That 70s Show fanfic: It Was Only a Matter of Time (5)

[jennickels]

It Was Only a Matter of Time
by jennickels (aka Jen Connelly)
That 70s Show
Jackie/Hyde
rating: PG-13

Jack and Hyde work through their problems after Hyde finds Kelso in Jackie's Chicago hotel room (AU after season 7 finale). [start from the beginning: Chapter 1]

don't own... wish I did, but I don't. No infringement intended.

Chapter 5: The World Has Gone Mad

The Forman basement was a lot quieter without Jackie around. Hyde hated to admit he missed her endless chatter about cheerleading or the awful outfit someone was wearing on the game show they were watching. He stared at the TV, his arms crossed over his chest. They were watching some movie about a guy that did something awful to the girl he loved. Hyde felt sick. Why was the whole world out to get him? Everywhere he looked, happy couples mocked his misery. Red and Mrs. Forman were happy and always hugging each other. He kind of envied that. He could barely stomach listening to Donna gush about the love letters Forman had sent already. The guy had been gone for ten days and had written five times.

Even Fez was better off then Hyde. He talked endlessly about all the hot women at the beauty parlor. He even had a date with one of them. The world had gone completely mad. And Hyde wasn't invited to the madness. Everyone was happy except him. He had forgotten what it felt like. Jackie had made him happy, really happy, for the first time since he was a kid. She had filled an empty hole in his life. One he hadn't even known existed. Hyde sighed and realized that Jackie completed him. What a cliché, he thought. But it was true. He felt more alive then he ever had when she was with him. They didn't even have to say a word to each other, not that Jackie rarely shut up. Just having her by his side, holding his hand or resting her head on his shoulder, was enough to make his heart skip a beat. He would breathe deeply the smell of her shampoo and feel the weight of her pressed against him.

The last week had been an agonizing hell, a see-saw of emotions that took him from blinding rage to profound sadness.. All of which he hated. He hated feeling anything at all. Why couldn't he just go back to the way he was before, before he had feelings? Things were better then. He couldn't get hurt then. But he didn't have Jackie either. He had spend the week trying not to think about her. He tried to fill his heart with bitter cold that would at least numb the pain he was feeling but it hadn't worked. Late at night, when he was tired, he would lie in bed, half asleep, and the good memories would come. He would remember their first kiss on the hood of her dad's car when she insisted they go on that date. He had told her he felt nothing but even then it had been a big lie. Jackie was gorgeous and there was no way he could avoid feeling something fo her, but he had even surprised himself with the depth at which that kiss had effected him.

He laughed to himself remembering ll those times Jackie tried to convince him that she was in love with him and it was only a matter of time before he realized they were meant to be together. He had maintained that he couldn't stand her, but she had slowly broken down his defenses. She was intoxicating, better then the good stuff Leo got him. She would drift in with a breeze and his head would start to spin. Back then it was all he could do to keep a straight face around her, not to smile every time she came in the room. When he finally gave up and hooked up with Jackie he was surprised at how un-embarrassed he was with dating her. He thought it would be the most humiliating thing, but it wasn't. It just felt right and he didn't give a damn what anyone else thought.

He closed his eyes, remembering those times. Those were good times, easy times.

"Hyde? Hello?" Donna snapped her fingers at him.

"Huh?" he said, absently.

"You've been awfully quiet lately."

"Yeah, down right moody," Fez added.

"Did something happen with you and Jackie?" asked Donna.

Here it comes, thought Hyde. He had, so far, avoided the topic of his Chicago trip by avoiding his friends all-together. It wouldn't take Donna long to figure it out.

"Nothing happened," he said flatly, maintaining his composure.

"Has she called you at all?" Donna just wouldn't give up.

Hyde sighed. "No, she hasn't called."

"Hmm," Fez butted in. "Do you not think it is a interesting that Eric has written five times but Jackie hasn't called once? I mean Eric is leaving the country, but Jackie only moved a few hours away. Interesting, no?" Fez laugh. "Ah, burn."

"Shut up, Fez," Hyde snapped.

"But, don't you find it a little interest-"

"No, I don't."

Donna looked at him quizzically. She was already catching on, Hyde realized.

And still Fez wouldn't shut up. "But Eric has written five times…"

"Just drop it already, okay. Everything is fine." Hyde got up and headed for his room. He couldn't stand sitting with all of his happy friends any more. He threw himself on his bed, covered his eyes with his arm and waited. A few seconds later he heard a light knock on his door; it creaked open, slowly.

"Are you okay, Hyde?" Donna asked.

Hyde wanted to tell her the truth. He wanted to say how he found Kelso and Jackie and how hurt and angry he was, but that wasn't his style. Donna came in and leaned on his dresser.

"What happened?"

"Nothi-" Hyde started but trailed off. Donna was staring at him intently and he knew she wouldn't buy it. Donna was a good friend, he thought. He knew Fez and Charlie were still in the other room and probably listening but he had to get it all out. He sat up and faced her.

"When I got to Chicago I found Jackie at her motel." He took a dep breath. It was the first time he admitted what he had seen out loud. "She was with Kelso."

Donna cocked her eyebrow. "She was with Kelso?"

"No, she was with Kelso…" Hyde emphasized the "with" part and waited for it to sink in.

"Oh," Donna said. "Are you sure? Did you ask her what was going on?"

"I didn't wait around that long."

"Well, maybe nothing happened. He could have just gone to keep her company."

"He was naked. And when he walked in he said that no one could see them doing it from the parking lot."

"Well, that is pretty incriminating, but still-something doesn't add up," Donna told him.

"What? She wanted me to commit, I wouldn't, so she went back to Kelso. My math adds up," he said, sadly.

"I don't think Jackie would do that. Maybe the old Jackie, but…she loves you, Hyde."

"Funny way she has of showing it; sleeping with my best friend."

"Hyde-" Donna started. She sat there a long time staring at him. He felt uncomfortable under her scrutiny. She was picking apart all of his mistakes and all of a sudden the whole thing with Jackie seemed like his fault. But I didn't sleep with Kelso, he thought. Damn Kelso. But maybe it was his fault. If he had just told Jackie the truth, that he did see a future with the two of them together, then she wouldn't have left.

"If you really loved her, you'd give her a second chance," Donna said with a trace of anger in her voice. "She gave you a second chance." She stood up. Hyde looked up at her. When did she get so tall? he wondered, and so smart. Hyde felt sick again. He just didn't see how this was all going to work out. He was going to have to swallow his pride and talk to Jackie. He just wasn't sure if he was strong enough for that.

He followed Donna back into the basement. Charlie and Fez were still talking and he was pretty sure they hadn't heard a thing. Donna sat down next to Fez.

"What I want to know," Fez was saying, "is where the hell is Kelso? He hasn't been around all week." Donna's eyes widened and she coughed. Hyde headed for the door. "Come to think of it," Fez continued, "he wasn't at Eric's party either."

Hyde slammed the door behind him. Donna would probably tell them and then the Forman's would find out. They would pity him. Ugh, he thought, why did so many people have to care about him?

Chapter 6