Here is installment number three! Sorry it took so long, hope you're all enjoying it so far, and I always love to get your feedback.

Cheers!

The end of her pencil tastes like metal and led. Her eyes drift from one corner of the table to the other, focusing in and out. Someone calls her name, but her ears are turned out, tuned to the fast moving traffic just outside the studio doors. The highway back to Wisconsin so close she can taste it.

"Miss Burkhart?"

Jackie jumps, the pencil falling from between her lips and onto the desk in front of her, the sharp led tip breaking, sending dust across the pages.

"Sorry, what?" she blinks at the small crew, and the camera lenses that surround her.

Her agent blinks at her and looks towards the director. "You're on in 5," she repeats slowly, as if Jackie was a child and needed to be spoken to in a slow and calming voice.

"Okay,' she nods, sitting up straighter and clearing her throat, she checks her hair in the mirror off to the side of the set. Her eyes scan the pages in front of her; her outline of celebrity gossip and beauty tips laid out in front of her, ready for her second official episode of 'The Jackie Show'.

Pick up the first page, she reads through the paragraph quickly in her head.

"Today we are talking about ways to not only get a man but keep him. If you follow these simple steps, you can get on the road to a happy life and a happy relationship to last a lifetime."

Jackie's brows pull together as she reads down the list of manipulative tips and tricks. Half of them she's sure she's tried on Steven, and he'd just laughed hysterically and messed up her hair, telling her to just shut up and chill.

Step 3: Dress to impress. The sexier the better. They say leave it up to the imagination,

but a pair of heels and a little cleavage never killed anyone did it?

Two years ago, Jackie would have agreed wholeheartedly with this statement. However, she'd dated Hyde for almost that long, and she'd never seen him happier than when she crawled into bed wearing just his baggy and tired Led Zepplin t-shirt for the first time.

"You look so hot, I don't even really want you to take it off." he'd said, "I mean I do but…" running his eyes over the well-worn shirt as Jackie laid underneath him, their passionate moment put on hold with his fixation on her clothing choice.

"Steven," Jackie had rolled her eyes, grabbing his shoulders, trying to resume where they'd left off.

"I'm serious, you should wear this every day."

"Ugh, get bent."

Maybe these tips aren't as universal as she'd once thought.

Her stomach turns, and she suddenly feels nauseous, he palms sweat.

"Ready Jackie?" the director asks, giving her a thumbs up.

"Oh." Jackie says, her eyes drifting up from the page in her hands, trying hard to swallow the lump in her throat. "No," she says, pushing her chair back and grabbing her bag from behind the show desk. "Actually, I have to go."

"What?" her director says, while her agent exclaims, "Excuse me?!"

"I should rephrase, actually, I quit." she rushes to collect the rest of her things from the set before turning around, and nodding at the crew. "Sorry," she says, and then quickly bolts from the set, hurrying out the back door before her agent can catch up with her and wring her neck.

The lights are still on in the Forman's windows, though it seems late for them to be awake. Jackie combs her fingers through her hair and checks her reflection in the cab driver's rear view mirror, she's shaking with anticipation and anxiety. Steven hadn't so much as taken a call from her since he stormed out of her motel two weeks ago. Jackie had spent her time in Chicago crying and trying to throw herself into the glamour of her new job.

Unfortunately neither of which could distract her enough from what she really wanted.

She quickly pays the driver and hops out into the rain, shielding her hair with her jacket and jogs to the door. Turning the unlocked knob, she ducks inside before she can get any more soaked.

"Jackie!" Donna exclaims as Jackie fixes the collar of her coat. Mrs. Forman, Donna and Eric are all sitting in front of Gilligan's Island, Donna jumps up at the sight of her friend, cold and wet.

"Hey," Jackie says, nodding and then shivering, feeling like she should probably say more.

Donna reaches for Jackie instinctively, and pulls her into a hug. Against her will, she missed this shallow, self-centered little-person. "What're you doing here?"

"Is Steven here?" she asks, hugging her friend back, but also glancing around the immediate area, searching for the person she came to see.

Donna pulls away and holds Jackie at arm's length.

"No, he's still at the muffler shop, Jackie, why aren't you in Chicago?"

Jackie frowns, shaking her hair out, cursing the weather. How was she supposed to get Hyde back while looking like a drowned mouse? Glancing at the clock on the wall, Donna's words begin to register.

"Wait, he's still at work? It's eleven at night," she watches all of their faces fall a little, Donna looks at Eric, and Eric scratches the back of his neck, glancing to his mother. No one says a word.

Understanding dawns on Jackie, her mind going back to the nights when they would fight and he would retreat to the garage, work on his car until midnight, throwing himself into work until he was too tired to keep his eyes open.

It was his way of coping with things he didn't want to face.

"Right," Jackie nods, tears prickling behind her eyes, and she leaves as quickly as she came, not bothering to call a second cab. Donna calls after her, but she's already on her way, the rain pouring down her back, chilling her to the bone. It's not a far walk to the muffler shop.

The windows of the shop are foggy, the Rolling Stones playing quietly from the back room, Hyde works numbly, his hands moving of their own accord, assembling and polishing until his fingers move slow and sluggish. He'd long run out of beer, and decided that this, being dead sober, was not his favorite thing.

Jackie squints through the windows, the dim like inside obscured by the water that runs down the glass. She attempts to knock on the window, but sees no sign that anyone heard her. She tries again, louder this time.

"Come on Steven," Jackie says under her voice, her breath turning to mist in from of her and then evaporating just as quickly.

A shadow across the back wall makes Jackie jump and fall away from the window, nearly hitting her head on the awning. Just then, the door to the shop swings open, and Steven is standing in the doorway; he doesn't even look surprised to see her, just confused and maybe a little angry.

"Hey," she says, but her voice gets lost in the rain, water dripping from the tip of her nose.

He blinks at her, taking her in, completely undone and imperfect, it'd been a long time since he'd seen her like this. Or at all.

"What happened to Chicago?" His facial expression gives away nothing, his voice is even and careful. Jackie wishes she could compose herself like him in situations like this; but her body always seems to betray her. Filling her eyes with tears, her hands shaking as she crosses her arms over her chest, shivering against the cold.

"You happened to Chicago." the words come out in one big sigh. Until now she hadn't realized how much her feelings for Steven frustrated her. How much she wished she could be in Chicago, starting her career and living the life she thought she was cut out for. But instead, she's here, right back to where she started. Standing in the rain, waiting on the boy with the broken heart.

He stands, the front of his shirt slowly soaked by the downpour, his eyes search her face, like he's waiting for her to say more.

When she doesn't and the silence drags on, he slowly lets the door to the shop close behind him. The bell above the door sounds sharp in the otherwise quiet night, he locks it behind him with a small gold key.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he turns his serious gaze back to her. She shifts her weight from one foot to the other, feeling his eyes comb over her, like he's trying to read her but he doesn't know the language.

"Come on," he pulls his jacket tighter around himself, nodding towards his car, parked around the side of the shop. It looks shiny and strangely animated in the rain. "I'll drive you home."

Sorry it's kind of short! Let me know what you guys think and keep your eyes open for an update soon :)