Ch. 1 - The Break Up

It had been a slow day at the record store... not that Hyde was complaining. With all the drama he'd been dealing with at home, a slow day was a welcome reprieve.

It would be their fourth wedding anniversary on Saturday. Honestly, he was amazed they'd made it that long. It wasn't that they didn't love each other - hell, it was because of the fact that they couldn't keep their hands off each other that they were in this predicament in the first place.

They'd gotten married on a cold, snowy day in mid-January. Jackie was seven months pregnant at the time and complaining about just about everything, from the way she looked in her dress to the flavor of the frosting on the cake. It certainly hadn't been the big, white wedding of her dreams. And honestly, it wasn't something that Hyde particularly enjoyed celebrating.

Hyde had already planned on proposing before finding out about the baby, and it wasn't like the baby had made him change his mind about wanting to marry her. He hated their anniversary because it was a commemoration of a day that had made Jackie so upset. It hadn't been everything she dreamed of and she'd certainly deserved better. But if she was resentful, she never let it show.

Jackie always came up with the most mind-bogglingly thoughtful anniversary gifts. They were dirt poor, but she saved her money here and there and gave him something wonderful every year. And Hyde, for the past three years, had gotten her... well, nothing.

But it wasn't really nothing. When Jackie was still in her first trimester, she'd insisted that they find an apartment. The one she'd fallen in love with had cost a small fortune, but even Hyde had to admit that it was perfect. With careful budgeting of their pooled income, they'd been making it work. And then came the car. And then the wedding. When it finally came time to buy furniture for the nursery, Hyde had asked Red to cosign on a loan.

He'd given Jackie and their little girl, Ashley, his everything. The slow days were becoming more and more frequent at the record store and he was stretching to make ends meet as it was. There wasn't any more money to go around, even for anniversaries.

Just as he was thinking about closing up shop early, the phone began to ring. "Grooves, this is Hyde. What can I do for you?"

"Mr. Hyde?" The woman on the other end of the line had a clipped, bright voice. "I'm calling from the daycare. Your wife never came to pick up Ashley. I've been attempting to call the landline, but she's not answering. I was wondering if you'd be able to come pick her up -,"

"I'll be there in ten minutes." He hung up before she had a chance to answer.

Grabbing his keys from under the counter, he made his way toward the door. After quickly switching the 'open' sign to 'closed', he turned out the lights and locked up. He should've been open for another hour and a half, but then, the daycare should've closed an hour ago. Jackie always picked up Ashley on her way home from her waitressing gig at the local Friendly's. So what the hell had happened?

"I'm very sorry about this." Hyde took the little girl's hand, leading her out of the now dark building. "I hope she wasn't any trouble."

"Oh, Ashley? No. Never. She's a perfect little angel." Ashley positively beamed at the compliment, hiding her gigantic grin behind her tattered Raggedy Anne doll. "And now I know where she gets those adorable curls from."

Hyde ran his fingers through the 'adorable' curls. "If you mean the rat's nest on top of her head... thanks."

The woman seemed momentarily taken aback, but recovered quickly enough. "Well... I hope that you're wife is alright. It's always such a pleasure to see her."

Pleasure? Were they thinking of the same Jackie Burkhart-Hyde? The same woman that he'd been married to for the last four years?

He thanked her again, before strapping Ashley into the backseat of the car. She looked pretty tired, and he knew he'd be putting her to bed almost as soon as they got home. Now that he knew she was safe, his worry piqued for Jackie. He was her emergency contact, so he would've heard by now if anything had happened to her, right? Unless something had happened at home, with nobody around to help her...

He really didn't expect to unlock the door and find a half-naked Kelso in his living room. "What the hell -,"

"Hyde! Long time no see, buddy!" Kelso exclaimed excitedly, not the least bit concerned about his lack of clothing. He was only wearing a towel, and there was soapy water dripping from his hair. "What's up, man?"

"Daddy, why is Uncle Kelso naked?" Ashley was sucking on her thumb, watching Kelso with confusion in her chocolate brown eyes.

Hyde's eyebrow twitched. "Put on some clothes, asshole. I don't need your scrawny ass traumatizing my kid, got it?" Kelso made no move to go and put on a pair of pants, only serving to further agitate Hyde. "And why the hell are you in a towel, anyway?"

Kelso rolled his eyes. "Because I was taking a shower. Duh."

Hyde frowned. "Okay, smart-ass. Why were you taking a shower in my apartment?"

As if to answer his question, Jackie came out of the back, a fluffy pink towel wrapped around her body. She had a bright grin on her face, which promptly faltered as soon as she saw Hyde's angry face. Hyde looked between the two of them, hands bawling into fists at his sides. Jackie was perfectly fine. She'd blown off picking up their daughter from daycare to do... just thinking about it made his stomach lurch uncomfortably.

She'd been shacking up with Kelso behind his back. What other logical explanation could there be for both of them to be completely naked (towels aside)? And somehow, the fact that she was doing it in their apartment, the one that he was breaking his back to be able to afford for her, made it that much worse. He'd thought he knew her better than that, thought that he could trust her.

Jackie seemed to read his mind, saying, "Steven, it's not what it looks like -,"

But Hyde wasn't really buying it. "I got a call from the daycare today. Ashley's teacher said that you had never come to pick her up." Ashley keened, burying her face in Hyde's pant leg. "I guess getting laid was more important than your daughter, huh?"

"Steven, I -," but again, Hyde didn't give her the chance to finish.

Hyde steeled his expression, "It's not like it matters, anyway." Turning to Kelso, he said, "Put on some pants and get the hell outta my apartment."

Kelso frowned, "Dude, it's really not like that. She was just being nice."

Oh, because that made everything so much better. No matter the reason, she was still running around behind his back and nothing she said would justify what she'd done. And every time she tried to justify it, it was like a white-hot, dull, rusty blade being driven over and over into his gut. The two just continued to stare at him blankly, like he was the one that had screwed up monumentally.

"Steven, I know this looks bad... but I wouldn't do that to you. I love you, Puddin' Pop." Jackie said. "You and Ashley... I love you both."

"I want you out." Hyde said lowly. He only vaguely registered the way that Ashley's grip tightened on his pants.

"Steven -,"

"Out!" Jackie jumped, and was so startled she almost ran out into the hallway in her towel. It was only when she reached the door that she realized her current state of dress.

Kelso didn't even care. He'd never seen Hyde so angry and didn't intend to stick around for an encore.

Hyde plopped down on the couch, staring at the blank television screen. Jackie watched him for a moment, taking in the way that Ashley struggled up onto the cushion beside him, the way he let her cling to him. She was only that cuddly when she was tired.

Without a word, Hyde turned on the television, flipping through the channels until he found The Brady Bunch. Hyde detested the show, but Ashley loved it. And it didn't take a genius to see that Ashley had her Daddy wrapped around her little finger. But the newly settled peace wouldn't last. He turned his head just enough to show that he was acknowledging her, and his eyes were cold.

"What the hell're you still doing here?" He hissed darkly.

Jackie felt tears come to her eyes, but quickly forced them away. She wouldn't cry. She couldn't cry. "I need my clothes. I can't leave like this."

"Then get your clothes and get out. I'm done."

There was a soft plink as metal hit wood, and Hyde looked down to see that Jackie had thrown her wedding ring at him. He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. And the ring stayed on the floor until Jackie was changed and out the door, slamming it closed behind her.

A/N: And there you have it, folks: chapter one!

Just to clear a few things up - this takes place in an AU where Jackie and Hyde never break up. Instead, post S8, Jackie ends up pregnant and she and Hyde get married. The scene where Hyde comes to propose and finds Kelso in a towel in Jackie's apartment never happened... until now.