after taking a much-needed informational detox by staring at the wall session when she heard a knock.

“That’s it,” she said to herself, “I’m moving and not telling anyone where I’m going.”

She looked through the peephole and groaned, “Definitely moving. Far away.”

She opened the door, “What do you want Michael?”

“Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Sighing she stepped back, “Might as well make this a banger of a day, come on in.”

Before he did, he stooped down, grabbed something she couldn’t see, and placed The Stupid Helmet on his head.

Jackie was so far beyond done at this point, “Why are you wearing that?”

“Because last time I talked to you, you hit me.”

She couldn’t fault his logic there, “If I promise not to hit you, will you take that off?”

“Pinky promise?”

Jackie rolled her eyes, feeling a headache setting in. “Pinky promise.”

They shook on it and he removed the helmet, but still kept a safe distance from her.

“What did you want to talk about?”

“I came to say I’m sorry, you were being mean, but I shouldn’t have brought up Hyde like that.”

Jackie agreed, “You were an ass that night. I know you didn’t get why I was mad at you, but you were a total jerk for bringing up Hyde and well… you.”

“I know, I was confused about Fez and then you were mad at me and I didn’t know why and I took it out on you, and I’m sorry.”

Jackie felt the slightest bit of guilt, “I’m sorry too, I was mad at you for all the bad stuff you did to me and when Fez said you cheated again I snapped.”

“I get it, was I really that awful of a boyfriend?”

“Sometimes,” she admitted, “I know I wasn’t great either, but we were young. The problem is you have until very recently acted the same as you did when you were seventeen.”

“I know, I’m trying to be better though.”

“Speaking of your dating life, how are things with you and Fez?” She’d been avoiding them both because she was too tired to deal with their drama too.

“We’re on a break. Fez doesn’t trust me, and I get why but also I didn’t do anything wrong this time.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It was going to happen sooner or later if this is already what he thinks, at least you and Eric made him fess up to why he’s been acting crazy.”

“Word of advice,” Jackie suggested, “don’t say crazy to him.”

“Got it, since we brought up my dating life what’s the deal with you and Hyde?” He smiled at her.

She swallowed nervously, “What do you mean?”

“Well, one you still call him Hyde. Two, Eric said you’re working at Grooves for some reason, and three, you two were weird in the basem*nt.”

“Weird how?”

“Come on Jackie, Hyde was in full-blown protect Jackie mode. If you and Eric hadn’t shown up when you did I probably would have had another black eye.”

“You would have deserved it.”

“And you’re not answering me.”

One of the things that annoyed her about Michael was after they stopped dating, he started to understand her better observing from a distance than he ever had when they were together.

“Nothing is going on,” she finally said.

“Bull, fess up or I’ll get Eric to stage a Jackie intervention.”

She glared at him.

“I don’t need this in my own home.”

“And I didn’t need a blackeye. Call it payback,” he smiled smugly.

“I don’t know alright. Hyde was the best thing in my life, sorry but he was, when I needed him the most, then he royally screwed me over. Now I don’t know. Sometimes he’s nice, but then we had a fight and I want to strangle him sometimes.”

“So same old same old.”

She glared at Michael, “Not at all.”

“Fine, let’s start simple. Why are you working at the store?”

“I’m not working there; I need to shadow a business for my class. And I really couldn’t make it work at the garage, I tried.”

He wasn’t buying it, “You were in that store so much you basically already worked there, couldn’t you just do whatever work you needed to without working there?”

“No, I need to have the manager sign off on it.”

“And there is no way you could get Hyde to sign off on it without doing the work. Because Hyde is a stickler for the rules and you couldn’t possibly buy him off with food or something.”

“I needed more to work with.”

He smirked and nodded his head, she couldn’t see what was so obvious.

“What about the Hyde thing, why don’t you call him Steven anymore?”

“I’m not telling you that, it’s personal.”

He figured she wouldn’t tell him.

“Then what about the basem*nt?”

“We were not weird,” her irritation was growing with every question.

“You are so in denial. It was almost like it was the old Jackie and Hyde. You calmed him down in a second, he listened to whatever you asked him when he was ready to rip my head off a minute before.”

“Michael I’m tired, I don’t want to do this. You said sorry, so did I please go home.”

“One more question.”

“If it will get me some peace fine.”

“Why were you fighting? And before you get defensive I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

That one didn’t seem so bad, she felt her defenses fall, “If I tell you will you go home so I can rest?”

“Yes.”

“I slipped and fell off a ladder at Grooves, then Steven started yelling at me.”

“Yelling what?” he was genuinely concerned.

“I don’t know we got kind of heated for a second, mainly that I was impatient, I could have been hurt, he would have gotten the stuff down.”

“Damn, how far did you fall?”

“From the second step from the top, maybe five-six feet?”

“Wow, are you okay? You don’t look hurt.”

She mostly felt okay. “I banged my knee when I fell.”

“That’s it? Man, you are lucky did you catch the ladder on your way down.”

“Um, no.” She realized now how this sounded, “Hyde caught me before I hit the ground.”

Kelso looked at her then started laughing.

“What is up with you?”

“Jackie, I say this as your friend, you are a liar.”

“No I’m not,” she crossed her arms defensively.

“Maybe you don’t see it, but you’ve got it bad.”

Her face hardened.

“Get out of my apartment.”

He did but he was laughing the whole time.

Jackie fumed as she got ready for bed.

Clothes were angrily tossed at chairs; cabinet doors were shut too hard.

She had to stop herself from stomping around and the fact that it was late, and her downstairs neighbors would report her was the only reason she didn’t.

What did Michael know anyway?

She had old feelings for Hyde, she knew that, and obviously she didn’t want anything bad to happen to him but that’s because she was a good person damn it.

He had been horrible to her for months.

He yelled at her again today.

He literally caught her when she fell.

She chastised herself for letting his words get to her.

She’d grown up with a drunk, so had he.

His drinking did not excuse his actions from the last year.

But he had also stopped drinking. Going from blackouts to almost nothing was a big deal and she had to appreciate that.

She conceded that on some level, perhaps she understood why he shouted today. It was kind of a high height to fall from and she could have been hurt. And most of her anger was probably from flashbacks to falling in the creek which was totally his fault.

And what was that he still cared about her?

If he cared about her he wouldn’t have done all that stuff last year.

But her mind kept circling back to the drinking, she knew what happened when someone lost control. He couldn’t control himself then, but he had managed to control the drinking.

The problem was Jackie couldn’t separate her anger from today with everything that had happened.

Jackie wanted to hate him for all of it.

For breaking her heart, for leaving Chicago without waiting for an explanation, he’d done all of those things without the booze.

Disappearing for weeks, making them all worry sick, for bringing the bleach blonde harlot into their lives. For every mean thing he’d said or done.

She even wanted to blame him for Donna and her drifting apart because Sam was there to fill the role.

Jackie reached blindly into her drawer to pull out something to sleep in and her mind froze.

Staring down at her hands she saw the worn-out black Zeppelin shirt Steven had given her for her birthday.

It had been one of her favorite possessions for the longest time.

Hundreds of memories flooded back to her. All her sweet moments with her Steven, her Puddin Pop.

Times he defended her, times he danced with her, when he was there for her when no one else was. She never truly got over no one wanting her when her mom disappeared, but he had. He was the one who got Donna to ask her to move in.

Her best friend in the world, and her boyfriend had to talk her into giving her a place to stay when she had nothing.

It was a million little things at once.

She did hate Hyde, but there were so many more moments with Steven that clouded that hate.

It was never good to admit what she was about to, but just maybe...

Maybe Michael was right.

Chapter 17

Chapter Text

Jackie was getting her mail from the lobby when a young woman stopped to get hers too.

“Fight with the boyfriend?” She asked.

Jackie was the only one in the room so she must have been talking to her, “I’m sorry?”

“Not to be nosy but last night when I came home a guy came down from and then I heard you slamming doors. Just assumed he was your boyfriend and you were fighting.”

Jackie went red.

“I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I didn’t think I was being that loud.”

“It’s okay,” she said airily, “I was just coming in so that’s why I heard it. But are you okay? He must have done something.”

Jackie sighed, “Ex-boyfriend, like ancient ex. We’re still friends and he was giving me some unasked for insights into my relationship with a different ex.”

The woman was grinning ear to ear, “Wow, that’s complicated. I love it tell me everything.”

Jackie laughed.

“You wouldn’t have enough time. I’m Jackie by the way.”

“Tori, I insist. I just moved in last week and everyone here seems so boring. How about when you’re free you come to my apartment and we can drink, we can eat, we can gossip?”

“That actually sounds amazing.” Jackie ran through her schedule, “I can do tomorrow or Sunday. I get off at six Sunday.”

“Sunday it is. It’s nice to meet you, Jackie.”

“You too, Tori.”

She ran off waving, she reminded Jackie a little of herself before everything happened.

It would be nice to have a new friend.

****

Jackie stood around the building so she couldn’t be seen from the window.

Michael had unnerved her, and she was already unsure about how today was going to go.

She steeled herself with a pep talk and went in, only to find an empty store.

“Hello?” she called.

“Out in a second,” Hyde called from the back.

Jackie went to the counter and put her stuff away as usual and found a bakery box where she always put her purse.

She took it out and put it on the counter.

“I cannot be bribed,” she shouted into the empty store, “at least with baked goods.”

Hyde came out waving a tissue.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“White flag.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Think of it as a peace offering, or at least breakfast.”

She looked dubiously from the box to him. “There better be a double chocolate in here.”

“I don’t have a death wish.”

She took her chocolate donut out and left the box on the counter. “I’m still mad at you, but this helps.”

When she got to the office she found several new stacks in the office, because Hyde had taken all the top boxes down.

That was one way to avoid arguing about them, she guessed, but it was sweet that he’d put in the effort. Then she chastised herself.

She worked alone for the most part until it was time for her to go to class.

“I won’t be in tomorrow,” she picked up her bags and headed around the counter.

“Hold up,” Hyde reached beside the register and handed her a paper.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a check, if you want cash I can do that instead. I do that for Adam too, he doesn’t have a bank account.”

She pushed it back at him, “No, I’m not working for you, this is for school.”

He scrunched his face up, “They said you have to do this on your own time, and you can’t get paid to work?”

“Well, I mean, it’s not a rule but-”

“Then what’s the problem?” he asked. “You did more work than anyone else has in weeks, including me.”

She fumbled for an answer, “It- It’s weird. I can’t take money from you.”

He hadn’t thought about it that way, “Okay, I get that but I don’t feel right with you working for free. Wait.” He disappeared into the back and came back with a stack of records he pushed into a bag.

Handing the bag over, “You won’t take cash, then trade.”

“Hyde-”

“No,” he said shaking his head grinning at her, “you take them, or I don’t sign your paperwork.”

Her mouth fell open as she processed what he was saying. “You’re blackmailing me into taking these.”

“You’re doing me a favor taking them so don’t take up space in the dumpster when I throw them out.”

She arched her brows at him. They were brand new records, but they were pop and disco, all the stuff he hated and she loved.

She knew she shouldn’t, but she hadn’t splurged on something fun in so long.

“Fine, but only because I need that paperwork signed and even if I forge your signature, they might still call to verify you signed it.”

“Exactly,” he smirked.

She knew he’d do it too.

“Deal,” she agreed somberly, “but we need to get everything put away so I can do something else. I was thinking what if we work on this Saturday after the store closes.”

“It would have to be pretty late; I have dinner with the Forman’s Saturday,” he reminded her.

“I know,” she knew she shouldn’t do this, but she was so sick of dealing with the stupid inventory. “What if you come to dinner on Friday? I’ll tell Red he should take kitty out on Saturday, and we can tackle this once and for all.”

“Are you sure? I mean after yesterday I figured you would want some space.”

“It’s fine, I’m here today, aren’t I?”

“I’m game. If I don’t have to look at those boxes anymore, I will be eternally grateful.”

“Okay, then I guess I will see you tomorrow then.”

Jackie braced herself. This would be great or go up in flames.

Chapter 18

Chapter Text

Kitty had been thrilled to have the pair of them at dinner together, even if her eyes did keep darting between the two of them.

While it was better than their first accidental dinner, Kitty hadn’t made it easy.

Hyde hoped that tonight would be less awkward.

Hyde walked into Grooves; Jackie had arranged to come in just before closing so he could run some errands he skipped on Friday. She pizza sitting on the table waiting. “Nice, thanks for the pizza.”

“Thank yourself, I took ten dollars from the register to pay for it,” she said cheerily.

He didn’t care, but he couldn’t let her off that easy.

“Why am I paying for pizzas?”

“Your staff was promised pizza,” she sounded like her old cheerleader self.

“I didn’t agree to that but why do we need two? How hungry are you anyway?”

“Too bad, it’s already here.”

This felt nice, the teasing, the lack of hostility.

“I don’t know what you’re doing but-” he stopped confused, “Forman?”

Eric stepped out of the back room.

“Hey man, so I heard there’s pizza.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Uh, we’re helping you,” he looked at Hyde like he was stupid. “You have a pretty bad mess back there.”

“I’m aware.”

The door flung open.

“Sorry, class ran long.” Donna dropped her stuff by the door.

Jackie gave her a judgy look, “I can’t believe you scheduled class on a Saturday.”

“Do you know Saturday nights are for keggers right?” Hyde asked.

Donna threw herself down on the closest couch, “I took it because this class is only offered every two years if that, and I need it to graduate. I can’t take a chance on it filling up next time.”

“Save your sob story you nerd,” Jackie told her.

Donna made a face back at her.

“Don’t pick on her,” Eric defended her, “she can’t help it that she’s brilliant.”

“You are such a kiss ass,” Hyde said. “Not that I don’t appreciate the help but why are you helping?”

“Jackie threatened me,” Eric joked. She had asked him if he would help them out. He was too curious about whatever was going on to skip out.

“We’re your friends, Jackie asked and we came,” Donna said warmly. “Plus I’m in college and free pizza was offered. No brainer.”

“Okay boss,” Hyde turned back to Jackie, “what’s the plan?”

“We haven’t seen each other in weeks, so we’ll have pizza, hang out, and we’ll tackle the boxes and we will finally be done with it.” She was slowly starting to go mad over the tedious project.

“You okay there, Jackie?” Eric asked.

“I have had dreams of filing stacks of never-ending records,” she said flatly.

“You didn’t invite Kelso and Fez did you?” Donna asked hesitantly. “Because this will take at least twice as long.”

“No, I don’t know if they’re still fighting and honestly Michael can’t focus enough to do this and I’m not redoing it. We can see him some other time.”

They talked and ate. It was familiar and new at once. It had been so long since they had sat like this. Well before Eric went to Africa.

“We really do need to make sure to hang out more often. I’ve been so busy with school.”

Jackie felt wistful, “Maybe that will be me next year.”

“It will be,” Donna told her.

Eric stood and clapped his hands together, “Well, the food’s gone. Let’s rock and roll.”

“Don’t do that,” Hyde said. “Ever.”

“Come on servants, grab a box find a comfortable spot and write down what you’ve got and how many.”

“I don’t love the servants bit,” Eric complained.

“Come on, I haven’t been able to boss anyone around in so long.”

“Guess I’ll grab some too.” Hyde grabbed a few boxes and relocated to the sitting area.

“You can sort and put away what we get logged,” Jackie told him. “I’m not doing all this just to put everything away.”

“I’m sorry, whose business is this?” Eric asked.

“I’ve spent days looking at only these boxes, I’m not doing it anymore. Tonight is it.”

****

A few hours in, Eric went into the back and came back empty-handed.

“Hey, you eat my pizza you bring out boxes,” Hyde said, “or do you need someone bigger and stronger to carry them? Jackie go get some boxes for Eric.”

They all laughed.

“First, screw you. Second, that’s all of it.”

“I’m finally free,” Jackie wailed dramatically.

“You’re kidding?” Hyde went to the office to see if for himself.

There was a layer of dust bunnies collected in the back where the oldest boxes had been for far too long, but otherwise his office was finally empty.

Jackie was elated, “I told you, tackling this after close so no interruptions and extra help we’d be done in no time.”

“It’s kind of anti-climactic,” Donna said.

“You want more to do? You can dust,” Hyde offered.

She turned down his generous offer, “I just don’t want to go home yet, I’ve missed everyone.”

“It’s too late to go anywhere around here,” Eric said, unless you want to trek out to the water tower.

Hyde thought about it. “I know a place.”

Fifteen minutes later they were sitting in a mostly empty Denny’s just outside of town.

Jackie got an ice cream sundae, Donna and Hyde got a slice of pie each, and Eric got a full-blown Grand Slam breakfast.

“I can’t believe you got all that,” Donna cringed looking at his plate.

“I’m a growing boy.”

Jackie rolled her eyes. “You keep that up you’ll be growing into a circle.”

“Can’t you use your devil powers to zap it away?”

“I wouldn’t waste my energy.”

“What if I said please?”

“Still wouldn’t work if you keep that up.”

They all missed this, being together, joking, harassing each other, being friends.

Chapter 19

Chapter Text

Before they went their separate ways for the night, Hyde stopped them.

“Thanks for everything, especially you,” he said turning to Jackie. “I don’t know how long it would have taken me to get through it alone.”

Eric put a hand on his shoulder, “Maybe realize you’re not alone and we can help you before it gets that bad.”

Hyde didn’t think he was talking solely about the mess with the inventory.

Jackie rode with Donna, she’d spend the night at her place.

“So?” Donna dragged out the word.

“What So?”

“Are you kidding? So, how’s the weather Jackie, so, seen any good movies lately? So, what the hell is up with you and Hyde?

“Nothing is up Donna.”

“The last time I was in town you kept to opposite sides of the room and didn’t speak, now you’re arranging after-hours hangouts in the store that sound suspiciously like a date if you hadn’t gotten me and Eric over.”

“It’s for-

“I’ve heard the school excuse from you already. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” Jackie flung her head back on the seat. “We get along now, we’ve made apologies. But I can’t trust him not to hurt me after last year. He was awful to me, I don’t think I can forgive that.”

“You forgave me,” Donna reminded her.

“That’s different.”

“Is it? I was just as awful to you.”

“You didn’t marry a stripper,” Jackie snapped.

“I know,” she said gently, “but I also treated you horribly and we still made it back together.”

Jackie didn’t like thinking about the night they had their blow-up fight and later apology.

Sam was gone. Donna wanted to do something. Randy was busy so she went over to Jackie and Fez’s apartment.

“What are you doing here?” Jackie seemed pleased to see her friend. She let her in and started fixing drinks.

“I came to see if you wanted to hang out, or go out?”

Jackie hesitated, “Is Sam coming?”

“Haven’t you heard?”

“Heard what?” Her face hardened as it fell, “Is she pregnant? Becoming a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader? Any other of my dreams she’s getting?”

“I can’t believe you don’t know, She had another husband and her marriage to Hyde doesn’t count so she left.”

It was a lot for Jackie to take in.

“What happened exactly?”

Donna explained how Sam’s first husband showed up and Hyde didn’t ask her to stay.

Jackie didn’t seem like she was even there when Donna finished the story.

“So, he just let another thing happen without doing anything about it?” She sounded hollow.

The passive way Hyde went through life made her angry. She didn’t want Sam around, but he could have fought for her, he could have fought with her, kicked her out. Something more than just letting events happen again.

“Don’t be like that,” Donna admonished her.

“What way Donna? Hyde didn’t fight for me he let me leave, he let Sam leave. What am I missing?

Donna knew she wasn’t getting anywhere with her.

“Do you want to go out tonight? It’s why I came over.”

“No,” Jackie said coldly.

“No? You’re just going to sit here alone all night and sulk?”

“Opposed to what Donna? What I’ve done almost every night since Sam showed up.”

“Stop being so dramatic,” now Donna was annoyed too.

“When was the last time we went out?”

Donna thought about it but couldn’t remember.

“That’s right. Sam showed up and not only did my boyfriend pass me over for her, but so did my best friend.”

“I didn’t do that. I was trying to welcome her to the group since she was Hyde’s wife.”

“Like I was Kelso’s girlfriend? I didn’t get the Donna welcoming red carpet like that,” she said sarcastically.

“You’re bringing up ancient stuff, we’re adults now.”

“You’re right,” Jackie agreed. “And as an adult, I can see the only reason you’re here is you don’t have any better options tonight and I am tired of being the backup and punching bag for the group.” She walked over opening the door. “Please leave.”

Donna left in a huff. She was angry and wanted to talk to Eric, but that idiot was in Africa. She ended up in the Forman Kitchen with Kitty offering her tea and cookies as Donna poured her heart out about what happened.

“Can you believe her?” Donna asked when she was done.

Kitty wasn’t as unobservant as they thought.

“Well, yes I can.”

“What?”

Kitty put a soothing hand on Donna’s. “I’m not ganging up on you, but when was the last time you asked Jackie to go out?”

“She didn’t want to see Sam.”

“Because you would have loved to go out with Eric’s girlfriend when you two split.”

“But Sam was Hyde’s wife, and you were nice to her too.”

“I was,” Kitty agreed, “but I also called and talked to Jackie once a week. We went out for lunch when we could.”

“You did?” Donna didn’t know that.

“You could have gone out once or twice without Sam. Donna, think about it from her side. She lost Steven and then everyone else almost at once. Whatever their issues are, is between them,” she was quick to point out, “but can you honestly say you were a good friend?”

Donna didn’t want to be the one in the wrong and clutched on to every thread she could, “She could have invited me over.”

Kitty feigned surprise, “You mean she didn’t invite you over when she moved in with Fez?”

“I mean, yeah she did.”

“And how was that?”

“I didn’t go, there was a work event I needed to go to.”

“And she didn’t invite you again?”

“I mean, she said come over whenever and we’d have a girls’ day,” she admitted, “but Sam didn’t have any other friends in town.”

“She had a husband, she could have made some friends.” Now Kitty brought out the big guns. “Do you really want to sit here trying to convince me or yourself that you couldn’t find one night to visit with your best friend? Or that you didn’t because it just wasn’t important enough for you to do?”

Donna felt all the shame she’d been trying to put down.

“What really happened?”

“I started spending time with Randy.”

“You forgot about Jackie didn’t you?”

“She wasn’t here and it was just simpler because of her and Hyde.”

“Donna, Jackie needed you and you abandoned her too. Can you understand why she’s hurt you come back now that Sam’s gone?”

“I have to go.”

She darted out of the kitchen and went back to Jackie’s.

Jackie was not thrilled to see her back but an apology got her in the door.

They spent half the night hashing it out, Jackie was understandably hurt and angry. It took months but they were finally friends again.

****

“Jackie,” Donna broke her out of her memory, “do you still have feelings for him?”

“Do you still have feelings for Eric when you dumped him and he was dating other girls,” she bit back.

“So you’re defensive, got it.”

“Fine,” she nearly cried. “Yes, I still have feelings for Hyde. I’m probably stuck this way forever because he was so horrible to me and I’ve tried so hard to get over him and nothing worked.”

“There’s another option.”

“A lobotomy?” Jackie asked.

“You could start over with him.”

“Do you want a place to sleep tonight or what?”

“Okay, okay, shutting up now. But it’s not the worst idea.”

“I don’t think you understand how wrong you are.”

Jackie wanted him, but she was so afraid of what that would mean. If they did try again and it ended just like it always did, she wouldn’t survive it.

Chapter 20

Chapter Text

Jackie had a fitful night’s sleep, it seemed like she barely closed her eyes when they would spring open and it was barely an hour later.

It took a lot for her to drag herself out of bed in the morning to see Donna off and get herself ready for work but she did it.

Work dragged and she was so thankful to leave and come home.

She ran into Tori on her way up.

“Hey, let me change and I’ll be down.”

“Sounds good.”

Jackie handed her a couple of boxes, “I brought some desserts from work.”

“Jackie, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.”

She took a quick shower to remove the kitchen smell from her and dressed comfortably before going down to Tori’s

Tori had the door open for her, “Welcome, make yourself comfortable, I have an assortment of snacks and I can make drinks.”

“Just a pop or water is fine,” Jackie looked around, it was the same layout as her apartment but it was so much more colorful. She hadn’t done much to spruce up the place since all of that seemed like a luxury. “Your place is so pretty,” Jackie admired how bright it was.

“Thanks, oops paint and a lack of caring what goes up.”

“Oops Paint?”

“You know, when the hardware store mixes a can of paint wrong they sell it for a quarter or something.”

“Huh, I’ll have to check that out, I haven’t done much upstairs.”

“I love painting so if you need a hand you know where to go.”

They gave a quick rendition of their life stories, Jackie did leave out her parents and her dad’s jail time, and the conversation eventually fell to love lives.

“Are you telling me you don’t have someone?” Tori asked shocked after revealing her boyfriend lived out of town.

“It’s complicated.”

“I love complicated, it’s usually never as complicated as it seems.”

Again Jackie paraphrased and omitted, but she included her boyfriend marrying a stripper.

Tori sat there slack-jawed listening to the story, “Okay you’re the exception to my complicated theory.”

“I guessed I would be. And the worst thing is we’re starting to be friends again and I think everyone is pushing for us to get back together.”

“Do you want to get back together?”

“I don’t know. I still have feelings and they won’t go away, but he hurt me so much this last year. Sometimes we feel like almost us again, but then I remember everything that’s happened.”

Tori thought about it, “Look, I don’t know you but if you’re willing to spend any time with him then I think somewhere in you, you think he’s got a chance at being good for you.”

“I don’t know about good for me, I know he can be better than he has been.”

“Fair, if you want advice you didn’t ask for, I think that it’s too new and you don’t need to rush it. If anyone bothers you tell them it’s none of their business and just see what happens. Right now don’t worry about the guy, have some fun and take care of your classes.”

“You make it sound so simple,” Jackie said envious of the life she could imagine having.

“No, it’s not, you managed to end up in a super complicated situation. I mean, basically the only people you think of as family around here are his parents. You sure got in deep.”

Jackie laughed, “I know, if it wasn’t for them I probably would have just left town. But they’re the best people I know and they’ve done a lot to take care of me.”

“They sound amazing.”

“They really are, you’ll have to meet them.”

When it was time to go they made plans to meet up the next week.

“Remember what I said, you don’t have to do anything just let go of it and see what happens.”

“I’ll try.”

Jackie went up to her place and had a much easier sleep than the night before.

Chapter 21

Chapter Text

Jackie did her best to let everything go. She didn’t need to worry about what might or might not happen with a guy, even one as wrapped up in her life as Hyde.

Maybe that was her fault. She’d chosen to work here, she hadn’t set out rules about how much time she’d be spending at the store, she put herself in this specific situation and there was nothing to do about it now but get through it.

That was step one.

She would focus on the business and getting her next assignments sorted out. She had one all planned she only needed to sit down and write it.

Anything else could wait until she figured things out.

Jackie walked into the store finally ready to tackle something more interesting than logging records.

She was ready to relax, nothing was going to happen so she may as well just try to worry about herself and enjoy the day.

“Hey,” Hyde smiled at her when he saw her.

There went her plan, it was a playful smile that turned her stomach inside out every time she saw it.

She scolded herself, no thoughts of boys. Even if they were wearing a tight t-shirt that hugged his arms. Was it suddenly warmer?

STOP IT, she screamed at herself.

She had this, hell Steven had taught her to be Zen. Trying to pull off an air of aloofness, “Hey, so what have you got for me today?”

His grin widened.

Her stomach lurched, if this was a good or a bad sign she couldn’t tell.

“There’s something in the office, it’s pretty self-explanatory.”

“Okay,” she walked into the back, and then he heard the screaming.

He started laughing as Jackie stomped out, “No, I am done. Forget a good grade I will make something up and you’ll sign it.”

Hyde, still laughing, grabbed her hand and stopped her from leaving.

“Stop, I will take care of it if you watch the floor.”

Jackie was somewhere between yelling and breaking things.

“We just got through months of inventory why are there more boxes already?” she whined.

Hyde shrugged, “I told you before it’s how they’re shipping everything now.”

“I’m leaving.”

Hyde chuckled as she complained but didn’t try to leave. He guided her back toward the register.

“Stay here, watch the floor, judge what else I’m screwing up and I will sort through everything right now.”

“Fine.”

Her wrist felt like it was on fire where Hyde had reached out to stop her. That was the second time he’d touched her since the explosion of their relationship. The first was when he caught her falling, but she’d been so mad she hadn’t given it much thought.

Now she was alone in an empty store with just her thoughts. She missed him, missed his affection, missed how he often held her hand, or leaned into her, draping his arm casually over her shoulder.

But that had never been their problem, it was everything else.

She shook herself out of that train of thought, it wouldn’t lead anywhere good.

Tori told her not to worry about guys but damned if today it was all she could think about.

With no other options, she forced herself to think about the fresh delivery of chaos sitting in the office.

If she had to catalog one more box she was going to go crazy. As she sat there she wondered if any other stores had this issue. Obviously, Hyde had gotten behind from personal issues, but Grooves stores kept small staffs, surely the others had similar issues with the stocking.

She was so lost in thought she didn’t notice when Hyde walked out of the office carrying a box.

“Where are you?” He asked.

Jackie stopped staring off into space, “I was thinking about asking some other stores a few questions, see if it’s the same problem.”

He’d never questioned it, knowing his problems started up when he went off the rails. “I don’t know, would make me feel better if I wasn’t the only screw-up.”

“You’re not a screw-up,” Jackie said firmly. “But whoever came up with this is.”

She walked off to the back and he was floored. Even after everything she would defend him, even from himself.

* * * * * *

Jackie spent her afternoon locked in his office schmoozing other store managers and getting the details about their magic ways of dealing with the chaos.

“The verdict is in,” she let her notebook fall on the counter.

“Am I the worst owner of them all?”

“Maybe with the amount you let stack up, that definitely wasn’t great, but,” she paused for dramatic effect.

“But what?” he asked impatiently.

“But no one has any idea what they’re doing with the way everything is coming in. It’s a mess.”

“One store hangs the paperwork on the wall until it’s done and they put what they have away immediately but they don’t always get the order forms first so then they have to sit on it. One store has piles they sort into as they get the boxes then eventually go through it. The best system seems to be what we did in staying after close and sort a month’s worth of inventory out at once.”

“That’s insane but I feel better.”

“You should, it just wasn’t the best year.”

He paused waiting, that was such a simple way to say it. “No, it wasn’t. But maybe this one won’t be so bad.”

“Here’s hoping.”

It suddenly felt too heavy, “So, will you let me read this mythical paper when you’re done? It is my store after all.”

“Of course, you have to sign off on it anyway. If you don’t need me I should get to work.”

He wanted to say more, but went with, “I have it under control. See you later.”

Jackie couldn’t breathe when she got outside, Tori told her not to worry about guys, but something was happening and she needed to get out immediately. She went home as fast as she could.

She had a paper to write.

* * * * * *

Hyde read aloud from the paper, “’In recent months, someone higher up in the company has changed the ordering and delivery system which has resulted in undue work for multiple store locations. Reaching out to multiple branches shows that the new system has not only created chaos on the individual level but has cost the company in efficiency as well as extra employee wages to correct the organizational issues.’ She goes on to mention a more efficient way to clean up the mess is to go back to the way it was before or allow the stores to request what they want or need.”

WB was silent for a minute. “Be honest with me son, how bad was your store?”

He could lie but what was the point? “It was bad. That was entirely on me and how I was last year, but the other stores are having an issue keeping this straight too. I just… let it get way over my head.”

“I’m surprised you can admit that.”

“Yeah, well.” Steven scratched the back of his neck nervously, even though they were on the phone and WB couldn’t see him.

“I’ll look into it, I don’t like the idea that every store is having the same issue.”

“That’s all I’m asking.”

“Any chance you can get me a copy of that paper? Sounds like an interesting read, hearing my business be torn apart.”

Steven laughed. “Yeah, I’ll get you one, but think how I felt. You should hear her if she wanted to be mean.”

WB wisely didn’t say anything about Jackie, he wasn’t going to push.

For now.

Chapter 22

Chapter Text

Everything was a mess and Eric was tired of it.

It had been months wondering what was going on and it seemed like a lot but also nothing at the same time.

He had been playing with his life when he “accidentally” mixed up the dinner dates few months ago. Luckily it had worked out and Jackie hadn’t killed him.

The thing was Jackie and Hyde were miserable apart. He figured nothing had come of it until the blowup in the basem*nt.

Hyde was at Kelso’s throat until Jackie got him to calm down with a simple ask. Only his mom could ask Hyde to do something and he’d listen. Even her power over him had dwindled the last year. But Jackie says please and Hyde obeys.

That was not a sign of two people who hated each other.

There were crickets again, he couldn’t get a word out of Hyde about Jackie.

And suddenly Jackie was “not” working at the store.

Alongside Hyde.

Nearly every day.

Something was up.

He might not have thought much of it until the night they all hung out after close to sort out the store.

Jackie had orchestrated the whole sneaking him and Donna in as a surprise and hanging out with pizza. He’d do what he had to for a good grade before, but it felt like more than an assignment.

The way they joked and were more at ease with each other. It hadn’t been all that long since the awkward day they moved Jackie into her new apartment they could barely look at each other.

Even Kelso mentioned something was up with Jackie at least. No one could get a word out of Hyde but Jackie would talk. Not to him but his girlfriend blabbed the whole thing. Jackie still had feelings for Hyde, mixed up they might be, but she still had them.

Eric knew without a doubt that Hyde still loved Jackie. He was happier since Jackie started visiting the store.

His friend still loved her, and knowing Hyde the way he did, was just punishing himself for the mistakes he made.

He did deserve to do that from what Donna told him, but wallowing in the misery would only get him so far.

No, what Hyde needed was to be proactive.

Eric noticed a flier on the table. It was just the thing to put his plan into action.

* * * * * *

Hyde was standing on the street corner in front of a new art gallery opening in Madison. His hands were starting to ache from the cold. No matter how old he was or how long he lived in Wisconsin he would never remember to wear gloves if it wasn’t snowing outside.

Maybe it was the years he didn’t have them or he was just forgetful. Either way, he wished Forman would hurry the hell up.

“Hyde?”

He turned to the confused voice behind him.

Jackie was standing there, wide-eyed wearing a sparkling silver dress. He had to physically stop himself from letting his jaw hit the floor.

“Forman rope you into this too?”

“Yes,” she looked him over, this was not Hyde’s scene. “How’d he get you here anyway?

“Free food and pretentious people to make fun of. What about you?”

“That it was somewhere to dress up and shabby people to make fun of.”

He wouldn’t go in alone even if he was cold but no way was he letting Jackie freeze outside.

“We should go get our tickets, I’m sick of waiting for Forman.”

They walked to the box office, and Jackie spoke to the desk clerk, “Our friend said he left our tickets here, under Eric Forman.”

She ruffled through the envelopes. “Here you are dear, shame it looks like a nice event.”

“Shame?” Jackie took the envelope confused. She opened it meaning to take the two tickets and hand the woman the envelope with the last one.

She only found two tickets, and a note.

Hey guys, sorry. I’m not feeling well. Have fun without me.- Eric

“What’s the matter?” Hyde saw the way Jackie’s gaze turned to fire and her face hardened.

She shoved the note into his hand.

When he looked back up at her she was only angrier. “I’m going to kill him.”

“Me first.”

Hyde took a second to breathe before reacting.

He was pissed but there was a definite bonus of seeing Jackie dressed up and knowing that his best friend would undoubtedly feel her wrath very soon.

“Do you want to go home? We don’t have to go in if you don’t want to.” He let Jackie decide how this went.

Jackie had wanted to come to this just to get out of the monotony of her life. She was happy enough, but school, work, groves, papers, it was all starting to drudge on. And she had gotten dressed up. It was a shame to waste it on the cab ride she splurged on.

“Well,” she said timidly, “Eric did pay for it, and there is still free food and people to make fun of.”

Hyde let out a sigh of relief and gestured to the door, “Lead the way.”

* * * * * *

Two hours later they’d both had enough. The art was mostly strange smears, but the food and people-watching had been fun.

But Hyde was reveling in the momentary reprieve he had in getting to spend time with Jackie.

The way she smiled freely, the way she studied the art before declaring she had no idea what it was supposed to be. It had been the first fun he’d had in ages.

They left the gallery, walking out into the cold dark night.

“Can I drive you home?” he offered.

She didn’t want to accept, but the plan had been Donna was coming and she was staying at her apartment overnight and taking the bus back in the morning.

“Sure, thank you.”

“Sure?” he was surprised, Jackie always refused any kind of help.

“Well, my sleeping arrangements are probably shot to hell now, and for once I’m not taking the bus in this outfit.”

“Thank God. I’m over here.” Without thinking about it his hand landed on the small of her back leading her toward his car.

It was so instinctual, a habit formed over several years he didn’t even realize he’d done it. But Jackie noticed. Her skin felt like it was on fire despite his hand being separated by her dress and coat.

He opened her door for her and she tried to shake off the feeling while he walked around to the driver’s door.

They drove for some time in silence.

Hyde needed to get something off his chest, “Look, Jackie, I have something I want to say and it’s kind of relevant to tonight.”

Jackie panicked she didn’t know where this was going and she didn’t know what she was even thinking.

“I could be wrong but I feel like we keep ending up in these ‘accidental’ situations like everyone is trying to set us up by pushing us together all the time.”

She let out a sigh of relief, now that was slightly safer footing, “Normally I’d say you’re being paranoid with another conspiracy, but I got that feeling too. There’s Red having you drive me home that night from the diner.”

“This is obviously a setup.”

“And I thought Eric was sincere about the Friday night dinner being an honest mistake but now-”

“Once is just an accident but with all the other evidence...” he trailed off

“Exactly.”

“You know after that incident in the basem*nt with Fez and Kelso, Forman came into Grooves asking me what our deal was.”

Jackie swallowed, suddenly uneasy, “Donna did the same thing after the pizza party.”

Hyde felt sick but he didn’t want her getting the wrong idea, “I’m not going to lie, I never stopped caring about you, but I know I hurt you and I did it a lot. So I want you to know I’m not pushing for anything. I guess I just want you to know that I’m not doing this.”

“I know that. This is definitely Forman meddling at its finest. I don’t know how I feel about anything,” she could leave it right there but she didn’t. “But I do know there are still feelings there. I just don’t know what I want to do about them right now.”

Hyde wished he wasn’t driving so he could look at her. “I don’t think I’m even in a good enough place to ask you anything.”

A wiser woman might have told him to go to hell. But Jackie wasn’t that person.

“You know, my friend Tori said I shouldn’t worry about things like dating right now. Just work on having fun and school and whatever happens happens.”

Hyde chuckled, “So just go with the flow? That doesn’t sound very much like you.”

“No, but I need to worry about work and I need to worry about school. Everything else is on the back burner.”

Hyde was silent for a while.

“Could we at least be friends again?” he asked.

“I thought we were already.”

He shook his head, “No, you said almost friends before.”

Jackie let out a little laugh. “Yes, we can be friends again.”

He was so desperate for that little crumb, who would have ever thought the bad boy that he was back in school would be ready to worship at Jacqueline Burkhart’s feet just to be considered her friend?

He still wouldn’t ask for more, not yet. But he realized that it wasn’t enough. He didn’t want to be her friend he wanted everything he lost and more, but for now, this was more than he deserved.

Chapter 23

Chapter Text

Eric yawned and woke up lazily. He assumed everything went alright last night because he didn’t get any angry calls from Hyde or Red from Hyde showing up a the house.

He was a mastermind.

When they got back together he would be their hero. They might name their first kid after them.

He truly congratulated himself as he sat up, then screamed.

“Good morning Eric,” Jackie sat cross-legged at the foot of his bed with a too brightly sweet smile.

“How did you get in here?”

“Don’t worry about that, I have my ways.” She began filing her nails with a metal file. In truth, Red had let her in and grinned when she said he deserved payback. No questions asked. But she’d let Eric think that she broke in.

“So you’re angry, I get it-

Her voice had a strange hollowness to it, “No, you don’t get it, I have had most decisions of my life made for me in one way or another and the first time I’m doing what I want when I want to do it, you start intervening and trying to do- what exactly? Play matchmaker?”

He didn’t think he was in any danger, but he’d also seen Jackie kick enough ass to know that he wasn’t entirely safe here.

“If I tell you everything will you not hurt me?”

She thought about it, “Only physically, I hold the right for psychological torment.”

“I know Hyde still loves you and I’m pretty sure you love him too and I thought you would be happier together.”

Jackie felt her throat tighten, “Why would you think that?”

“Because he’s been happier since you and him started talking again, even more since you started working in the store.”

“That doesn’t mean we would be happier together. You weren’t here,” she said flatly, “you didn’t see the fallout.”

“I don’t think that would ever happen again.”

“Maybe you’re right, but right now I can’t take that chance. Not right now, maybe never. I don’t know.”

He felt sorry for her, Hyde had been her rock, they all knew it. And now that was gone.

“I think you’ll find your way back to each other.”

“That’s not up to you to decide.”

“I know that, I just feel like you guys are meant to be.”

Jackie’s smile turned wicked, “I should tell him you said that, in front of Red.”

He knew the kind of torment they’d both give him for that sappy of a comment. “Why do you hate me?”

“Because you’re a meddling know-it-all.” She stood to leave but then paused in the doorway, “Remember I can get in here any time I want. Keep that in mind the next time you want to play the puppet master. Okay? Bye.” She sounded altogether too sweet.

Laurie used to do the same thing right before hell rained down on him. He knew he had to be careful because Jackie was far more vindictive than Laurie ever was.

He got dressed and went down to breakfast, the best part about living at home was the food. He could smell his mom’s pancakes from up here.

Running down he shoved the door open to see Jackie sitting with his mom. Unusual but nothing to worry about… except his mom didn’t sit down until breakfast was ready and served.

A moment of dread hit him.

He turned slightly to see Hyde by the fridge, plating up some food.

“Morning sunshine,” Hyde’s tone was none too amused.

Yup, he was in for it. The only question is when?

But they said nothing, letting Kitty enjoy her morning being waited on and seeing three of her kids. All letting Eric sit in fear, anticipating when they were going to get revenge on him.

That was one of the ways they were perfectly matched.

Revenge.

They were evil matched when they wanted to be.

And he was very afraid that they wanted to be.

Was this the psychological torment Jackie had mentioned?

He didn’t remember any of the food, or what they talked about he was just waiting.

Finally, Jackie got up to leave and Kitty kissed them all and walked outside with her.

Eric expected it and was relieved when Hyde nailed him in the shoulder.

“Ow.”

“What the hell were you trying to pull last night?”

Eric tried to look innocent. “I was trying to get you back together. I was trying to help.”

“Stop helping. Jackie and I are already on thin ice I don’t need you coming in and making a bad situation worse. What if she thought I was trying to manipulate her into spending time with me?”

“She already spends time with you,” Eric laughed. They were ridiculous.

“You know what I mean. This could have backfired like all your other plans.”

“I already got threatened by Jackie and I know you can kick my ass better, she’s scarier than you. So believe me no more meddling.”

Hyde glared at him, “There better not be.”

“There won’t be...Although,” his amusem*nt spread but irritated Hyde.

“Although what?” He bit out.

“You and Jackie are here at the same time,” Eric grinned.

“Alright Erica, get it together. We had the same idea, we didn’t come here together. I let Jackie go first.”

“Yeah, but that has to be a sign then right.”

“Forman, I’ll give you to three to run.”

Eric was on his feet and running to the basem*nt.

Deciding to skip counting, “Three.”

Hyde chased after him.

Chapter 24

Chapter Text

“I can’t believe we both showed up there this morning,” Jackie laughed as she looked around the store for something to do.

“I’d say what are the odds,” Hyde paused counting the register, “but Forman messed with the two most spiteful people in his life, deserved it.”

“True,” she said airily, “still last night wasn’t all bad, did you see green shirt lady?”

“I have eyes in my head, of course, I saw her. Why were her shoulders up to the top of her head?” Hyde couldn’t have cared any less about clothes but when something looked like a comic villain, he had some obvious questions.

“I would say it was fashion but I don’t think you could call it that.”

Jackie took down a poster of a long past event held in the lounge.

“When’s the last time you held something like this?” She held up the poster.

“It’s been a while, nothing really special to promote lately.”

“Maybe you should find something yourself.”

“What?”

“Remember you always used to talk about discovering new bands, you could set up your own events when you want that way.” She said it so casually.

It had been a long time since he’d thought about that.

“I could put some fliers up at the high school and the instrument shop. Have some bands audition and if any of them are any good they could play some night.”

“We could make it a party,” she squealed. If there was one thing in life Jackie loved, it was throwing a party.

“Don’t get excited, I have to find someone first.”

He could tell the words were too late, the decorating spiral was already off and running in Jackie’s mind.

“You can plan a party if, I find someone. Not until then. Deal?”

“Deal.” She already had it mentally catered and what was moving to the back office for the event, and if you do it quickly I could use it for my last report.”

“Isn’t your class over in a few weeks?”

“Maybe.”

“Jackie, make up a band name and plan the party but I won’t be able to get that together that fast.”

“Fine,” she pouted. “But I’m not coming to you for any kind of theme approval.”

“Like you would have anyway.”

Her mind was racing with ideas, he was right, she should write it up how she wanted for the imaginary event so then when it did happen she was ready to go.

* * * * * * *

Jackie was writing away at her last assignment, she was so close to being done with her classes. It meant a lot, this step toward going to college next fall.

A light tap on her door broke her concentration.

“Jackie, are you in?”

“Coming Tori.”

She found Tori wearing a sheepish grin.

“Why do I feel like this is going to cost me something?”

She smiled with all her teeth so it was almost a cringe, “Because I need a favor.”

Jackie shook her head, “Normally I’d agree just because but you’re acting weird.”

Tori started to ramble, “I know you’re on a boy break but I’m begging you for one tiny gigantic favor pretty please.”

Now Jackie knew what the gang must have felt about her a few times.

“What?” she asked skeptically.

“So there’s this guy...”

“Uh hun.”

“And he’s very nice, has a good job-”

“I don’t like how this is going,” Jackie’s stomach fell.

“My boyfriend can only come into town this weekend but he has plans with his friend, and if I can get him a plus one we can have our date.”

There it was. Jackie didn’t want to even consider this. “Tori, I am not dating right now.”

“What if it was just a casual hangout with a free meal? Please I haven’t seen Mark in forever.” She pouted, pushing her lip out to such an exaggerated state Jackie wondered if it could get stuck that way.

It wouldn’t kill her.

And she wouldn’t have to find something to eat.

“Fine.”

Tori squealed, “Thank you, you’re the best.”

“I know, it’s always been a fault.”

“Tomorrow night, casual dress. We’re going to have the best time.”

Jackie kept the smile on her face for her friend’s benefit, but for some reason, she felt guilty.

* * * * * * *

“I think I’m done,” Jackie let out a relieved sigh.

She had been writing out the last of her paper. Her final assignment for school.

“That the last one?”

“It is,” she said with a dreamy smile.

Jackie enjoyed school to a point, but the constant work was also exhausting.

“What’s the theme for this party I’m hosting?” Hyde asked. Jackie hadn’t let him see her paper or talk about it while she was working.

“Love Boat,” she said enthusiastically, “we’ll hang lifesavers on the wall, the catering will wear white suits and you can have a captain’s uniform.”

He nodded, “Who’s going to be Charo?”

“You think Fez would wear a sequin dress?”

“It’s Fez so probably.”

They were both far more relaxed in the other’s company in the last few weeks.

Jackie stood and stretched, checking the time. She’d been huddled up in the lounge couches of Grooves for the past few hours. She could have done everything at home, but she connected better when she was in the store.

“I’m starving, want to share a celebration pizza?” Hyde offered.

She checked the time again, “I’d love to, but I have to head out.”

“Little late for a shift at the diner, isn’t it?” He hadn’t put much thought into what she could be doing because that was all she had been doing. Working and school.

Jackie paused, “I’m not working tonight, I’m going out with Tori and some people.”

“Girl's night?”

“No, just a hang-out thing.” Of all the times for him to ask questions.

But what did it matter? She could do what she wanted.

He swallowed down the lump that formed in his throat, trying to sound uncaring, “You have a date.”

“Sort of, um Tori had a date and needed someone else, and I wasn’t doing anything-”

Hyde cut off her babbling, “It’s cool, you don’t have to explain anything to me.”

He felt sick but it was an eventuality, wasn’t it? Jackie was too amazing to be alone for long.

Jackie collected her things quickly, “I better go.”

As she got to the door, Hyde stopped her.

“Hey, Jackie,” she turned looking like a deer in headlights, “have fun.”

She softened, “Thanks.”

Hyde was kicking himself.

Hyde hated it, he didn’t want Jackie going out with some other guy but what right did he have to ask her not to?

He wanted nothing more than to crawl into numbing his misery with a circle and something strong to drink, but if he fell back into the habit he would just prove how much he didn’t deserve her.

He went to the breakroom fridge and settled for a co*ke.

He was proud of Jackie, she’d done so much in a short amount of time with almost no support.

With the alcohol fog lifted he knew how much he’d damaged her.

Jack wasn’t able to help her, and Pam abandoned her for sun and tequila shots.

Donna had left her for Sam, just like he had.

He was the worst of all of them. He set fire to everything when he stormed out of the motel in Chicago, a round of his heaviest binge drinking, and it was one round because he never allowed himself to stop in Vegas.

That she could have forgiven.

Even accidentally marrying Sam, possibly even staying with her.

But it was the monster he let himself turn into. He’d drank and chipped away at every part of her, her points of pride, her worst fears. He had the cheat codes to Jackie and he used every one to make her miserable for months.

He didn’t deserve to be forgiven, but she said she had.

He didn’t think she’d meant it when she’d said it. But lately, it seemed like maybe she was forgiving him a little at a time.

Forman was right. He was an idiot but sometimes he got it right and this time he had.

Hyde was still in love with Jackie, he wanted to be with Jackie.

He had only ever been happy with Jackie.

She was it for him.

But, and that was the big ask, was Jackie happy with him?

The answer to that was sometimes. She probably would have existed off the scraps of affection he’d given her if he hadn’t turned away from her completely.

Holding onto his new clarity, he’d been pulling away ever since Eric and Donna started planning the wedding.

He was not ready to get married, but it was all that Jackie had wanted.

And when it was all she would talk about, he stopped talking.

Hell even when they had first gotten together he’d thought about them ending up together more than he had at the end.

The last nails in their coffin had been a combination of Chicago, the letter, Vegas, Sam. It wasn’t just one thing it was all of them, but their relationship had been floundering the whole year before.

Because of him.

He shut down.

Wasn’t that what he was best at?

He looked around his empty store.

He loved running the store, it was something from his dad. But even without customers, it hadn’t been empty with Jackie.

Maybe just because he was the best at shutting down, didn’t mean that was all he would ever be good for.

After all, if Jackie believed in him, there had to be something to believe in.

Right?

Chapter 25

Chapter Text

Jackie had been on a date.

A date with someone she had no history with.

A fresh slate, that’s what she wanted.

Laying in her bed that night, she looked back on it.

Jackie hadn’t felt like this since she was sixteen years old.

With her smile plastered on and trying her hard to listen and join the conversation when appropriate, but praising every second that ticked by, it reminded her of the many dinners with her parents and their friends.

It wasn’t that her date was boring or rude, he was perfectly lovely.

His name was David, he’d dressed slightly nice, but not too nice. He had opened her door for her, pulled out her chair, he’d listened when she’d spoken.

But there was nothing there.

No spark, not even a singe.

Tori, her boyfriend Mark, and Dave were all friends. They had a history and she felt out of place.

But more than that, Jackie felt like she was cheating on Steven.

She realized how ridiculous that sounded. They hadn’t been together in more than a year. She’d been on plenty of dates last year, she’d even had a boyfriend however brief, but watching Steven stand behind the counter and wish her well was a hard pill to swallow.

Maybe it was because he was doing better.

Maybe it was how he’d looked at her when he’d said it.

He’d gone from looking ill to...not quite Zen. He was being supportive when she could tell he didn’t want to.

Last year who knows what he would have said to her, but tonight he was sweet.

She grabbed her pillow and crushed it to her face in frustration.

They were simply friends with a history right now.

They were not together.

But the more she told that to her traitorous heart the more she knew that the feelings she had wouldn’t let him go.

Maybe it’s why she ended up with Fez. He was a safe option because even when it ended it wouldn’t destroy her. Isn’t that what happened instead of going out in a blaze it simply dimmed and fizzled out.

Why couldn’t he have just been a good boyfriend two years ago?

The traitor in her chest was telling her something she didn’t want to listen to, Steven was it for her. He might not be the safe choice or possibly even a good one, but he had all of her heart.

She wondered if time would lessen the pull he had on her.

After seeing the changes that he was making, she wondered if she wanted it to.

It was a near sleepless night when she dragged herself to work and then made a stop at Grooves to pick up a book she had left behind the counter in her attempt to escape the awkwardness of the night before.

If she didn’t need it for her exam, she probably would have abandoned it just to avoid Hyde.

She could see him inside, it was too much to hope that he was slacking today and had someone else work.

There was nothing to do but go in.

Hyde glanced up when the door opened, with barely any effort he reached under the counter and held out her book.

“Looking for this?”

“Thank you,” she said sheepishly reaching for the book.

All she had to do was grab it and run.

He kept his eyes on the albums he was sorting through, “So how was it?”

“We don’t have to do this.”

“I know but I just want to know that you had a good time. Never mind, you don’t have to tell me anything.”

If he had pushed for information, Jackie probably would have told him it was none of his business. “It was fine.”

“Fine?”

“Nothing special.” Desperate to change the subject to anything else, “What did you do last night that was so spectacular?”

“Dinner, watched a movie on TV.”

“That’s it?” Jackie asked dismissively.

“Yeah, so you have a point.”

“No circle?”

“I haven’t done one in a while, I don’t think since New Year’s.”

“You’re kidding?” How had she missed that?

“Not much fun on your own, plus I’m trying to get everything under control. I did quit last year, but then Donna kept asking and I fell back into it.”

Jackie knew that he’d put in a lot of effort to fixing himself this year, “I’m proud of you.”

It always floored him when she said that, there were only two people who were ever proud of him. Kitty and Jackie.

He got uncomfortable and started to fidget, “I don’t say this kind of stuff that often but I’m proud of you too. Not that it means that much from me, but you’ve done amazing this year.”

That admission just about knocked Jackie over.

“I haven’t done anything.”

Now Hyde sounded defensive, “You got a job, moved, started classes, you also work here, spend time with the Formans. Study, I’m guessing you still have a 3.9 average?”

She felt her cheeks warm, “College grading is different but about that yeah.”

“See? Amazing.” He smiled one of his genuine smiles for her.

“Thank you,” Steven. He was never big on compliments and accolades. “That really means a lot.”

She felt her throat tighten.

It meant a whole lot.

He had been free with compliments like “You’re hot, you look beautiful,” something that deep was rare.

Forcing a chipper attitude, “So, I have to finish up my paper, you have to sign off on it, and then-” her smile faltered it hit her, she was done. There would be no reason to be back in Grooves.

“On to bigger and better things,” Hyde said slowly. “You’ve really helped me out. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Yes, you could have.”

“Not as well.”

That hung in the air. They had a million things to say to each other, but it was still fragile ground. They had just progressed to being friends and being able to talk like they used to before they started dating.

As usual with them, the timing was off.

“I better get going,” Jackie said hugging the book tight against her.

“Yeah, I’ll see you soon.”

And she left.

It felt so surreal.

There had always been an end date, her classes weren’t going on forever. She didn’t work there.

She should be relieved, but she wasn’t.

Jackie felt empty.

Part of that was Steven’s fault.

Steven hadn’t meant anything negative by it, but as he listed her accomplishments for the year they sounded so bland. It had niggled at the edges of her mind since he’d said it.

She worked and went to school.

Sure it was an accomplishment but where was the fun?

When had she become so boring?

Even on the date she knew wasn’t going anywhere, she’d had nothing of interest to contribute. She hadn’t seen any movies in forever, she only had school to talk about.

Jackie thought about all the stuff she liked to do in the past.

She started making a mental list, she didn’t want to be the old Jackie, but maybe some of the new Jackie could have pieces of the old one.

The first thing she did when she got home was make a phone call.

It was time to take some risks.

“Hi, it’s me. I was wondering what you’re doing Saturday night?”

Chapter 26

Chapter Text

It was officially the last day she needed to come to Grooves for school.

It felt so final.

But she was determined to keep a good attitude. Besides, she had plans.

Hyde was filling out the final documents for her paperwork approving that she had done the work.

“For this being your assignment I seem to be writing a whole lot,” he complained.

He still wasn’t one for paperwork.

“Inven-tory,” Jackie snapped back at him.

“Shutting up now.”

He smirked. He’d gotten so used to Jackie being here. Leo came and went so he wasn’t much help, and he didn’t need much help with the store, it was nice having her there.

“Have you seen that Competition movie, it just came out? It seemed like something you’d like.”

“No, I haven’t been out much with school.”

“It’s playing at the theater, would you want to see it after work? If you don’t have homework that is.”

“Don’t you have dinner plans?” Everyone else had let their weekly dinners fall off, only showing up occasionally but Jackie and Hyde had kept them up.

“Yeah, but I could probably get you in?”

“As fun as that sounds, I can’t tonight I have a special date,” she was excited for it.

“Oh,” he was surprised since she didn’t seem to have liked that guy but he’d been wrong before, “yeah. I get it.”

Jackie noticed him stiffen. He was being very cordial about everything. Considering not that long ago he would have said something awful about it.

Since he’d admitted that he still had feelings for her she assumed he was probably feeling like she was. There was still love there, but was it enough was the question. She didn’t want to hurt him but decided after everything, a little torture wouldn’t be out of line.

They used to mess with each other all the time when they first started being friends.

“He’s meeting me here any minute actually.”

It was bad enough just knowing about it. The thought of watching Jackie leaving with someone else was enough to make him sick.

“So he didn’t play the three-days game, that’s good right?” He knew Jackie hated guys waiting days to call and make plans. If they did that she sent them on their way.

Jackie was starting to feel a little bad about this, but he had tormented her last year for months. Karma was deserved, “No, I called him actually.”

As Hyde’s insides went spiraling, the door opened. “You ready to go?”

Jackie smiled brightly, “Just let me grab my stuff.”

Red looked pleased himself. Glancing at Hyde, “You’ll be eating with Kitty alone tonight. We’ve got plans.”

“I was just telling him,” Jackie was pleased with the confusion on Hyde’s face. “There’s a small car show just out of town.”

Hyde was simultaneously annoyed and relieved.

“You’re not taking Mrs. Forman?”

“Kitty said after the last one we might not stay married if she went to another car show with me.”

“I’m his chaperone.”

Red scowled his signature scowl, “Keep telling yourself that.”

Jackie just brushed it off.

“You two behave,” Hyde called after them, “and Jackie?”

“Yes,” she turned smiling a bright wicked smile.

“You’re an evil brat.”

Her smile widened even more, “Yeah, I know. See you later.”

Hyde realized how relieved he felt. Yeah, he was glad she wasn’t on a real date with someone else, but there was more. For a few minutes there she was messing with him.

It wasn’t some grand gesture, but in all the time they’d spent together at the store there was always the under currant of tiptoeing around the other. Sure they’d been friendly for a while but there wasn’t any joking or teasing for months.

He didn’t know what Jackie meant by it, but he was pretty sure she was trying to make him feel jealous.

Mission accomplished.

Two really could play that game.

He grabbed the telephone, “Hey, Mrs. Forman. I heard, did you start on dinner yet? Cuz I was thinking what if we do whatever you wanted to do tonight?”

* * * * * *

Kitty was having a rare lunch out at the diner, she came to chat more than anything.

Jackie took her lunch with Kitty.

“How was the car show?”

“We had fun, we got giant pretzels and looked at some old cars, they were beautiful.”

Kitty sniffed, “As long as that’s all Red Forman was looking at.”

Her jealousy made Jackie force down a smile.

“He only had eyes for a bright red Cadillac.”

“He better,” she scoffed. No, the previous car show had not left a good impression on Kitty.

“How was dinner with Hyde? What did you make?”

“I didn’t make anything.”

“Oh, did he cook for you?” Jackie sipped on her pop.

“No,” Kitty’s face warmed and her eyes lit up. “When the two of you went off he called and asked what I wanted to do so we went out for a bite and then,” Kitty’s face flushed and she whispered, “Steven would be so mad if he knew I told anyone but he took me to that new bar on 5^th street and danced with me.”

Jackie’s heart melted. She was the only one who knew who had taught Steven to dance and how special that was for the two of them. Obviously, Kitty was smiling like a schoolgirl as she talked about it.

“We’ll keep that our little secret.”

“Speaking of,” Kitty changed the subject, “I heard you had a night out, how was that?”

“Fine, I guess.

“Oh boy, fine I guess. Sounds wonderful.”

“I wasn’t interested. Besides I felt like I couldn’t talk, all I’ve done lately is work and school. I’m boring now.” It was the truth, it was why she would be making an effort to do more things while it was warming up.

“You are far from boring, but if it wasn’t right then it wasn’t right.”

“Anyway I realized I need to do some more stuff for me,” Jackie confessed.

“Is that why you wanted to go to the car show?”

“Part of it, I’m going out for a girl’s night next weekend.”

Kitty patted her hand encouragingly, “I’m glad you should take a break once in a while, especially with you working so hard at the store for free.”

Jackie was sure Kitty already knew but she told her anyway, “Hyde tried to pay me but I couldn’t take it, so he gave me some records instead.” He’d nearly given her a full collection at this point.

“Seems odd you wouldn’t take the money, you definitely worked hard for it.”

“It’s just the history made it weird.”

“Is that the only reason?” Kitty prodded.

“What else?”

“I don’t know it’s just odd that you chose the Record Store over the auto shop with Red, or even here.” Kitty was doing that thing she did where she tried to be inconspicuous but sounded extremely suspicious.”

“You know you’re sounding an awful lot like your son.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“We’re friends now, don’t push it,” Jackie said sternly.

“Alright, not another word. But I’m glad you’re getting along because I want to have a party with both of you there.” Now Kitty was getting excited.

“What kind of party?

“For you and Donna, finishing out the school year.”

“I’m just taking two classes,” it was just a couple of community classes. Donna was at a proper university.

“So? You have worked so hard in those classes and deserve to be celebrated. Just because it’s not at a fancy school doesn’t mean it’s not important.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Forman.”

“Donna’s school lets out in a few weeks, she’s going to come home for a few days then go visit with Bob so we’re thinking two weeks from Friday.”

“As long as Hyde and I aren’t the only two guests then I’m fine, but what about Fez and Michael?” It was a real concern, they still were barely talking.

“I’ll get them to behave. Eric has an idea that might help but who knows.”

Jackie didn’t know if Kitty should bank on one of Eric’s plans succeeding.

“Sounds good. Now, how was your dancing date with Hyde?”

Kitty’s face lit up as she told her every single detail.

She was a loving woman, no one who wasn’t would have put up with all of them for years, but seeing Steven through Kitty’s eyes was something special. He’d hurt her some too, but Kitty had nothing but love for all of her many kids.

Their conversation had stayed with Jackie long after Kitty left to see Red at the shop.

She had no reason to go back to Grooves, but her feet had taken her there after work.

“Hey,” Hyde looked shocked when he saw her come in. “Did you forget something?”

“No, you filled everything out right, I need a break, you mentioned something about a movie the other day,” She was trying her best to sound aloof, but her nerves were strangling her.

Hyde’s own voice caught in his throat, “Yeah?”

“I don’t have anything planned tonight you maybe want to see that?” She hoped no one could hear her heart racing. “Just friends hanging out.”

Jackie didn’t even remember what movie he’d suggested.

“You have to get your own popcorn, I’m not sharing.”

Jackie rolled her eyes at his response.

“I don’t want your stupid popcorn, are you free or what?”

“What time do you want me to pick you up?”

“I can get there okay,” she didn’t want to make too much of this.

“What time am I picking you up?” He said firmly. “Look, I’m all for you doing what you want when you want, but it’s cold and we’re going to the same place.”

She relented, “Fine, 6:30.”

“Cool, you’ll be ready by eight then?”

“I’m going to fling that popcorn in your hair.”

“I already said I’m not sharing mine with you.”

Jackie turned and walked out without another word.

Both spent the rest of the day smiling.

Chapter 27

Chapter Text

“I want to see Xanadu so bad,” Jackie breezed out of the theater.

She was glad she’d done this.

They got to hang out without the pressure to hang out and talk.

Jackie took advantage of the fact she wouldn’t be standing in a cold bus stop at night and put on a knee-length skirt and felt girly. Hyde was appreciative of the look.

He had indeed shared his popcorn. Not that he’d admit that.

“That is such a you movie,” Hyde responded. “First Grease, now Xanadu.”

“Oh and what do you want to see? Cheech and Chong: Next Movie?”

“Why not?” he asked.

“Ugh whatever,” she rolled her eyes. “You just don’t have good taste in movies.”

An older couple stopped them, “We used to bicker like the two of you when were were younger,” the old woman said wistfully.

“Used to?” The old man groused, “You still nag me morning, noon, and night. Even in my sleep, dream you is nagging me.”

“And you’re a better man for it,” she snapped. She turned to Jackie, “They just never learn.”

“Leave the kids to their date,” the man responded pulling her with him and they walked off into the crowd bickering playfully.

“That was odd,” Hyde said.

“I thought they were cute.”

She wrapped her jacket tighter around herself. The cold night was creeping up on her. While cute, the skirt didn’t help.

Hyde noticed, “Let’s get you in the car before you freeze.”

“It’s not that cold,” it truthfully wasn’t, she was just starting to feel it.

“Would you admit it if you were cold?” He already knew the answer. She wouldn’t mention it until she was freezing.

Jackie thought about it, she didn’t answer fast enough.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

He put his hand on her back leading her to the car. Again he touched her high on her back through a shirt and a coat, and still, she felt more of a thrill than when she’d spent hours at dinner with Dave.

If she was being honest, it was more of a thrill than she’d felt since they’d broken up.

He drove her home, she could have let him leave but she didn’t want the night to be over.

“You want to come up for a bit?”

“Sure.”

It was assuredly not a date, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t hang out.

He followed her in and took a look around.

“Huh.”

“What huh?” She asked ready for the old Hyde judgment.

“Nothing it’s just- it doesn’t look like you. I mean your old room was so colorful, I figured it would be rainbows in here.”

Jackie looked around at the sad beige walls. He had a point. She barely had any pictures up. It was more or less a box with a couch and a chair.

“Oh, yeah Tori, my neighbor said she’d help me paint but it wasn’t much of a priority. I was just trying to get through my classes and work. Go ahead and sit.”

Jackie grabbed two pops from the fridge.

“Makes sense. I didn’t do much with my place either other than posters.”

“I’m just realizing I don’t even know where you live.”

“Over by East Street. It’s fine, basically a shoebox but it works.”

“You could always move back with the Formans,” Jackie suggested, “I’m sure Kitty would love it. Jackie wasn’t sure what made him move out. Maybe it was like her, he needed a fresh start.”

“And Red would put his foot in my ass.”

“You know, I’ve been hearing that threat for almost ten years and I’ve yet to see him even try it.”

Hyde smirked, “I dare you to tell him that next time there are witnesses.”

“That would probably be the party Kitty’s throwing for Donna and me.”

“Good planning, hold off in case it’s a dud, that way you can liven it up if you need to.”

She was surprised at how easy this was.

“Red loves me, he would never, actually he’s never threatened me directly with putting his foot in my ass.”

Hyde nodded along, “We all know, Laurie comes first then there’s Jackie, and the rest of us can fall off the water tower.

Jackie preened.

“Not my fault you’ve all done it.” Her face contorted in thought, “How many times has Michael fallen off now?”

Hyde thought, “I think I stopped counting after fifteen, maybe.”

“I hope for Betsy’s sake she takes after Brooke,”

“Cheers to that,” he tipped his bottle at her. “Did you get your invite for the game night?”

“Game night? No,” she said confused.

Figures Eric would wait until the last minute. “I’m pretty sure you’re part of the plan.”

“Oh no,” she groaned, “Is this Eric’s bright get the guys back together plan.”

“Yep. We’re all going to get together and play games, and get them talking.”

Suddenly Jackie’s head ached, “How bad do you think that’s going to go?”

“Going off of every game Fez has ever played, game boards are going to get flipped over, cards will be thrown or he’s going to backhand pieces off the table.”

“I don’t know if I want to bail so I don’t have to see it or go and watch Eric’s idea blow up in his face.”

“You can’t leave me alone with all of them.”

“You poor baby,” Jackie cooed.

“Just wait. You’re getting roped into this mess too,” he pointed out.

“When is this magical game night?”

“Thursday if you can come.”

“Dammit,” she muttered more to herself.

“You have class?

“Unfortunately, no.”

He grinned. “You’re stuck with us.”

He noticed the box of records in the corner, “Don’t forget you have to pick up your last payment.”

“I think I have enough records.”

“So? Swipe some cassettes. I don’t think you realize how long it would have taken to get the store in order without you.”

“You could also ask for help.”

“There’s an old cliché about a kettle I think is relevant here,” he pointed out.

“I don’t ask for rides, that’s different from risking the business.”

“Touche,” he looked at his watch, “I better get going.”

“I guess I’ll see you Thursday,” she said glumly.

“Why don’t you come by the store tomorrow after work to pick up your stuff and I’ll drive you home.” Quickly he added, “If you want.”

“I’ll pick up my records, but I reserve judgment on the ride.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

As she watched him drive away, she couldn’t help but think that he was acting a whole lot more like Steven than Hyde.

When Jackie walked into Grooves the counter was a mess, Hyde was sorting through boxes.

“Oh no, don’t tell me you have more inventory?” she tossed her things on the counter.

“Sort of, it’s not that bad.”

She was not going to sort out more boxes of records. “I’m out, you signed my paperwork and I am done.”

“I don’t need any help,” he tilted the box he was working on. “It’s a promo box, the store looks trashed for an hour or two and then it’s fine.” Pointing to the counter “I just have to replace those posters with these and trash the old ones.”

Jackie was always nosey, she started looking through the counter posters and shrieked.

“You cannot throw ABBA in the trash!”

“That’s where their music belongs, why not the poster.”

Jackie angrily searched through the posters.

“No, oh my god Stevie? You threw Stevie Nicks in the garbage.

She glared at him.

“I admit that one was bad,” he agreed.

“I can’t even look at you right now.”

“Jackie, I don’t have room to keep all this stuff.”

She opened her mouth and he cut her off.

“I know I stashed all the inventory in my office, trust me I know, but this is old promotional stuff I’m never going to be able to put back up. You want it? Take it.”

“I will,” she looked down speaking to the pile, “and I will treat you better than he ever did.”

“You need to get out more.”

“I’ll have you know Tori and I are going dancing so there.” She stuck her tongue out at him like they were children.

She was more mature than this but his deplorable behavior with the posters had her irrational.

He handed her an empty box, “If I drive you home will you accept it as an apology for disrespecting posters that have no feelings whatsoever?”

They’d had many of these fake fights before. One of them would be indignant about something and it was mostly a joke, it usually got a rise out of the other person.

She pretended to think about it. “Only if you carry them up to my apartment.”

“I can do that.”

Jackie spoke to the posters as she boxed them up, “The mean man can’t hurt you again.”

He wrote down a number and handed it to her.

“What’s this?”

“It’s WB’s office line, you can yell at him for his evil marketing practices.”

Jackie handed it back, “What makes you think I don’t already have his number?”

“You don’t.”

“Don’t I?”

He didn’t think she did, but why was she so confident, “How do you have his office number, he doesn’t give it to anyone?”

“I’m not anyone.”

He was going to ask his dad if he’d really given Jackie his direct line, and if he did why did he give Jackie his direct line.

“I know you’re officially off the clock now, but if you help me put these out I’ll close up early and take you home.”

“Fine, but once I get my degree my rate goes up.”

“Noted, by the way. If you ever wanted to quit the diner, you’re always welcome here.”

“I don’t know,” she didn’t like waitressing but she liked chatting with the regulars, and the owners.

“I would have to pay you with real money by the way.”

She wasn’t ready to say yes or no. “I’ll think about it.”

“It’s an open offer, no rush.”

It was nice to know she had a place, it was never bad to have a backup.

Hyde lied to her. She knew it, she wasn’t sure how to let him know she knew it. But she did. And she was trying to be mad about it.

But it was really hard.

Jackie took her posters home laying them out with cups on the edges to flatten them out while she planned where to put them, when a funny thing happened.

There was a bright poster that said groovy, which would go so perfectly with her flower pillows. And of course, ABBA and Stevie Nicks were staying and there was the occasional odd poster of a band she’d never heard of.

But looking at her loot it was obvious.

The Carpenters.

The Bee Gees.

Peter Frampton.

These were some of her favorite artists.

She’d also never seen these in the store. How good were promotional items when they weren’t put up to promote anything?

Could it have been part of his problem last year?

It could have, but it wasn’t.

Jackie was sure of it.

She’d been all over every inch of that store looking for areas of improvement for her papers. She’d never seen any of this or anything like it in the store.

There were things to be done about it, she could give them back and complain, or she could put them up and enjoy them. Which is what she did.

As she pinned up the last one, Tori knocked and came in.

“Hey, girl. Want to go halfsies on a pizza? I want one but I don’t want to eat an entire one alone.”

“Sure, I’ll get the number.”

“Oh wow, you decorated,” she made herself at home, wandering around examining them all. “Love me some Fleetwood Mac.”

“I got them from Grooves, there’s some more in that box, take anything you want.”

“I will take a look thanks.” She sat on the floor and dug through them, “Why did you buy posters if you weren’t going to use them?”

“I didn’t. Hyde said he was throwing them out but I’m not sure if I believe that.”

“Why?”

“Some of my all-time favorites are in there and I’ve never seen these in the store.”

She laughed, “That was a nice move.”

“Shut up.”

“I can see why it didn’t work with Dave. I wasn’t really expecting it to though.”

“What do you mean?”

Without a word, Tori got up and dragged Jackie to the bathroom mirror.

“Your cheeks are pink and you’re trying not to smile but you’re very bad at that, and your eyes look like that?”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know if it makes sense but it’s like they’re blushing, every time you mention this guy lately it’s like you’re shy and don’t want anyone to see.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“And you, my friend are oblivious. You like him.”

“Are you twelve?”

“Why not, you’re just as bad.”

Jackie turned to face her friend, “Do you want that pizza or not?”

Tori held her hands up in surrender, “Backing off now.”

Jackie was not ready to admit that Tori was right.

Chapter 28

Chapter Text

Jackie arrived first, helping Eric bring snacks down, she noticed the basem*nt wall was lined with streamers.

“Oh, the streamers are cute, a little much for a game night, but I like the attention to detail.”

Eric looked at the pink and white twists on his walls.

“Mom did that, I think it’s for your party.”

“I can’t wait, I’m so glad to be done with classes, Donna must be excited too.”

Eric shuddered, “she’s in that crazed state of exams where she could cry or kill me at any moment.”

Jackie was a little jealous of that, but she’d get there soon.

Eric fussed around setting out different board games, cards, anything he thought would magically fix their broken group.

Jackie wished it was as easy as he thought it was.

They’d decided on getting together in the basem*nt for their mini-reunion. It also kept them from having to carry things to either Jackie’s apartment, which she was not letting Fez trash when he had an outburst, or Grooves, for the very same reason.

Hyde shuffled in a bit later, taking a handful of pretzels, and sat on the couch, “What’s with the streamers?”

“Be nice,” Jackie said, “I like them.”

“Woah, you’re defending Forman? That’s new.”

“I’m not defending him,” she snapped.

He looked between them, “One day you two are going to admit you like each other.”

“Cold day in hell my friend,” Eric said.

Hyde smirked and ate his pretzels.

Fez followed shortly after and was animatedly gossiping with Jackie when Kelso walked it.

He shut down immediately.

“Hi Michael,” Jackie smiled brightly.

“Hey, everyone.” He noticed Fez looking away from him and his demeanor changed.

He shut down as he sat next to Eric on the couch.

“Who wants to play go fish,” Eric forced his excitement on them. His own nervous laugh made the situation more awkward.

It was going to be a bumpy night.

Donna had always taken it as a point of pride to be “one of the guys.”

Jackie wondered about her friends’ mental well-being.

One on one they were great guys.

Eric was caring and friendly, not that Jackie would ever admit that.

Michael and Fez were both funny in their ways.

And Hyde...she’d think about that later.

Great on their own.

Collectively they shared one languishing brain cell and the maturity level of a potato.

And Jackie was stuck with them.

Alone.

She hadn’t been stuck in such an awkward situation since her forced slumber party with Annette.

God for that to be her worst problem was a dream.

Currently, they were in the most tense game of Go-Fish ever on record.

Fez and Kelso refused to look at each other.

It was causing the other three to keep darting glances between them.

In all their years together, never had there been such a silent stalemate.

“So Fez, how is the salon?” Jackie tried to make small talk but it wasn’t doing much.

“Fine.”

Fez loved to talk so this was bad.

Hyde cleared his throat, “Kelso, have to arrest any stupid kids like us on the water tower?”

He was sullen as he responded, “No, they don’t really do that anymore. Must have been just us.”

The three people not fighting, exchanged glances.

“This is a boring kids’ game,” Eric pulled out Monopoly at the end of the round.

“How about every time you end up in jail or pass Go you have to say something,” Jackie suggested. “It can be about the weather I don’t care, but I’m not staying here if everyone is silent.”

“Great idea,” Eric encouraged her, hoping to keep any conversation going, “When do you have to apply for school?”

“They just opened up enrollment, I have til the end of the month to get everything in,” she counted out everyone’s money. Jackie always liked being the banker.

“Can’t you just apply?” Fez finally spoke.

She shrugged, “I need my transcripts and an essay. It’s easy I just have to fill it all out.”

“What are you studying anyway?” Eric asked. He’d heard a lot about her classes from his parents but never what the plan was.

“Since TV didn’t work out I’m not sure, maybe business.”

“You should try to get back into TV again,” Hyde said. “If you want that is, you were good at it. That woman was just evil.”

It was so rare for him to compliment her the last year of their relationship, it always threw her when he did it now. And he did it so often lately.

Jackie felt like a fish with her mouth gaping open.

“Thank you, Hyde.”

There was the word that stabbed him in the chest every time it left her lips.

Hyde.

They were better but that name showed him he was not back in her circle of trust.

It was painful but he knew it was his own fault.

He would love to blame her, but he couldn’t.

“Well,” Eric said importantly, “I have an announcement. I’m applying for the University of Wisconsin, teaching program.”

“Yeah, you’re going to be up close to make out with the neighbor girl, we know,” Hyde said. It wasn’t a surprise, it was all he’d talked about since he’d gotten home.

“Hey,” Eric said offended, “I’ll be learning stuff too.”

“Like where on campus is the best place to make out with the neighbor girl?”

Eric shook his head, “Theater building, no one notices anything there.”

Not that he planned on using that information, but Hyde tucked it away for later. You never knew what that would come in handy.

“Good job, you’re already ahead of the curve.”

“Alright Michael, dish, how is my perfect God-Daughter?”

He cracked a smile for the first time all evening, “Still perfect, we have photos of the dress you gave her we have to get developed. I’ll get you one.”

Jackie smiled.

“How is police training going?” Hyde asked, it was the only thing he could think of.

Kelso got quiet.

“Good,” he said slowly. “I’ve passed all my exams so far. I’m thinking about transferring to Chicago after I’m done.”

Fez somehow scowled more and finally looked at him and spoke, “When were you going to say anything?”

“Say what?” Kelso snapped back. “We haven’t talked in months, something about how I’m a cheating man-whor*.”

The others sat statue still.

They wanted them to talk, but not like this.

“Because you always have been,” Fez defended himself.

“Not this again. No, I haven’t,” he shouted. “We have been through all of this I know, I cheated on Jackie. The whole world knows I cheated on Jackie. But I haven’t been that guy since Betsy.”

“I saw you, it was only a matter of time before you did,” Fez spat.

Kelso stood, “I’m not doing this again, Jackie congratulations, I’ll see you at your party.”

He walked out without another word, slamming the door behind him.

The silence was deafening.

No one moved.

One second turned to a minute.

This wasn’t the most shocking revelation in their small world, it was hardly a blip that Kelso would move toward his daughter.

She was the center of his world.

But if he left, if they were still fighting, what would that do to the group?

There were no answers, at least nothing they could find now.

Fez flipped the board over and stomped up the stairs.

It took a little longer for the last three to collect themselves. They were in the middle of an uncomfortable situation where no one was right, and no one was altogether wrong either.

With his usual dry humor, Hyde asked, “Who could have predicted this.”

Jackie wondered if she really would have to call Red out at her party just as a distraction from the fighting.

“I don’t know about you but that was a little too reminiscent of my childhood,” Jackie said knowing only Hyde would be able to relate.

Eric looked pitifully at the pieces on the floor, he’d get them later. What was the point now? “Since you’re both here you want to play poker?

“Sure, but it’s clothes poker,” Hyde suggested.

“You want to play strip poker?” Eric asked.

“Yeah, but every time you,” he pointed at Eric, “lose you have to put more clothes on.”

“Ha-ha,” he wasn’t amused.

“No, I agree, you need more clothes on.”

“How many times did I almost see something by accident coming down into my basem*nt?”

“You think you’d have learned to knock before coming down,” Hyde pointed out.

“It’s my house,” Eric defended himself.

“It was rude,” Jackie agreed, “this is basically an extension of Hyde’s room.”

“Plus you showed off your ass enough for everyone,” Hyde grinned, “remember the table?”

“Donna is still mortified by that,” Jackie reminded him.

“I can’t win an argument when you gang up on me.”

They smiled at each other. They always did like teaming up to win arguments or shame the others.

“Oh we should do a circle since you’re both here,” Eric said excitedly, it had been a while.

“Next time man, I’ll have to get with Leo first.” He’d been out for a while, there hadn’t been much use for it.

“Circle?” Jackie asked incredulously. “You thought of game night but you couldn’t have brought that up before.”

He shrank back, “I didn’t think about it.”

“You guys suck at planning.”

No one could disagree with her.

Chapter 29

Chapter Text

“You called it,” Jackie walked toward the driveway.

“I feel bad for them, I didn’t want to be right.”

Jackie stopped, “You’re not re going to make fun of them?”

Hyde shook his head, “It sucks, they don’t need me making it worse. Even if they’re not here.”

Jackie’s mouth fell open, “Who are you and what have you done with Steven Hyde?”

He wanted to avoid bringing it up, but there wasn’t a way to get past it. Literally, Jackie was standing in the door, and she wouldn’t move without an answer.

“I caused a lot of crappy situations, something about glass houses and rocks.”

Jackie didn’t want to talk about anything to do with them, not tonight. They’d had a pretty good time picking on Eric after Kelso and Fez’s meltdown.

“I think that’s nice of you,” she turned and kept walking.

“Could I drive you home?”

“What is it with you and driving me home?” her tone was light, but she wondered.

He decided to mess with her a little, “If you get in, I’ll tell you.”

“That’s extortion.”

He shrugged. “You want answers, you ride shotgun.”

She tried to look as menacing as possible as she sat in the passenger seat.

Hyde struggled not to laugh, just because she currently couldn’t kick, didn’t mean she wouldn’t pinch or hold on to a kick for later.

He waited until they were on their way before he started explaining.

“I know you’re capable of riding the bus, you’re a big girl and can handle it.”

“Thank you,” she said genuinely but she was still a bit suspicious.

“But sometimes creeps ride the bus, and you have a habit of working late and taking it when chances are there’s more creeps out.”

She rolled her eyes, “I can handle myself, and I could always get the bus driver.”

“What if it was at the bus stop? Or the creep was the bus driver.”

“I get it, but I’m careful.”

Hyde was hesitant to say the rest, but he was trying to fix things, honesty wasn’t always a convenient thing. “I know but I always worry about you, especially since you live alone and far away from the rest of us.”

“I’m not that far,” it was only about a ten-minute drive.

“It’s far enough. Plus, until recently it’s been so cold and gets dark early, it’s not safe for you walking in the dark to get to the bus stop.”

That had been Jackie’s main concern a few times, “So you just wanted to keep me safe?”

“Yeah, like how I used to wait until you turned on your bedroom light.”

Jackie smiled fondly at the memory. Hyde wouldn’t always walk her to the door of the house after a date, especially when her Dad had been home.

But without fail, he stayed in the driveway until she turned on her bedroom light. Usually, she would go to the window and watch him leave. A few times she watched him in the dark so she could keep him for a few moments longer before turning on the light.

It had always made her feel safe.

“I still don’t feel bad for fighting you on it,” Jackie said crossing her arms over her chest.

Hyde smirked.

He was rounding the parking lot of her building.

“You have any plans Saturday?” He asked.

“Work in the morning, nothing exciting why?”

“What about Sunday morning?”

“Nothing until around noon, why?” She asked again, growing annoyed that he wasn’t answering her.

“It’s the last Saturday of the month,” he parked the car waiting for her to catch on.

“Okay?”

He looked at her expectantly, with a slight smile.

He repeated it slower, “It’s the last Saturday of the month.”

Jackie mumbled “last Saturday of the month,” to herself when she covered her face with her hand.

“Oh, no.”

“Drive-in’s doing a midnight madness double feature.”

“Why do you love those crappy, budget horror movies so much?” She groaned. “You can see the boom mic in half of them.”

“They’re funny.”

“And you judge me for Grease.”

He decided not to poke the bear and go for the offer, “I have my dinner with Kitty on Saturday, you can join if you want or I could pick you up and we hit the drive-in. What do you say?”

They were the cheesiest movies, but the company wasn’t bad. They used to go to the midnight madness features before they started dating that summer. It was all they could find to do with Eric whining all the time and Fez at the pool.

“I will think about it,” she wasn’t completely aloof, but she couldn’t just agree.

“I’ll take it,” he smiled softly at her.

Jackie recognized that as one that was rare for anyone but her. She’d forgotten how much she’d missed it.

“I’ll wait til you get inside.” He didn’t need to tell her, even when they weren’t together, he waited for her to get in safely before he left.

Jackie undid her seatbelt, leaned over, and kissed his cheek, “Thanks for looking out for me.”

Quickly, she got out and into the building.

Much like she had when she was sixteen, she sat by the window ledge looking down at the car, she could only just make him out.

She didn’t want to turn the light on this time, because just like this they were perfect.

The boy who protected her heart.

Jackie wondered if they could get back to that, or head toward something new.

Reluctantly, she flipped the light on, she couldn’t make him wait there all night.

But he stayed looking up at her window, wishing he hadn’t destroyed the best thing in his life, but hoping he still had a chance to fix it.

Chapter 30

Chapter Text

It was Friday night, the kids were set to come over, and Kitty was in her element.

She’d spent all day cooking and baking. She had cookies, cake, fried chicken, rolls, you name it she had it on the stove, in the oven, or cooling in the fridge.

She said it was a “small celebration,” the girls were done with their classes and Donna would be in town for a few days before going to visit her dad. Kitty had set her up in Laurie’s room and she was excited to have all her kids in for the night.

If she was lucky, Jackie might stay over too, and she could get the boys to bunk in the basem*nt.

She was just so thrilled to have everyone back under her roof.

Fez and Michael had promised to be on their best behavior, even if they were on opposite sides of the house.

Even if he didn’t say it, Kitty had seen a little pep in Red’s step too.

Steven had closed the store up early to help, Eric was just there anyway.

Kitty put Steven on stove duty since he was the only one she could trust to not walk away from it.

He stirred and cut food or did whatever tasks she gave him. She had a plan he just followed orders.

Eric came down to see what sweets he could sneak, “Mom, how many people did you invite?”

“I wanted enough for everyone to have seconds, and take their favorites home.”

There would be food for days even if all of them had three or four helpings.

Wisely, Eric said, “Good thinking,” and kissed his mom on the cheek.

He did manage to swipe a cookie when her back was turned.

His father walked into the kitchen and froze, “Good God, Kitty, I know they can pack in my free food, but even those kids can’t eat this much,” Red looked on at the organized chaos that used to be his kitchen.

Kitty went to the fridge and grabbed a beer, “Red Forman, if you know what’s good for you, you will take this beer and go to the den or the garage and stay there, until our guests arrive,” she said firmly.

Without a word, he went to the garage.

She let out a stressful breath. “Good.”

She looked a the clock.

“Steven, can you manage for a few minutes? I need to go change my clothes.”

“I’m fine, just waiting for this to finish and the timer to go off for the oven.”

“Perfect. Just send Eric up to get me if anything happens.”

When they were alone in the kitchen, Eric zeroed in on his best friend.

“You can Jackie seemed awfully chummy the other day.”

Hyde didn’t glare at him, but he also wasn’t about to talk.

“We’re friends,” he said noncommital.

“Riiiight,” Eric eyed him. “I can’t help but notice, that you guys are getting along really, really well.”

“Do you remember a very scary 95-pound brunette hovering over you while you were sleeping? You want to try for that again?”

“I’m not plotting this time, I’m just asking. I promise.”

As close as they were, Hyde never shared the details of his personal life with anyone, even Eric.

“Will you let it go if I tell you something?”

His eyes lit up like it was Christmas, “Yes.” Eric pulled a stool over by the stove expectantly waiting for the information.

“I think we’re finally good.”

Eric waited.

“And?” He asked impatiently.

“And what?” Hyde was growing annoyed. “We were horrible for over a year, and now we might be good. What more do you want?”

Eric didn’t tell him what more he wanted, but he also was unhappy with the amount of information he was getting.

“But how are you good? What happened?”

“That is none of your business.”

“So there’s business?” Eric grinned.

“Forman, if you don’t get out of here I’ll throw you off the roof.”

“I’m so scared, you sound like Red. What are you going to do next put a foot in my ass?”

Hyde glared at him, “No, but I’ll tell him what happened to his wrench sets.”

“You said you’d never bring that up.”

“You can still stop this,” Hyde said calmly.

“Fine, I’m dropping it,” he pouted, “you used to be fun.”

Donna came in through the sliding door, she stopped noticing the weird energy happening in the kitchen.

“He’s pestering you for Jackie details isn’t he?”

“Don’t you want to know?” Eric whined.

Donna swiped a cookie off the table, “No, we’ll know later.”

“What do you mean?” Hyde asked.

“I know you’re not back together, right?”

He decided he was comfortable saying that much. “Right.”

“Okay, depending on how you’re doing, there will be joking, possible smiles from you, and googly heart eyes when Jackie isn’t looking.”

“I don’t do that,” Hyde said at the same time that Eric said, “Oh my God he does do that.”

“Anyway, I need to take my bags up to Laurie’s room and change, I hope I don’t catch skan* from sleeping up there.”

Eric got up and took one of her bags, “We had it de-skan*ed for you.”

They disappeared through the door, he would never admit it, but it was nice having his friends back, maybe if he played his cards right, Jackie might really be back in his life.

* * * * * * *

Hyde was helping Kitty plate up the food, Eric was grabbing plates, Donna was keeping Kelso and Fez apart, all they were waiting on was Jackie.

She was late, both Red and Hyde offered to pick her up but she said she had it handled.

There was only so much fighting her.

Hyde was trying to pick his battles and they were eating early. He planned to be the one to drop her off after the party.

Their easy rhythm was interrupted by the ringing phone.

Kitty grabbed it while she put the final decorations on the cake.

“Jackie dear where-Oh” she mouthed to Red, ‘she’s not coming.’

“Oh no,” her voice dropped, “honey I’m so sorry.”

They all stopped trying in vain to listen to a conversation they couldn’t hear.

“If you need anything you call us, I don’t care what time it is. Day or night.”

“Mom?” Eric asked tentatively.

Kitty paused a moment as she hung up the phone before turning back to them.

She braced herself as she looked between her sons and husband, “Jackie’s father had a heart attack, he passed away today.”

It wasn’t voluntary, Hyde was in the driveway before he even knew what he was doing.

He’d left food boiling on the stove and he didn’t even care.

“Steven,” Red shouted.

“I have to go,” he shouted back.

Red grabbed his shoulder roughly stopping him from getting into the Camino and turning him to face him.

Hyde was about to argue when Red shoved a key in his hand, “This is our emergency key. She may not let anyone in. Take care of her, call if you need help.”

Steven nodded and took off.

He probably broke the speed limit the whole way, they could give him every ticket in the book later, all that mattered was that he got to her.

The best outcome was she’d answer the door and let him in or tell him to go to hell.

He knocked lightly.

He listened but didn’t hear anything inside.

Worried, he pounded on the door.

Nothing.

“Jackie!” He shouted.

He gave her thirty long seconds before he used the key.

If she was there, he knew where she’d be.

It took him a minute to remember the layout, he’d only been in the living room before, but he found her where he expected.

She was huddled up in the bathtub. It was a weird thing she did but it helped ground her when she felt out of control. Something about the small space and the 3 walls surrounding her.

Laying in the tub the tears flowed silently out of her eyes.

This was going to hurt like a bitch when she would finally be ready to leave.

She didn’t say anything to him being there, she was probably in shock.

He went back and made sure the door was locked, then came back took off his boots, left his sunglasses, keys, and wallet on the sink before climbing into the too small tub with her.

She barely moved.

He put his arms around her to ground her more, and maybe himself as well.

Every now and then a sob racked through her and he held on tighter.

If she cared that he was there she didn’t show it. He’d have preferred a “go to hell” to this silence.

He didn’t know how long they lay there but she fell asleep, or maybe passed out from exhaustion.

Careful not to wake her, he crawled out of the tub and went looking through the apartment to find her room, he fixed up the pillows and the soft blankets she liked and went back and carefully scooped her out of the tub and put her into bed.

He tucked her in and placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head. He couldn’t leave her, but he had every intention of sitting in the living room until she woke up.

But a small voice murmured, “Steven, can you stay with me?”

She sounded so broken it destroyed his heart.

“I’m right here Doll. As long as you need me.”

Chapter 31

Chapter Text

Hyde pulled a chair in from the living room and watched her sleep.

He didn’t have a lot of experience with loss, only Eric’s grandparents and he wasn’t really involved in that. Tomorrow would be hell but he didn’t know how to navigate that to help her.

Jackie woke up after a few hours, it was the middle of the night.

She remembered everything but was silent.

He knew she hadn’t eaten dinner, so he left her to make some eggs and hot chocolate.

It only took a few minutes and he kept popping into her room to keep an eye on her.

Jackie didn’t even register when he put everything beside her.

She was empty.

He spoke to her softly, “Jackie, I need you to sit up and eat this.”

A hoarse whisper at least let him know she was coherent, “I don’t want it.”

“I know, but you have to eat something. At least drink the hot chocolate. Please.” The worry seeped into his voice.

She shut her eyes again.

Hyde thought she’d fallen back to sleep when she shifted slightly.

It seemed that every movement was painful but she sat up. He helped what little he could by moving blankets around.

He handed her the cup and she just held it to her chest.

“It’s so cold.”

She couldn’t be talking about the drink. He noted how she huddled into herself.

“Where do you keep extra blankets?”

“Closet by the front door.”

Her voice was so raw he wondered if she had been screaming before he’d gotten there.

He went looking and found a few more blankets, for good measure he grabbed one off the couch too.

Jackie had managed a few sips in his absence.

It was something but he didn’t like the glassy look in her eyes. Rather the lack of a look, like she wasn’t seeing anything in front of her.

He took the mug from her and wrapped her in every blanket he found before putting the mug back in her hands.

She took it but didn’t seem to register anything he did for her.

It frightened him.

It took forever for her to drink most of it.

“Can you eat something?”

She shook her head.

“I just want to sleep.”

Hyde took the mug from her and turned the light off for her.

“Get some rest.”

She didn’t lie down.

Jackie wasn’t thinking, her mind was shattered and it wouldn’t let her. But she wanted comfort.

“Would you sit with me?”

Hyde froze, “Are you sure?”

She didn’t answer only scooted over in the bed. Carefully, Hyde sat beside her.

He wanted so badly to protect her, but there was nothing he could do now.

When she started to cry again he wrapped his arm around her.

Whether it was comfort or exhaustion, eventually Jackie fell asleep.

Hyde watched her sleep, before his had been one of his favorite things in the world. Holding Jackie as she slept peacefully.

Now it was poisoned with the fact that once again her world was falling apart.

He had no idea what he was doing. He felt completely helpless.

He was not someone who was comforting, that had been proven time and time again.

In his life he’d received it so rarely, it felt foreign to him.

But for Jackie, he would do everything he could to help her through this.

Chapter 32

Chapter Text

The next morning wasn’t quite the nightmare Hyde expected, but it was a strange purgatory of unease.

Jackie woke early and was less in shock than the night before but still out of her routine.

She was robotic in her actions except that the urge to do any of it on her own was gone.

If he hadn’t put food in front of her she wouldn’t have eaten it, it was still hard for her to force food down as it was. She had no desire to eat.

The only thing she wanted was to sleep.

Being awake hurt too much. So he let her stay in bed when she wanted.

He’d fallen asleep again on the couch only to wake up to Jackie pacing the living room and kitchen fifteen minutes later.

“What is it? Do you need something?”

“No, I just- I don’t know. I can’t be in there and I don’t know where to go.”

Then the tears started flowing. She crumpled to the ground and he was there with her. He got her back to bed and she cried then slept.

He checked in with the Formans who told him just take care of her. Kitty wasn’t as helpful as he’d hoped saying, “There’s nothing to do but be there. Let her have today to be a mess. Nothing needs to be done today, just help her through the shock.”

He wished she was here because he didn’t know how to help her through. He wanted to, but he didn’t know what that meant. He needed to do something but what was there he could do?

Eventually, Jackie got up and the inadvertent pacing repeated.

She didn’t know what she wanted or where to go so she wandered until she landed or fell apart.

There was nothing he could do so he left her to tire herself out. Sometimes she’d stop and sit on the couch with him then quickly get up and resume her moving to different spots of the apartment.

He knew there were decisions she had to make if Pam didn’t resurface. He didn’t even want to ask if she knew how to contact her. But today she was in no state to do any of that.

Today was the day where she would cry and he would do his best to hold her and make sure she got what she needed. Maybe tomorrow too.

After that, the world would come crashing in more than it had been, and he’d help her all he could, but there was only so much he could do for her then.

******

As the day dragged on endlessly, Jackie felt some of the shock lessen, but she was nowhere near okay.

She wrapped herself in so many blankets he could barely find her.

“I’m so cold,” she’d said again. So he made her tea and soup for lunch. She picked at it but finally managed to eat it.

“What are you doing here?” it too was hollow, but it was the first seemingly coherent thing she’d said to him in more than a day.

“I was at the Forman’s when you called.”

She took that in, “Does everyone know then?”

Here’s where he could have used backup from Kitty, was it better to tell her the truth or coddle her? “Everyone was coming for dinner, so I’m guessing yes.”

Jackie sat there near lifeless, her vibrant eyes blank and her contagious smile was gone.

He didn’t know what was the right thing to say, “When you’re done, why don’t you go back to sleep?”

“Because there’s stuff I have to do.”

“You can do it tomorrow,” he offered. He was afraid if anything was difficult it would shatter her the rest of the way, and all of it was going to be difficult.

She shook her head. “No, if I don’t do it today I won’t.”

It felt like it took her hours to sort through getting dressed and brushing her hair.

“Eat something.”

“I don’t want it.”

“You have to eat something, you didn’t eat any of your soup earlier,” he reminded her.

“Go home Steven,” she snapped.

“I’m not leaving you alone to deal with this.”

Her eyes finally focused on something, she glared at him, “Why not, you left me alone to deal with everything else?”

He knew it was because she was hurting but that didn’t mean she didn’t mean it. He knew she did and he deserved all of it. He’d done a hell of a lot worse to her.

“Not this time.”

“Great, when I need you you’re nowhere around but when I want to be alone I can’t get rid of you,” she shouted.

He let her rail at him, if anyone knew this trick it was him.

He stayed calm, this was his familiar MO push people away even when you need them. “Yell at me all you want but I’m not going anywhere.”

“I don’t want you here.”

There was an easy fix that he didn’t know if she’d call his bluff on.

“Then call Donna.”

“What?” He’d caught her off guard.

He didn’t back down, “You call Donna or Kitty or hell even Forman to come over here and I’ll go. But I’m not leaving you alone.”

Jackie glared at him.

Hyde shouldn’t have mentioned Kitty. Jackie might let her see her like this, but she would never let the others see her fall apart.

The wheels were spinning in her mind looking at her options, he saw when it clicked that she didn’t have a better one.

She had to be vulnerable in front of one of the others or put up with him.

He was glad looks couldn’t kill because Jackie was giving it her best shot.

With the most energy he’d seen from her since he’d showed up, Jackie stomped off toward her room and slammed the door.

The sound was ringing through the quiet apartment when he heard a tentative knock on the door,

He answered it, hoping it wasn’t a landlord or something, “Hello.”

“Hi,” a pretty woman stood there uncomfortably shifting back and forth, “this is awkward but are you Eric or Steven by any chance?”

“Uh, Steven but it’s Hyde.”

She seemed to relax, “I’m Tori, Jackie’s downstairs neighbor, is everything alright?”

“Right,” he opened the door more, “she’s mentioned you. Um, not really.”

“I heard her shouting.”

“Her dad died yesterday, maybe the day before I don’t really know what today even is.”

Tori’s face fell, “Oh my god is she okay? Can I do anything?”

“She’s not really- Look hold on a second.”

He walked to the door, “Jackie, Tori is here, do you want to talk to her?”

There was a shuffling and the door creaked open, “She can come in. You can go now,” she said irritably before shutting the door in his face. “Problem solved.”

Tori gave him a sympathetic smile, “I’ll stay with her a while, why don’t you take a break for a bit?”

“I do need to check in with someone, if you’re good I’ll drive over and be back in an hour? I can be back sooner if that’s too long.”

“We’ll be okay,” she assured him. “I have all day. I’ll take care of her.”

He paused on his way out, he didn’t feel like he could leave, but he also thought maybe she needed space from him.

“Give me the number of where you’re going, that way if there’s something I can’t handle I can call you.”

Hyde wrote down both numbers quickly. “Call this one first if there’s an emergency. Someone’s always there.”

“I promise we’ll be fine. No news is good news.”

“I just don’t want to leave her.”

“From what I heard, it might be a good idea for Jackie to have a chance to cool off.”

Hyde still didn’t feel like he could leave.

Tori understood he needed to be reassured, “I know we don’t know each other, but she’s safe with me.”

He nodded and Tori didn’t shut the door until he was down the stairs. Jackie might be safe with Tori, but if he’d just upset her again, was she safe with him?

Chapter 33

Chapter Text

Hyde drove home and took a quick shower before heading to the Formans hopefully Mrs. Forman would be there.

Thankfully, she was.

Kitty enveloped him in a tight hug the second she saw him.

“I’ve got food ready to go, how is she?”

He rubbed his face, feeling the exhaustion creeping up on him. “I upset her, I don’t know if me being there is a good thing right now.”

“Tell me what happened.” Kitty listened patiently and rubbed his back.

When he finished telling her exactly what happened between them she soothed him.

“You’re not doing anything wrong. Jackie is hurt and you’re unfortunately the only person she can act out at right now.”

“You don’t understand, I’m supposed to be helping her and I pushed her and she’s angry at me, she shouldn’t have to worry about me too.”

“Steven, she’s not worried about you. She lost one more thing when she was getting her footing and she’s angry at the world. I’d think you out of anyone would understand that.”

He felt sheepish, yeah, that he understood.

“Honey, you’ve never dealt with loss like this. Just be thoughtful and patient. Jackie is going to be mad, and she might say things she might mean but wouldn’t say normally or things she doesn’t mean. It will hurt but she’s not really trying to be malicious, she just wants her father back. It doesn’t help that her mother is her mother,” Kitty said that part icily. “And that she lost so much time with her dad. But she’s feeling a lot of things right now.”

“I’m just worried I’m going to make it worse.”

“Steven,” he put a hand on his shoulder, “I don’t know if there really is a worse for her right now. Just do what you can, and I’m a phone call away if you need help.”

As if on cue the phone rang and his heart stopped.

Kitty answered it, “Yes, oh hello. Alright, thank you for letting us know.”

His heart pounded but Kitty wouldn’t be so calm if it was an emergency, right?

“That was Tori, she said you might be rushing back and she got Jackie to calm down and talk and she fell asleep so take your time. She sounds nice.”

“I only met her today but she’s been a good friend to Jackie, she talks about her all the time.”

“I want you to stay here for a while and we’ll work through some things to make it easier for Jackie, how does that sound?”

“I want to get back but this is probably more help.”

She sighed, “I know honey, none of this is easy. We’ll do what we can.”

In an hour they had talked to Pastor Dave, he would call the Prison to make arrangements, they left a message for the lawyer and the big question mark was Pam. They didn’t know where she was, the last they’d heard, Jackie didn’t either. They called the real estate company she used to work for and left a message for her to call them immediately. It was a long shot but at least he felt like they accomplished something.

Kitty sent him back with so many containers of food he wished it was winter so he could leave them in the car overnight.

She wanted him to try and take a nap but he couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her any longer than necessary.

He quietly opened the door to Jackie’s apartment.

“Tori?”

“I’m here,” she popped up from the couch and helped him with the boxes.

“I almost hate to ask, how is she?” Hyde had never felt so nervous before.

Tori frowned. “Overall, I don’t know. About your fight, I think she’ll get over that pretty fast.”

“Really?”

“She ranted about that and then cried and fell asleep.”

He nodded.

Tori studied him then said, “You aren’t a monster for trying to get her to eat something instead of starving.”

“No, but there’s plenty else.”

Tori chewed on her bottom lip thinking about what she was about to do, “I should probably keep my mouth shut, but I know a lot about that.”

Hyde cringed.

“I also know about the posters, the records, the dancing date with your mom. I also know how my friend is excited when she talks about you. I don’t think you’re a monster.”

He didn’t know what to say, this virtual stranger knew a lot about him and he didn’t like it, but he also didn’t mind somehow.

“The posters?” He could feel heat creeping up his neck.

“Jackie isn’t stupid, she knows that you’ve never had any of these on display in the store. Where did you get them anyway?”

He cleared his throat feeling uncomfortable at someone he didn’t know calling him out. “I called a couple stores to see if they had any, just because they weren’t at my store didn’t mean no one had them. Then I called my dad who has extras in a storage area.”

“That’s sweet.” Tori knew he had been awful in the past, but the new stories were starting to outweigh the old ones. “Jackie’s going to fight you but she needs to get out of here for a little while.”

“I was planning on taking her to the Forman’s tomorrow to finalize some arrangements.”

Tori nodded. “On the way back do something else, coffee, book store, something.”

“That’s probably a good idea. Thanks for staying with her.”

“It’s not a problem, if you need a break I can always help out.”

“She’ll probably want me gone tomorrow when she wakes up.”

“I don’t think so, she’s just upset. When my grandpa died I shattered a vase by throwing it at my brother’s head.”

“Did you get him?” Hyde asked amused.

“No, I have terrible aim,” she smiled, “but the point is I never would have done that normally. Just give her space when she needs it but stay nearby.”

“I’m not sure why you’re being so nice to me, I’m sure Jackie told you some horrible stories about me. I’m sure they’re all true.”

Tori nodded, “Jackie also said she believes in you. That has to mean something right?”

For him, it meant Jackie was foolish and too good for him.

It was a lot and whenever anything became too much Hyde avoided.

He changed the subject.

“Take some of this food, even if Jackie was eating normally there is no way all of this is fitting in the fridge and freezer.”

Tori grinned. “Normally, I would be polite and say no, but I saw lasagna in one of those.”

“Help yourself there’s plenty.”

They divided up the food and chatted a bit. He was a bit uncomfortable with this stranger who probably knew a lot about things he’d rather not anyone know about, but she was nice and Jackie needed that.

“Kitty is an emotional baker and cook, happy, sad, angry so there’s probably another freezer full across town. Plus she made a ton of food for this dinner party last night.”

“I need to make friends with her. I can cook perfectly well, but I hate it.”

“Jackie can’t cook at all.”

“That can’t be true.”

“She made me cookies one time and I guess several attempts, she gave me this plate of what looked like cookies but they were rock solid.”

“Was she upset?”

“For a second and then we started throwing them at our friends so they worked out great.”

They fell into an easy silence looking through the food. Hyde took Jackie’s favorites and let Tori pick through the rest.

“Listen,” Tori started, “I know we’ve known each other for about an hour at this point, and this is probably too nosey.”

“You haven’t met nosey like my friends.”

“Jackie needs you right now. She may not even want to need you, but it sounds like you were a huge part of her life. Things like today are probably going to happen, just do your best.”

“Thanks.” That was the second time today he’d heard that. He wondered if his best was really good enough.

Chapter 34

Chapter Text

Jackie woke up in so much pain. Her body ached, from how she fell asleep on the bed and she was more tired than she’d ever been in her whole life.

Her stomach growled, she thought of when the last time she ate was and the memory of last night came back to her. She felt shame at how she acted. She wasn’t even mad at Steven, he was just there for her to lash out at.

At least he had been.

He was long gone now.

She lay there until she found the will to get up. It took ages to untangle herself from the blanket and drag herself over until she was sitting up.

It took more effort than ever to grab a change of clothes and head to the bathroom.

She was halfway to the bathroom when she heard, “I made breakfast if you want any.”

Jackie nearly dropped everything, startled by the voice.

It was far too early for this.

She avoided looking at his face, “I’m sorry about last night.”

“Don’t be.”

She would of rather he fought with her, that she knew how to deal with. She didn’t want his gentleness.

“You didn’t deserve me going off on you, it wasn’t about you.”

“I know that,” he said softly, “but there’s going to be a day where you honestly scream every hurt I caused you back at me, and I’ll deserve it.”

“I’m going to take a shower.”

It took her so much longer than usual, and the water couldn’t be hot enough.

But the thought that kept running through her mind was “He came back.”

When she finally felt ready to face him she went back to her room for a blanket before sitting at the table.

“Mrs. Forman says if you’re up for it to come over this afternoon. Most of the arrangements are already taken care of.”

She nodded.

“What time is it now?”

“Noon.”

“Let’s get it out of the way then.”

She grabbed a sweater and her purse, “Could you drop me off? I don’t want to wait for the bus.”

“Sure.”

He would walk on eggshells today but there was no way in hell he was leaving her to deal with everything.

Not this time.

The drive was completely silent.

Her limbs felt like lead trying to get out of the car and into the house.

Kitty held her tightly when she walked into the kitchen.

Jackie murmured into her hair “I can’t catch a break.”

Kitty smoothed her hair, gesturing for Steven to give them some space. “I know it feels like that, but life isn’t fair. It’s been very unfair to you. But you’ll get through this, you’re a strong young woman.”

Tears prickled her eyes, “I don’t feel strong.”

“I was more than twice your age when I lost my father, I didn’t feel strong either, but you’re not alone sweetheart. We’re all beside you.”

I don’t want everyone to be beside me, I want it all to stop.

“I know, and I wish I could stop it for you, but I can’t. But I’m here whenever you need me, Red too. Even if he doesn’t say so.”

Jackie smiled and then the tears hit again.

“I hate doing this,” she angrily wiped the tears, “I wasn’t sad for a second and then bam.”

Kitty handed her a tissue. “I call them the weepies, they’re annoying and hit out of nowhere, but they will go away.”

She hugged her tightly.

Everything in her wanted to tell this sweet girl that this week would be the hardest and it would get easier, but there were still days that knocked her down.

“We can go whenever you’re ready,” Kitty told her.

Jackie cleaned her face up, “We might as well go now, I don’t know how long I can be out before I lose it.”

“We’re ready,” Kitty called.

Jackie wrongly assumed it was Red she was calling to, it was Steven who walked back into the kitchen.

“Let’s go then.”

Jackie looked confused.

Kitty gave them an excuse, “Red’s working today and has the car.”

Silently, Jackie followed and got into the El Camino, she didn’t have the fight in her to argue about this.

Down at the church, Pastor Dave was less of his usual self. He did his best to console Jackie, but also get straight to business.

“I have spoken with the prison and your father will be here this weekend if that works for you?”

“I guess it does,” Jackie thought, “Since he had been in prison, I’d rather it be kept small not a lot of fuss. Do you think that’s right?”

Kitty patted her hand, “It’s whatever feels right to you.”

Jackie thought about it, “Everyone disappeared when he went away. I don’t want anyone there pretending to be his friend when they abandoned him.”

“Then you keep it small,” Hyde offered. He was at a total loss but he couldn’t let her do this alone.

“What else?” Jackie said, it felt like a lot already just making the one decision.

“Would you like him to be buried in the cemetery or cremated?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she started to panic, she didn’t know what her dad wanted. She didn’t want to do something he didn’t want.

“He wanted to be cremated, that’s what the lawyer’s paperwork said,” Steven said.

“Lawyer?”

“We called him yesterday, he said he’d be in touch but gave us some information to start with.”

Jackie looked at him, he’d spoken to the lawyer? What had she been doing?

“Right, I’ll give him a call after we’re done here. So we can just have the urn here or you can have a viewing first, it’s up to you.”

“I’d like to see him again.” She’d missed so much time with him she just wanted another few minutes, one last time.

“That’s what your family assumed,” Pastor Dave smiled sympathetically. “They chose this option for the casket as a possibility, but you can still change it if you’d like.”

He slid a pamphlet over with several options. The one he circled was a dark glossy wood, slightly red stained, and somewhat imposing.

She smiled slightly, “I don’t know why but that looks like my dad.”

“I thought it looked like that big desk in his office,” Hyde said.

“You picked it?” Jackie asked.

He nodded.

She looked back at the picture, “You’re right, it does look like his desk.” For some reason that made her heart feel warm, it was something familiar in the emptiness.

Her mother picked every piece of furniture for their house, except the office where Jack had forbidden her. The desk was much bulkier than anything else in the house and it’s where he’d spent much of his time.

This was the first time she’d felt a second of peace or comfort. She didn’t know which.

Pastor Dave broke through her daydreaming, “Have you thought about a reception after?”

“We’ll do food at our house after,” Kitty said.

He nodded, “That should be it then, I’ll manage everything with dignity for your father. If you have any questions or need to talk please don’t hesitate to call me.”

“Thank you.”

They walked out of the church, Jackie felt an odd kind of numb. Like she was floating just outside of her body and couldn’t get back in it.

Steven drove them back to the Forman’s.

“If you want to stay here you’re welcome too,” Kitty offered.

“I think I need to get my head sorted a little more on my own but thank you.”

Her mind felt foggy as Steven drove her home, but she finally registered that he took the wrong way.

“This isn’t the way to my apartment.”

“I know, just a short detour.”

“I’m not up for more people today,”

“You don’t even have to get out of the car.”

He stopped in front of The Blizzard, returning with two cones.

“This was Tori’s idea so if you’re mad, go after the neighbor, not the driver.”

Jackie looked at the green speckled cone before her.

“Why did you get mint chip? You know my favorite is chocolate brownie.”

On one hand, he was happy that it got this much of a response out of her, on the other he didn’t know how she would react to the answer.

Hyde looked nervous, “I’ll get you whatever you want but I know you like that one okay, I didn’t want your favorite to be ruined with all of this stuff today.”

He purposely didn’t get her favorite because he wanted her to still like it after today.

It was so ridiculous and thoughtful at the same time.

She started to laugh, then covered her mouth and tears sprang from them.

“I can’t believe I’m laughing at a time like this.”

“Jackie,” Steven wiped her cheek with his thumb, “your dad hated me but I know he loved you more than anything else. He would be glad that his princess was happy, even now, that would make him happy.”

She cried more.

“I’m angry about everything, why couldn’t I get him back first, why is it so damn sunny? It’s been gross since Thanksgiving but now it’s pretty out.”

He couldn’t relate to the grief in the same way, but the anger, he was good at the anger.

He handed her his shades.

“What’s this?”

“Put them on, the world’s a little more grey with them on.”

Jackie held them gently before putting them on. It was easier to deal with the world when it looked just as bleary as she felt.

He never handed them over, on occasion she stole them to wear but that was different.

“I feel like an orphan. It’s not like Pam is a mom. Nothing’s really changed, they’ve both left me alone.”

He wanted to scoop her up into his lap and hold her, but he settled for wrapping an arm around her. “I get that, but you’re not alone. We’re not great but you have the rest of us. And if I know one thing, there is a woman that we just left who is definitely your mom.”

Jackie wiped her tears and finally took a bite of her ice cream.

Looking up sheepishly at Hyde.

“Could you go get another cone?”

Knowing Jackie well enough, he didn’t need to be told what to do. “Strawberry cheesecake coming up.”

He made a quick trip in, returning with a new cone, and three cups to help with the mess that was happening with the other cones and drove back to her family at the Forman’s.

Maybe she didn’t need to be alone the whole time.

Chapter 35

Chapter Text

The grief was strange. She’d thought she’d had it before. There were many points of it in her life but this one was different.

She no longer cared to fake a smile with her friends as they hugged her at the funeral.

Nice things were said, she hadn’t heard half of it, and the half she did hear flew right out of her head as soon as someone said something else to her.

From what she was told it was a dignified and beautiful service.

Then everyone left.

She stood there alone with her father.

Acid poured through her stomach as she wondered where her mother was.

She thought Pam should be here. No matter how awful of a mother and wife, she was Jack’s wife, she should be there. She wasn’t supposed to do this alone.

But that’s what she was.

As always.

Alone.

She loved her Dad and now he was gone.

In many ways, Red Forman had been more of her father, but it still didn’t diminish the love she had for Jack Burkhart. He wasn’t perfect, but he was her dad.

The man who spoiled her once upon a time, the man who got her whatever she wanted, who took pride in taking her to work or the club and showing her off as a little girl. He was the kind of man who expected to have a son to carry on the legacy and family name and all that, but Jack had never treated her as anything less than.

Looking down at this man, he looked older but not terribly so. She’d seen him only a few weeks ago for her monthly visit. He never put her down the way her mother had. She was sure he wasn’t happy about her working at a diner and living in an apartment trying to save up for school but he hadn’t said a word against it.

She hoped he was proud of her.

It smacked into her that her dad would never get to be proud of her again.

He would never be anything again.

Not disappointed, happy, angry.

She crumpled next to the casket. She didn’t know if this was pain because it was wholly worse than anything else she’d ever experienced. Even after everything she’d been through, this was the worst moment in her life.

She’d never felt more alone.

Suddenly she was wrapped in a hug, “I’ve got you.”

And she wasn’t alone anymore.

* * * *

Hyde had never felt more miserable than when they’d opened the door and saw Jackie in a heap on the ground. Red had planned to just check on her but when they saw her like that Hyde didn’t think, one second he was in the lobby with Red, the next he was on the ground with her.

He didn’t even know he’d physically shoved passed Red to get to her.

They stayed like that until Jackie’s legs ached and still they stayed like that.

Something inside of her was telling her she had to get up, to say goodbye.

Maybe it was her dad, she liked to think so.

Her legs weren’t strong enough.

“Steven, I need to stand up.”

He loosened his grip but helped her stand, supporting her on her weak legs. She hadn’t asked him to, he just knew.

“Do you want me to go?” he asked.

She shook her head. She didn’t think she could do this without him.

She spoke to her father, saying nothing of importance, but every word was etched into her heart. She told him she loved him and kissed his cheek.

She kept staring at him.

“I feel like I can’t leave him.”

“You can, you can do it, but only when you’re ready,” he hated this, Jackie was strong but there was only so much a person could take.

“They’re going to need the room for church eventually,” she said quietly.

“They can go outside, it’s warm enough now.” Whatever Jackie needed, he planned to move heaven and hell to get it.

They stayed there a while longer, Jackie knew there would never be a moment where she would be ready to go. While she couldn’t say she made peace with that, she accepted it as a fact. It was time to go.

“Can you get Pastor Dave?”

Hyde slowly backed away to the lobby, making sure her legs wouldn’t give out again.

Jackie didn’t look up when she heard them approach.

“What happens now?” she asked.

“The crematorium will take him whenever you’re ready. The service will be done this evening.”

“So he won’t be left alone?” That was the thing that gutted her the most. He couldn’t be alone.

“No,” he said kindly, “someone will be with him the entire way.”

“Could- could you close the casket? I can’t leave if I can see him.”

“I understand.”

Jackie leaned over and kissed him and said goodbye.

Pastor Dave slowly closed the lid.

Jackie started to walk away, she was fine until the church door shut behind them and then she wrapped herself around Hyde.

Everyone was gone, she let herself fall apart.

He held her and let her cry it out in his arms. His heart was breaking because hers was shattered.

When she began to wobble again he scooped her up and carried her to his car.

He dragged her into his lap like he’d wanted to before and let her cry it out.

He wanted to tell her everything would be okay, but he couldn’t do that to her.

It felt like the worst lie imaginable.

He knew how when Jackie loved someone, she loved them with her whole heart.

The only thing he knew to do was to hold her as close as he could, and without intending to he kissed the top of her head.

At some point, he heard her choke out, “He’s going to be alone.”

He didn’t know if part of that was her own fear of being alone or if she was truly worried that her father was alone now.

He didn’t believe in God or Heaven as a real thing, but she didn’t need to hear that.

“I think you’re wrong,” he said softly.

Her shaking paused and she looked at him, she didn’t need to say the words asking him to explain.

“I think that your dad will be wherever you are,” he gave her a soft grin. “Checking in on his girl.”

She wiped her eyes, “Do you think so?”

“I’m sure of it.”

“Why does it hurt so much? I only got to see him a few hours a month for years.”

He was used to saying the wrong things in these kinds of situations because he just said what made sense to him.

“Because you loved him, and he loved you too.”

Jackie stilled and he wondered if he’d made another mistake.

For a moment she rested her head against his chest.

“I guess we need to get to the reception,” she murmured.

“Not if you’re not ready.”

“I’ll never be ready.” She sighed heavily, “Let’s go.”

Out was more awkward than in but Hyde managed to open the door and get them both out so he could get back to the driver’s side.

The ride to the Forman’s was silent. Hyde’s head was reeling.

No one said a word about how long it took them to get to the reception.

Tori took over being at Jackie’s side as soon as she crossed through the kitchen and into the group of people. It was a lot more people than Jackie expected. WB and Angie were there, as well as a few of her father’s friends. Even Bob had made the trip.

Hyde pulled Eric into the kitchen, “Forman, I need a favor.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.”

“I don’t like asking. Look, this is important, I need to leave for an hour, maybe two.”

“Now?” he was shocked that Hyde would leave at a moment like this.

“Yeah, now. Do you think I would go anywhere if I didn’t have to right now?”

Eric sighed, his dad had told him what happened at the church and he’d seen how Hyde had been glued to Jackie’s side since the phone call.

“What do you need me to do?”

Hyde felt a slight relief. “Just keep an eye on Jackie and try to keep her from noticing that I’m gone.”

“Seriously?” Even Eric thought that was a stupid plan and he was pretty versed in stupid plans

“I’ll be back as soon as I can alright just please do this.”

He didn’t like it, and Jackie certainly wouldn’t if she found out, but what choice did he have?

Eric knew that Hyde did not ask for favors, ever. If he was leaving now, it had to be incredibly important. He was scared of what would happen when Jackie found out but he'd just have to do his best to deflect the carnage from Hyde.

“I got you man,” Eric clapped him on the shoulder and Hyde took off.

Hyde didn’t like the idea of leaving Jackie, but he knew he needed to be somewhere else right then. And she was safe with these people, otherwise he never would have left.

Chapter 36

Chapter Text

Hyde snuck back into the reception in less than two hours, he hoped that no one noticed his absence.

Red immediately pulled him to the farthest corner of the living room from Jackie.

Quietly admonishing him. “Where the hell did you disappear to?”

“Did Jackie notice?” His eyes darted over to her surrounded by a small group of people, and she was cuddling Betsy close to her chest.

“I doubt it, but it had better have been a damn good reason to leave.” His frustration was bubbling at the surface.

Hyde had expected this, just not the very second he got back. “I know and it was, but I can’t tell you where I went.”

Red crossed his arms over his chest. “Really?”

“Remember you told me a man has to do what he thinks is right?”

Red didn’t answer only waited for the explanation.

“I did something important and yeah, it had to be today, but I can’t tell you because that’s the right thing to do.”

Red hated when his words came back to bite him in the ass.

“Fine, but when I find out, if it was something stupid I will put my foot so far up your ass you can use my shoe laces at dental floss. Got it?”

“Crystal clear, but it wasn’t stupid I promise. I mean, I don’t know, maybe it was but it was necessary.”

Red debated pulling Steven out into the driveway to hash it out because he had a place to be and it was here.

“I swear it,” Hyde said.

His eyes kept darting to Jackie who hadn’t noticed him.

Momentarily satisfied, Red shooed him away, “Go on, check on her.”

He took a small plate of food to Jackie and she took it without a word or seeming to notice.

She looked so tired, and empty.

Would she ever get her spark back?

Her boss, Sue, was there chatting with Kitty.

Hyde hovered around wherever Jackie was until Eric pulled him to the den. “She’s not going to break.”

Donna shoved a plate at him, “Eat.”

“I’m not hungry, I need to get out there-”

“No,” Eric said firmly pushing him back into a chair. “You left for a couple hours, she’s still standing. She can make it five minutes more for you to eat something.”

“What are you? My mother?” He said sarcastically.

“No, I’m more of my mother right now. Eat or I’ll go and tell Jackie you left.”

“Why would you do that?”

Eric shrugged, “Eat something, and I won’t have to.”

He was really losing his edge if he was getting shaken down by Forman. Grudgingly he started eating the sandwich they’d gotten him.

Donna sat near him, “I get you want to take care of Jackie, but if you drop she can’t deal with taking care of you right now.”

That one went right to his heart.

“I’m eating what more do you want? Have you made sure she’s eaten?”

He’d been watching Jackie and she did nothing more than pick at the plate he’d given her.

“My mom has been sending food her way every thirty minutes,” Eric finally relaxed and sat beside Donna. “Do you want to say where you went?”

“Not right now, okay? Leave it.”

They let it alone even though they were curious at how protective Hyde had been this week, and to suddenly disappear at the worst time was unlike him.

“Kitty has Jackie spending the night here,” Donna told him.

That hadn’t been Jackie’s original plan but it seemed like a good idea not to go back to her apartment tonight.

“She mentioned that there’s fresh sheets folded...ready...possibly already set out downstairs,” Eric sucked at playing coy.

He wanted to say he’d just go back to his apartment, but he couldn’t. “Thanks man,” was all he said.

It wasn’t the time or place but Eric and Donna were both fighting their need to know what was going on. At the start of the year Jackie and Hyde barely spoke, the last time they were all together they were friendly but definitely not together. After the night Jack passed away, Kitty kept them all away from Jackie’s apartment, and now Hyde was trailing Jackie constantly.

Were they together now? Were they back together before?

They each had a million questions and they couldn’t ask a single one.

* * * *

The guests filtered out of the Forman’s slowly.

Bob and Donna, as well as WB were some of the last to leave.

WB pulled Steven to the side to have a quick word with him.

“Thanks for coming,” Hyde said. What were you supposed to say?

WB nodded, “I’ll be in town for a few days, I want to discuss some things with you but they’re not important right now.”

Hyde agreed, he didn’t care about the store at all right now.

“I’ll give you a call later in the week, set something up.” WB glanced back at Jackie who was saying goodbye to Bob. “In the meantime, take care of your girl and I’ll see you soon.”

It hurt him to admit it, but it was the truth, “Jackie’s not my girl.”

WB kept his opinion to himself about that and merely clapped his son on the arm, before taking his turn to say goodbye to Jackie.

Hyde watched her from across the room.

Even on one of the worst days of her life, Jackie had a grace about her. She couldn’t force a smile but she talked with everyone, she’d held it together in a way that had to be superhuman.

When only he and the Forman’s remained, they all seemed to slip out of the room leaving Hyde and Jackie alone.

“Are you off too?” Jackie asked.

He scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably, “Mrs. Forman set up my room, I was thinking of staying if that’s okay?”

“Why wouldn’t it be okay?”

He didn’t have an answer, “Just checking.”

He felt awkward and Jackie was too tired to think straight.

“I’m going to go to bed,” Jackie stopped herself from leaving just yet, “thank you, for today.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Yes, you did,” she said quietly and went up to Laurie’s room.

It had been a long miserable day, she took off her dress and pulled on her pajamas. The second she pulled the covers over herself she fell asleep.

* * * *

Jackie slept through dinner but woke up at eleven.

She felt like she’d been hit by a truck.

Normally she felt safe at the Forman’s, even in Laurie’s room. This is where she’d found a refuge when her dad had gone to jail and her mom was God knew where and left her alone. Not wholly unlike today.

But the room felt stifling. She tiptoed out of Laurie’s room so she wouldn’t disturb anyone and crept outside to the backyard.

She sat on a brick ledge around the garden wall and closed her eyes to soak in the quiet.

Finally, alone in the cool dark night, she could breathe a little easier.

The events of the day swirled through her mind.

There were easy ones to deal with, like Bob flying up from Florida, or WB coming down, or her boss coming to support her.

The reception had been easy too many people, she could coast through without thinking.

But then there was the unavoidable remembrance of her misery.

Thinking about her father in the casket made her eyes tear up. She was so tired of crying.

Instead of being left to fend for herself, Steven had been there.

He held her, cradled in his lap in the car, he’d physically held her up when she couldn’t stand.

He was there when no one else was.

Jackie looked up at the blank sky, not even stars to watch as she thought.

He was not the best at offering support but today he’d been there more than she could have ever expected until he’d disappeared.

Maybe he was hiding in the basem*nt, but it didn’t make sense why he’d left her.

When he’d come back he’d been close to her the rest of the day, she found it odd that she hadn’t noticed him for so long.

She thought about going back in, or just sleeping outside so she could keep taking in one breath after another. It would probably be better just to open the window.

Jackie still hadn’t decided on a course of action when the basem*nt door opened and Steven came walking out.

He looked tired, but not disheveled which meant he’d been awake the whole time.

Jackie watched him silently until he finally noticed her and stopped in his tracks.

“What are you doing out here?” He asked concerned.

“I woke up, and needed a breather, you?”

“Same idea. I can go back in if you want,” he offered.

“No, we can be alone together,” her memory of a day so long ago came back to her and she almost smiled at it. She might have if her body wasn’t so completely worn out.

Hyde sat down keeping a good distance from her.

It had been a long day for everyone, Jackie should go back to bed and sleep and let Steven do the same. She was too emotional right now and her emotions could fly off the handle when she was like this.

But she pushed through her reservations,

She looked Steven right in the eyes, “Where did you go during the reception?”

Hyde hadn’t expected that she’d noticed, or that she wanted to talk about it now.

In his typical fashion, he avoided the question, “It’s not important right now.”

That irritated Jackie, “It might not be, but I still want to know, why you left me at the reception.” She knew she didn’t have any right to expect him to be by her side, but he had been, so she’d noticed when he didn’t come back.

Hyde knew he’d have to tell her eventually, he just thought he’d get a chance to figure out how to explain it better. He still didn’t know exactly why he’d done it.

“Look, try not to get mad,” He felt her anger growing even as he said that, he stood and started shifting around on his feet. “I felt weird about something and I had to take care of it.”

For her part, Jackie didn’t yell, but her nerves were getting dangerously close to that, “Steven Hyde, that is a crap answer. I want to know what was so important that you needed to bail on my dad’s funeral reception.”

“I went back to the church?” He spat out, he prayed she’d leave it there, but knew she wouldn’t.

Jackie was taken aback, of any reason he could have said, that wouldn’t have made her top one hundred. “What? Why would you go there?”

It was now or never, and never had huge implications that he couldn’t risk, even now.

“I’m trying to explain it, alright? You had been crying and I don’t know it was stupid in my head. Everyone at the house surrounded you as soon as we got here and you were as okay as you were going to be, so I went and I was there when they had already taken your dad but I went to the cremation place and I sat inside until it started and then I came back.”

Jackie felt like he’d thrown a bucket of ice water over her. She was confused. It didn’t make sense that he’d left, or that he’d done that.

“I don’t understand, why would you go there?”

Hyde swallowed down a lump in his throat, here is where she would freak out and probably wake the neighborhood and send him out of her life for abandoning her when she needed him again.

“Because you were so upset that he was going to be left alone. And I know, it was stupid and doesn’t make any sense but it felt like I had to do that for you.”

She heard the words but her brain was slow to process what he’d said.

She spoke slowly, “You went there so my dad wouldn’t be alone.”

“I know it sounds weird, but yes. Go ahead, yell, I deserve it.”

Jackie stood and walked to him, as if in a trance.

Hyde vaguely wondered if she was going to slap him, he argued that he deserved it for this and a lot of other things he’d done to her.

When her lips gently met his before pulling away and wrapping her arms around his neck, he was completely floored.

“Thank you, Steven.”

He felt a hot tear hit his neck.

“Please, don’t cry.” He wrapped his arm around her, trying to protect her from the world.

Jackie buried her face into his neck, feeling settled and secure for the first time since she’d gotten the call about her father.

Both could have stayed locked against the other but they heard footsteps approaching.

They each took a few steps apart, as usual, their friend’s timing was impeccable.

Donna and Fez walked toward the basem*nt and stopped at finding them standing out in the yard.

“What are you doing here?” Hyde asked.

“We were talking about it earlier,” Donna started.

Fez continued what she was saying, “We wanted to be here in case you needed us.”

Jackie went over and hugged them.

“Thank you.”

They went into the basem*nt and found Eric there already with Tori.

Wordlessly, Jackie went and hugged them both.

The last to make their way in were Brooke and Kelso.

They all settled in, the girls took the couch, Hyde let Eric have his chair this once, and he sat observing from the freezer.

Eric turned the television on, no one was watching despite staring at the screen.

Jackie hadn’t felt so supported in her entire life. She didn’t need really them tonight, but they were all there.

Just in case.

She knew she would never be alone again.

Chapter 37

Chapter Text

Kitty came down into the basem*nt the next morning when she found Donna in Eric’s room, Brooke in Laurie’s room, and Jackie missing. She hadn’t expected to see the basem*nt covered with sleeping boys, but perhaps she shouldn’t have been surprised.

She went around shaking the three boys awake and sent them up to the kitchen. Fez was on the couch, and Michael was on the freezer.

When she got to Steven she braced herself, he was always a grump in the mornings. He’d probably be worse as he was sleeping on the floor.

He grumbled but slowly sat up.

When he looked lucid she asked him, “Where’s Jackie?”

He rubbed his face, trying to get his barrings.

Kitty waited patiently, she’d grown used to men who were irritable morning people throughout her life.

He looked around and his eyes settled on his old room.

“She and Tori were in my room earlier,” he grumbled.

Kitty left him and went to find the girls, they were crammed together on the small bed but were sleeping peacefully. She hated to wake Jackie but she needed to eat and keep her strength up.

They both stirred and got up, Jackie had slept but she didn’t feel rested. She was exhausted to her core.

She didn’t care that her hair was a mess or that she was in her pajamas, she went up and sat at the kitchen table surrounded by everyone.

It felt safe covered on all sides like this.

After days of picking at food, she felt like she could eat a little. It wasn’t much but it was more than she’d managed.

“Where’s Betsy?” she asked.

“With my mom,” Kelso said through a mouth full of food.

“Her cousins love having her around, so they were all probably up all night,” Brooke said smiling.

For the first time in months, Fez said something nice to Kelso, “She’s gotten so big.”

Kelso stopped eating, shocked that he was speaking to him at all, “Yeah, she is.”

“I have to drive back to Chicago today,” Brooke felt guilty that she couldn’t stay longer. “Jackie if you want to visit I’ve always got room for you.”

“That might be nice, I’ll think about it.”

She realized that with the funeral over was supposed to get on with her life now.

That sounded a lot easier than it felt.

“I guess I need to go back to my apartment, clean, do...something.”

Kitty didn’t want her to be alone if she could help it. “You can always stay here, or hang out with Red at the garage.”

“He doesn’t go into the garage today,” Jackie reminded her.

“I’ll make him go in.”

Jackie smiled. “I’ll be okay...I need to start getting back together.”

“It doesn’t need to be today,” Kitty told her.

“I know, but if I don’t start today I don’t think I will.”

* * * * *

She came downstairs dressed with her overnight bag. She hugged Mrs. Forman, “Thank you for everything. I couldn’t have done this without you.”

She turned to the group, “Any of you, I mean it.” Her eyes briefly glancing over each of their faces.

“I meant what I said too,” Kitty assured her, “if you need anything you call, you come back. We’re here for you.”

“I know. But I’m going to go back home, and I don’t know what, but I think I need to go home for a bit and deal with it.”

She hugged nearly everyone on her way out, when she got to the door Hyde stood and said, “I’ll drive you home.”

No one spoke until the sound of the car had drifted down the block.

“Tori?” Eric asked.

“Hmm?”

“You live in Jackie’s building, right? That’s how you met?”

“Yeah,” Tori started grinning.

“You still live there?” Donna asked.

“I do still live there.”

“And you drove here, I saw you pull up right after me.” Fez said.

“Yep.”

Eric put down his fork, “So, is anyone else confused about why Tori is still sitting here, but Hyde is gone?”

“He probably has to work?” Brooke offered.

Donna shook her head, “You’ve never been to Jackie’s apartment, it’s the opposite direction from the store.”

They turned to Tori who was still grinning.

“You’re her new confidant, what’s the deal?” Eric practically demanded.

“I know what you know, but I know we all have eyes.”

“What do you mean?” Fez asked. He was most out of the loop. Brooke was at least quick at putting the pieces together.

“He flew out of here when we got the call about what happened, he’s been by her side nearly every minute. That,” he gestured at the door.

“Do you think they’re back together?” Donna asked.

“I don’t think so,” Tori said, “but you never know.”

It was an unsatisfying answer but until either of them confessed, they knew they wouldn’t figure it out on their own.

* * * * * *

The car ride was quiet, Jackie was mostly lost in how tired she felt rather than any thoughts.

Hyde’s were ping-ponging between two thoughts, was Jackie okay? And the kiss.

She hadn’t mentioned it, so he wasn’t going to bring it up. But why had she done it?

It probably didn’t mean very much to her but it felt like his lips had been seared by hers.

When they reached her apartment, he grabbed her bag and carried it up.

Jackie didn’t think about it and followed him up.

He opened her door and followed her in.

“Thanks,” she said taking her bag back. “What are you doing today?”

“I was going to open the store, I don’t have anyone who can work today.”

“That’s good.” She meant it. She didn’t want him to have to fuss over her all the time, even if she liked it in some ways.

“I can stay,” he immediately offered.

“No, you should go open the store.”

“I don’t think you should be alone right now,” he was trying carefully not to boss her around and get into another argument like they’d had over her eating.

“You can’t babysit me forever. I think I need to start figuring some things out.”

“I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”

Jackie thought about it, there was no way he could invent a time machine and take her back, so she settled on a bit of space and time alone.

“I need you to go to the store, and not worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

He didn’t like it, but Jackie was right, he couldn’t be with her day and night even if he wanted to. Though, he could only manage one of the things she asked of him.

“You know where I am if you need me, or the Forman’s are home.”

Steven didn’t know how much she wanted to hide within those familiar comforts, but she couldn’t. “I know, thanks for worrying but it’ll be fine.”

She watched him go and returned to her apartment.

The silence was screaming.

She turned on the record player to drown it out. But her thoughts wouldn’t go away.

She’d pushed through most of the day, her apartment had never been so clean.

The soundtracks of her life did their best to distract her from her pain.

They did their best.

But when she heard Landslide, she broke.

Chapter 38

Chapter Text

Hyde was debating closing up early just to go check on Jackie.

It had only been a few hours. He wasn’t stupid, he knew he couldn’t watch her every minute and he had a job to do. At the same time, Jackie was in pain and he wanted to do anything he could to help her.

Maybe that made him selfish after the hell he’d put her through, but he still wanted to be there.

The door chimed and he had half a mind to tell whoever it was to leave. God, he really was turning into Red.

He did realize that if he wanted to keep the doors open he couldn’t kick out the customers so he sucked it up and turned around to pretend that he wasn’t irritated with whoever it was mere existence.

Jackie stood barely inside the entrance hugging herself and looked so small and lost.

He was around the counter and in her space immediately, “Are you okay?”

Her quietness startled him, she had seemed fine a few hours before. What happened in that time?

“Jackie?” Steven grazed her chin with his fingers, it seemed to rouse her back to where she was.

Finally looking up at him, “I just need to be not at home. It’s too quiet.”

He was not good at this, he didn’t know what she needed now. “Alright, it’s not busy so do whatever you want. If you need to take a break in the office you know where it is.”

Jackie nodded and sat down in the lounge. Hyde went against his personal code for the store and put on some of the soft pop records that Jackie liked, he refused to play disco. But he’d relent if it got to be an emergency.

He had things to do, but he kept his eyes glued to Jackie.

She paced sometimes, a few times she rushed off to the office returning with puffy eyes.

This was the worst of it.

The funeral was over, now she was just supposed to move on. Get on with life, but that’s not how Jackie was.

Her heart was too big and it had been broken once again.

There was nothing he could do other than just be in the room with her.

He closed up a little earlier than normal, as it was slow anyway and the last few hours dragged on for what felt like days.

“How come you came here?” He asked, quickly adding, “Not that I mind, but Tori was probably closer or Kitty would have come to your place.”

Why had she come here of all the places she could have? She didn’t really know.

“I needed to feel grounded and the last time I felt that was here.”

Steven knew how Jackie’s mind ticked more than anyone, but he didn’t know what to do now. For him his safe spaces were his room in the basem*nt or the water tower, once upon a time it had been anywhere that Jackie was.

“What do you need?”

“I...” she tried to sift through the fog in her brain. She looked him in the eyes, “I don’t want to go home yet.”

Nodding he closed everything down and walked her to his car.

“Don’t think about the answer that hard, do you want noise or quiet?”

“Noise,” she said immediately.

“Do you want to be by people or alone?”

That one stumped her.

She didn’t want to see anyone but she didn’t want to be alone.

“You’re thinking too hard about it,” he told her.

“It’s not as simple, I don’t want to be by other people, but I don’t want to be alone.”

“How about alone together?” He offered, repeating what she’d said the night before.

Her face softened into something hopeful, “That one.”

“Last one, home or out?”

“Out.” She didn’t know where he was going with this, but simple questions like this she could handle.

“Okay.” He flipped on the radio to a rock station, Jackie made a face.

He pointed out what she’d said, “You said noise.”

“I guess that is what you’d call this,” she was only partly joking. She thought it sounded awful.

He drove around town, grabbing burgers from Fatso Burger. She kept her eyes shut as she wasn’t mentally strong enough to deal with seeing Fatso.

Then he drove somewhere where she’d never been.

“Where are we?” she asked when Steven had turned off the car.

“My apartment. You said you didn’t want to be home right now. We can go somewhere else if you want.”

“No, I’ve never seen it before.” She didn’t say it was good to go somewhere without memories.

She followed him in, she gave it her best attempt to not judge but she failed.

“This is a closet,” she couldn’t keep her face from scrunching up but at least she stopped the sneer.

Jackie wasn’t the snob she had been as a teenager, but she understood why she hadn’t heard anyone mention visiting Steven’s apartment. There was room for a folded-up pop-up table a stool, a small armchair, and a TV on another pop-up table.

He laughed, “I’ve seen your closet, this is nowhere that big.”

A small smile tugged at the side of her mouth.

“At least I have a bedroom and don’t have to pull my bed down from the wall. I looked at an apartment like that before this one.”

Jackie smiled at that, “I like it, the posters are very you.”

He shrugged, “They’re the ones I had in my room before I moved.”

“Not all of them,” she wandered to take a better look at the new ones. They were the only thing bringing color to the small space. “You need some pictures.”

He came into the room and handed her a plate with her food, “No room for pictures, go ahead and sit.”

He flipped on the television before grabbing the stool and sat in that himself, giving Jackie the better chair.

“You need an ottoman, maybe yellow velvet,” she said.

He rolled his eyes, “Jackie where would I put an ottoman? There isn’t enough room for a lamp.”

She laughed and ate her burger.

This was like so many days before, doing nothing just sitting in the quiet or the background hum of a TV.

She felt normal.

And then the wave hit her again, why she shouldn’t feel that way.

She burst into tears.

Hyde was kneeling beside her and wrapped an arm around her as best he could.

He didn’t care what was appropriate, the only thing he could do was hold her when she cried and he was damn well going to do it.

Jackie turned and threw her arms around his neck.

“I was doing okay, and then this out of nowhere.” She angrily wiped her eyes.

“You’re doing amazing, but this is sh*t.”

It wasn’t a great thing to say, it wasn’t even a helpful thing to say, but still, it comforted her.

“It is sh*t,” she agreed.

Hyde grinned, Jackie rarely spoke like that, it had been a revelation when she started saying badass.

When the grief eased she let go of Hyde and wiped her face.

“I don’t know why that keeps happening,” she felt embarrassed.

“It’ll get better,” Hyde stayed beside her.

“I’m so sick of waiting for things to get better. I’m doing better and my mom leaves, I find a job and my boyfriend cheats on me with my ex-boyfriend, I move and take classes and get a job, and now all of this,” she threw her hands up.

“You’ve had to put up with a lot of sh*t the last few years. But it’s going to take time.”

“I don’t want it to take time,” she said petulantly.

It reminded him of how she used to be, Jackie still definitely wanted what she wanted when she wanted it.

“I can’t help that, but the store is always open for you. If you need to run there when things get sh*tty, it’s not as nice as the basem*nt but it does have a better music selection.”

Jackie smiled.

“Thanks, hopefully this doesn’t become a thing.”

Under different circ*mstances, Hyde would have enjoyed Jackie running into the store whenever she wanted. Hell, she used to do just that, but this was different.

“In that case, I hope you don’t need it for that but if you do here.” Hyde reached into his jeans and took out his wallet. He handed Jackie a silver key.

“What’s this?” She took it carefully.

“A key to the store. Don’t lose it, if Kelso ever got a hold of it I don’t know what he’d do to the store, or in it,” he cringed.

“I don’t need a key.” She tried to give it back but Hyde wouldn’t take it.

“You said you felt grounded there, if it’s the middle of the night and you need to be there to feel grounded you can. No questions.”

She felt safe.

“So you wouldn’t open the store for me in the middle of the night if I asked?” She teased.

“Of course, I would.” He looked at her so intently, Jackie’s heart melted as her chest tightened.

There was an unspoken emotion drifting through the room, it nearly crackled.

“Thank you,” she pocketed the key needing something else to focus on other than how Steven was looking at her.

Fighting for something else to say or distract them, Hyde went and turned the TV up. “So you want to watch Dukes of Hazzard or Three’s Company?”

They settled into silence, watching TV until the exhaustion caught up with Jackie and she fell asleep.

Chapter 39

Chapter Text

Jackie woke up disoriented and confused in a strange bed. Pieces of Daisy Duke and her breakdown the day before floated through her mind.

She heard noise from the main room and followed it out.

Steven was at the stove making breakfast.

“Hey,” she said groggily.

“Hey, food’s almost done if you’re hungry.”

She decided to be honest. “I’ll have some but I haven’t really been hungry in days. It’s hard to eat.”

He stopped fussing around the kitchen to take a long look at her, she was thinner but not terribly. That worried him but if she was still willing to eat that had to count for something.

Jackie plopped down on the stool to be closer to the kitchen area, “Do you think you could drop me off at my place before you head into Grooves?”

“Yeah, I figured you’d want to go home.”

Neither was going to discuss Jackie falling asleep there. In some ways it felt normal, then again it was very outside their current situation.

“Thanks, I don’t want to take the bus in yesterday’s clothes.”

“It’s not a problem, I can take you home, then I’m going to the house then work.”

“Great.”

Hyde served her food and dug into his standing by the sink.

Somehow he could make scrambled eggs taste like they were from the finest restaurant, “I know you love the store, but you really could have been a great chef.”

He shrugged, “It was fine sometimes but when it was crazy I hated it. At least at the store, I can yell at people to get in line and cool it.”

She giggled.

Soon they had eaten, Hyde had showered, changed his clothes, and Jackie was back at her apartment.

Whatever problems she had the day before were now clouded with the overwhelming confusion from staying at Steven’s.

She knew technically nothing had happened, but the key in her pocket was a big something else.

She would keep that information to herself for a while.

The problem was Jackie didn’t know what it meant.

This is when having a mom would have been helpful, not her mom specifically but a mom. She also didn’t feel like she could go to Kitty with this because as much as she loved her Kitty was the furthest thing from impartial.

As if summoned, a quick rap on the door had Jackie heading to the hall.

Tori stood there with a bag of groceries. “Delivery,” she smiled brightly and made her way in.

“Tori I have so much food from Mrs. Forman I could open a restaurant.”

“I know but that’s healthy meals, you need a few good and by good I mean absolutely terrible for you junk food options.”

Tori really was the best, and Jackie told her so.

“I noticed you weren’t here last night, everything okay?”

I was doing fine for a while and then it all hit me so I went out.

Did you stay at the Forman’s again?

Jackie couldn’t lie to her, where had the cheerleader gone that could lie without thinking about it?

“Not exactly.”

“How do you not exactly stay at someone’s house?” Tori asked confused.

Jackie braced herself.

“I went to the store and then Steven took me to his apartment to watch TV since I didn’t want to come back here and I fell asleep. Nothing happened,” she added quickly.

Tori didn’t judge her or make her feel guilty “I’m not your mother, you’re allowed to stay out all night if you want to. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“I don’t know, I’m depressed and miserable and he’s been so sweet and I’m confused and," she decided she had to tell someone, "there’s more.”

Jackie told her almost everything that happened the day before, she did include kissing him briefly.

Tori sat silently and listened carefully to everything without interrupting. When Jackie finished, Tori sat there in disbelief.

“Well?” Jackie asked impatiently.

“Well, what? That’s a lot for a few hours, give me a second.”

Tori was having just as much difficulty getting her head around what happened as Jackie was.

“I think, you were already leaning toward forgiving Hyde for everything or at least being good friends again right?”

“Yes, I forgave him a while ago.”

“Right but saying it and feeling forgiveness is different. I think Hyde’s been a great friend and supportive while you are dealing with everything. For now, don’t read anything more into it.”

“That’s your great advice?” Jackie asked dryly.

“It’s advice, I didn’t say it was great. No matter what anyone thinks, your head isn’t in a good spot right now. Just give it a little bit of time to clear up.”

“I just want a magic pill to fix everything.”

“Doesn’t work like that. You’ll get there eventually.’

Jackie grimaced, wanting to change the subject she brought up the reason for Tori’s visit. “What’s in the bag?”

Tori pulled out a plethora of treats from chips to candy. I can’t do a full girl's day but we should have a night this week.

Jackie nodded.

“I was going to tell you, if you need to get around town you can borrow my car anytime. I know there’s a lot to take care of.”

“Actually, could I borrow it today? There are a few things I need to do.”

“Of course, I need to go to work in an hour, let me get ready and if you’re not back when I get off, I can take the bus.”

“I shouldn’t need it that long,” Jackie hugged Tori, “you’re the best.”

“I often think so.” She pulled out of the hug, “I better go before you make me late.”

Chapter 40

Chapter Text

Jackie was holding it together.

Barely, but enough.

Something that escaped her mind in the chaos and the grief, was money. She’d missed all her shifts at the diner. It was in the middle of her breakdown with Steven when she mentioned her job that she realized she hadn’t been in over a week.

She didn’t have it in her to go back to work but she had to start living again.

Tori was a lifesaver, loaning Jackie her car made getting around so much easier, while Jackie took care of all that she’d neglected.

Anyone could have driven her but she did want to take care of everything herself, she needed to stand on her own two feet even if it was just running errands.

After being assured she still had a job at the diner and to take her time coming back, Sue was a saint, she went down to the church to finalize everything.

Pastor Dave was watering the flowers at the entrance and greeted her as she drove into the lot.

“What can I do you for?” he asked.

“I need to speak with you if you have some time. I probably should have made an appointment.”

“I have time now, let’s go to my office.”

He led the way and Jackie felt her throat closing up as she walked past the room where she’d said goodbye to her father.

Tears prickled her eyes, she did her best to shut it down and focus on why she was here. The short walk seemed to take an hour.

Jackie had never been so thankful as she was when Pastor Dave’s office door appeared. She practically ran inside.

Pastor Dave motioned for her to take a seat.

“Now, what can I do to help?”

Jackie felt a pang of guilt from her teenage years when they all gave Pastor Dave so much flack. He was a bit silly but he seemed to be a good person.

“I need to speak with you about making payments for my dad’s funeral. I spaced on that when we were making plans.”

“Oh,” he said surprised, “I thought you knew that’s already taken care of.”

Jackie felt immediately uncomfortable. “I don’t want any charity.”

“It’s not charity it was paid for already. When I spoke with your father’s lawyer he told me it was already funded just send him the bill, I did and he sent me a check. I can give you the invoice if you’d like.”

That was so odd.

“I would thank you, I guess he just didn’t mention it.”

Pastor Dave nodded calmly, “I know him a little, Mr. Kreppel is a good guy. I’m sure he didn’t want to upset you more.”

He handed Jackie a copy of the invoice, “Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful.”

“No, thank you.” Jackie collected herself, “I’m sure it’s just an oversight.”

She left in a rush to get out of the church and her confusion didn’t lessen. Stopping at a payphone she called the lawyer to make an appointment. Luckily, he was free all afternoon.

He welcomed her in and offered her a seat in a large leather chair that swallowed her.

“How can I help you, Miss Burkhart?”

She felt too casually dressed to be sitting in front of a lawyer but then again she didn’t care enough to really worry about it. He was sure he’d seen people far less together than she was currently.

“Well, I was hoping you could help me sort everything out. I went to the church to start a payment plan for the funeral and they said it was taken care of. Pastor Dave gave me your information Mr. Kreppel.”

“We can certainly go over that, I’m glad you called.” He pulled out a file and laid a series of papers out on his desk. It was imposing just like the one her father had used. “There’s some things we need to go over anyway.”

“Oh, really?”

She hoped it wasn’t anything too bad, she was not ready to deal with any kind of inconvenience as minor as running out of milk, she didn’t know what she’d do if there was something serious involving a lawyer.

“Your father left a few possessions to you.” He handed her an envelope, “He wrote you a letter, and I’m sure you know most of the assets were seized when your father went to jail but there are a few things we managed to hang onto.”

Jackie clutched the letter to her chest, her father wrote her a letter. It made her feel sick and warmed her heart at once.

“There is the Lincoln and the house,” Jackie nodded along, “If you sign here, possession transfers over to you.”

Jackie blinked at him.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear,” he started again, “the car and the house were left to you.”

“Mr. Kreppel, I’m a waitress, I’m supposed to be going to school in the fall. I can’t afford the house,” the dollar signs running through her mind making her panic.

“I understand, well it’s your property to do with as you wish, you could rent it out, sell it, and live off of that for a time. It’s really up to you.”

She was wholly confused, she had come in with a simple question and now she owned a house.

Their house.

No, her house.

Mr. Kreppel went on, “I wouldn’t rush to any big decisions, take your time and think about it.”

“Okay,” Jackie signed the documents.

“There is a small sum of money, it’s not much but it should help while you figure things out.”

He handed her the title to the car, the deed to the house, and the banking information in a folder. Jackie tucked her precious letter in with them. “I just need you to sign for the house and we’ll process everything with the county for you.”

Jackie did as she was told, her head was swimming.

“What about the funeral expenses? Did you pay them or was there an insurance policy?” Jackie was proud of herself for remembering with everything he’d told her.

He cleared his throat, “No, a benefactor reached out to cover the expenses.”

“Who?”

She knew the Forman’s wouldn’t have been able to do that, she hoped Bob hadn’t done it either. But then who did that leave?

Most of her father’s so-called friends had abandoned him when he’d gone to prison.

“A local businessman,”

Jackie may have been overwhelmed, but her father had taught her to sort out when people were lying or altering the truth, “Mr. Kreppel, who was it?”

Slowly, he pulled out an invoice and laid it on the table, all the appreciation she’d had fled from her body and she saw red.

Chapter 41

Chapter Text

Grooves front door slammed open so forcefully, Hyde was surprised the windows didn’t crack.

Jackie came storming in, if she were a witch, Hyde was sure there would be actual storm clouds or fire following in her wake.

He wasn’t sure it wouldn’t happen anyway.

She marched up to him and slammed a paper down on the counter.

“Did you pay for my dad’s funeral?” She shouted.

“No?” He said dumbfounded.

“That’s all you have to say?”

He wasn’t sure what she wanted so he said, “No… I didn’t?”

That only made Jackie angrier, “Cut the crap Steven. I met with Pastor Dave and the lawyer today. The funeral was paid for, my dad didn’t have anything left besides the house and here,” she pointed “is where the money came from.”

He looked and read Grooves LLC.

Staying calm he slowly said, “Jackie I didn’t do this.”

They were on tentative ground but doing okay, he didn’t want to trigger her into another big blowup fight. At least one that he certainly didn’t cause himself.

“It has your name on it,” she snapped.

“No, it says Grooves. I don’t know who did this but I didn’t.”

His words did nothing to calm her down, “Are you telling me to my face that you wouldn’t pull something like this?”

“No, because I would,” he said sincerely, “If you needed the money I would get it for you one way or another. But I am telling you that I didn’t do this.”

He didn’t seem guilty, which was throwing Jackie off even more. She knew his lying face, she’d seen him guilty too many times to forget it. But she wasn’t seeing any of that now.

Hyde saw she wasn’t going on the attack again so he explained, “When we set everything up at the church they said it was covered. I assumed your dad had done it already and didn’t ask any questions because it was done. If you don’t believe me, call Kitty.”

It was one thing for him to possibly lie, but he wouldn’t bring Kitty in on the deception. Besides that, she was a terrible liar.

Jackie deflated.

“But then what’s going on?”

Now that he felt sure his shins were safe, he took off his glasses, walked around the counter, and in a move he hadn’t pulled in so long took her face in his hands. “Jackie, I am not lying to you. I didn’t do this, I didn’t ask anyone else to do this either. I know my promises probably mean sh*t to you right now, but I promise you I didn’t have anything to do with this.”

She was much softer now, “I don’t understand, then who did?”

“I think I can explain that.”

WB stepped through the already open door, holding a pile of documents. “I did.”

The pair turned to face him dumbfounded.

“Why?” Jackie asked when she regained her voice.

“I’ll get to that, I hadn’t planned on you finding out before I got a chance to speak with you. Come sit down.”

He gestured toward the lounge and they both followed him obediently.

“You, young lady have had a very big effect on my business.”

“What does that have to do with anything? I’m talking about my dad’s funeral,” just the mention made Jackie’s eyes prickle.

WB held up his hand, either to silence her or offer surrender, “I’m getting to that. You did a bit of digging in my organization and found an issue, one I thought had been corrected but was made infinitely worse.” He handed Jackie a well-worn copy of one of her term papers.

It was covered with highlights and notes.

“Look familiar?” he asked. “When Steven read this to me I thought it had to be a fluke. So I had my people look into it. And they found the ordering system has been in chaos for over a year. The stores were told that’s just how it is so no one complained to anyone who could do anything about it.”

He pulled out another document. “My accountant only had a chance to take a good long look at the regional stores but these were the estimated projections and here’s where we are as of a few months ago. What do you see?” He prompted Jackie.

Taking a moment to look at the information between the different papers, “It’s much lower than it should be.”

“Correct, that can vary a bit here and there, a band isn’t as popular anymore, controversy, poorly made album, it’s expected to fluctuate. But I’ve never had this many stores ever come in so far below expectations.

“I don’t understand what my project has to do with today?” Jackie asked still confused.

“You’re little paper here saved me thousands of dollars. So I did take it upon myself to make a small purchase on your behalf.”

“You didn’t need to do that,” she said firmly. It felt too much like charity.

“Think of it as a signing bonus,” WB handed her a folder full of papers, “here’s a formal offer, without an expiration date. You want to work for me next week, month, year? I have a spot waiting for you.”

“What?”

“My son here doesn’t have much interest in the corporate side of things, but I see potential in you. If you’re not interested that’s fine, but if you are the offer is on the table.”

Jackie’s mouth fell open, when she’d started the day she had two goals in mind. See if she had a job and set up a payment plan. Now she felt like she was in the middle of a snow globe being shaken.

He patiently waited for questions that didn’t come.

“I’m just really overwhelmed here.”

WB didn’t push, “I know I’ve thrown a lot at you, take your time and think about it.” He stood, “If you have a definitive answer one way or the other let me know. But like I said, there isn’t a time limit on this. Call if you have questions or you need anything.”

He stood to go about his day.

“Have you ever considered a phone call?” Hyde asked his father.

WB acted like that was a ridiculous question, “You have no sense of showmanship, Son.”

“You mean you’re a drama queen.”

He smiled fondly, “Sometimes in business, you have to make an appearance, show them you’re really invested. Let me know if you need anything.”

Jackie was reeling from the day so much had happened.

Hyde sat back next to her, one of his employees had just walked in for his shift, “Do you want to get out of here?”

“I honestly don’t know anything right now.”

Jackie didn’t know what she wanted to do about the offer, it was all too much right now. But there was one thing nagging at her mind. One last thing to do.

“Could you go with me to my parent’s house?” She didn’t want to deal with revealing the house bombshell yet. “I mean I have Tori’s car but I don’t feel good going there alone.”

“Of course.”

It had been a lot today and it wasn’t over. Her mind was a whirlwind and somehow she found herself standing outside her childhood home.

Jackie’s hands shook as she put the key in the lock. It was dark, that was familiar. Still, she called out, “Mom?”

There wasn’t a peep, not that she’d expected her to be there, but you never knew with Pam.

Jackie hadn’t been back here since she’d moved in with Fez, not since her mother abandoned her once again.

It smelled stale like the doors hadn’t been opened in a while.

Jackie wandered through the house waiting to feel what she imagined feeling at home would be.

It never came.

She wasn’t sure what she was going to do with it, she couldn’t live here alone, but she wasn’t sure yet if she wanted to live here at all.

She went to the den and shut the door behind her, her father’s desk was still there. That big imposing desk.

She sat behind it and opened her letter.

My Dearest Jackie,

If you’re reading this, it means that I never got out of prison. I am so sorry Kitten. My choices affected you in the worst way and I robbed both of us of years together. I regret many of my choices in life, but you are the one good thing I ever did in my life. Never in my life have I questioned that.

If I had my way you would never see this letter, but I’m afraid that might not be the case and I have so many things I want to say to you and none of it is done justice in a letter.

First I love you, you are the brightest point in my life and you can do anything you want, but please don’t marry the Kelso boy.

Jackie had to stop reading and laugh at that. It was a valid concern not too long before he wrote this letter, even if she had been with Steven by then.

I know we are estranged now, but if you need anything please call your Uncle ___. He and I have had our differences but I feel that he would help you if you ever needed it.

Unfortunately, we must discuss your mother. We have not been on the best terms the last few years, and I don’t suspect things will be better with me in here. I need you to be cautious when dealing with her. You’re nearly an adult and I’m sure have noticed the way your mother spends money, you do get that from her. However, her reckless spending is not a burden I wish to be put on you. I left my belongings to you, not your mother. Pamela is more than capable of financing her own way, and I have left you what I have left to help you get settled as an adult.

I want you to have the house to have options. As I am writing this I do not know what your circ*mstances will be, but no matter your choice you have my blessing. You can keep it if that’s what makes you happy, or you can sell it if that will help you build your dreams. Let whatever decision you make be made based on what brings you the most happiness and stability, no one else.

With that said, I do have dreams for you. I hope you go on to college and find something that makes you happy to go to every day. I want you to find a good man who will provide for you, not that anyone is worthy of you, but do your best to find the best. Do not settle. Find someone kind, who will take care of you, do not marry someone solely for wealth or appearances, you will not be happy. And I want nothing more for you to be happy.

I know you have had the support of the Formans, they are genuinely good people and will give you good advice when you are struggling.

He didn’t know how right he was.

I am so proud of you, you have never let anything hold you back.

I love you more than anything in this life,

Your Father

Again, I beg of you, please do not marry the Kelso boy.

Tears streamed down her face.

That letter meant more than the house and the car and everything else in the world combined.

It took her some time to feel ready to leave. This is what she needed to start piecing everything together again.

It wasn’t closure exactly but it was as close to a goodbye as she would get.

Hyde was sitting in the deafeningly silent living room, she’d forgotten he’d come with her.

“You okay?” he asked immediately.

“I think I will be.”

He caught the implication that she currently wasn’t.

“I just need a minute more and then we can go.”

“Take your time,” He didn’t know exactly what they were doing here, but he knew that she needed something and she needed to do it on her own.

She walked up the stairs to her bedroom, it was like a time capsule to the person she used to be. Most of her belongings were long gone, but some of her childhood posters and furniture remained as well as the pink walls.

She could see countless memories in her mind in that room, but it didn’t feel like hers anymore.

Walking down to her parent’s room she opened the door. It was the blankest room in the whole house. Pam had done as little to decorate as she possibly could. It was also currently the emptiest. Pam had taken most of the items out the last time she’d left.

It made Jackie’s heart hurt and she closed the door.

Today was not the day to deal with that.

She went back down to Hyde, “I’m ready to go.”

He nodded and walked her back to the car, it was his car. She honestly couldn’t remember what they’d driven over.

She vaguely remembered dropping the keys off with Tori before they’d come here.

Hyde drove her home.

He let her be quiet and process whatever was happening in her head, it had been a busy day for her and she seemed exhausted.

“My dad wrote me a letter,” Jackie said out of nowhere.

“Anything you want to share?”

She was silent again, she wasn’t ready to share about the house yet until she had a moment to decide what she was going to do with it. “He said he was proud of me and that he loved me.”

“Well, yeah that was pretty obvious,” Hyde smirked. The few times he’d encountered Jack it was apparent he immediately didn’t like him because he wasn’t good enough for Jackie. He’d been right in the end. But when Jackie came down the stairs his face softened and lit up, she was his golden sun.

“I can’t help it if I’m loveable,” she joked then decided to add on, “he also said I can do anything I want but please don’t marry the Kelso boy.”

Hyde laughed heartily at that, they’d been together when Jack had gone to prison, still, his biggest worry was Jackie marrying Kelso. That had to be at least half a point in his favor.

When they got to her building Jackie was clearly worn out, she probably wouldn’t make it five minutes before passing out for the night.

Hyde walked her up to her door, “You can say no but I don’t want to leave you here alone.”

Jackie didn’t feel good about that either. She was trying to be independent.

“If you want to sleep on the couch, you can,” then she admitted, “I’m not ready to be alone either.”

She could learn to be independent tomorrow.