A/N: Hi, everyone! This one-shot takes place some place in time after Eric is back from Africa. Kinda fluffy, but I hope Hyde's still in character. Please, read and review with your thoughts. I love constructive criticism, so don't be afraid of telling me what you disliked and you'll be helping me to get better. Enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

THE FORCE

It was almost midnight when Hyde and Eric stepped into the basement after spending four hours at The Hub hanging out with Kelso and Fez. They've been doing this a lot since Eric came back from Africa. The gang wasn't the same without him, Hyde thought. You could tell by all the crazy shit that happened while he was out. Hyde was almost sure that his skinny friend actually had got a force that kept the gang together and in balance, because since his arrival, things started to come back to normal again.

"Alright, Forman. Enough with this Star Wars crap. If I hear you talking about how hot is Leia again, I'll turn into Red and stick my foot up in your ass so hard you'll be back in Africa faster than the Millennium Falcon."

"That's impossible!" Eric exclaimed. "The Falcon is the fastest of all spacecrafts. In fact…" He continued, but was stopped by Hyde's threatening look. With that he said goodnight and climbed up the basement stairs.

Hyde chuckled at his nerd friend. He missed him and his stupid conversations.

Turning around, Hyde stepped into his room and was startled by a strange figure lying on his bed. After a moment, he recognized the bed intruder. It was Jackie. She was curled up as a ball facing the wall. He knew that pose. Her crying pose. He carefully inched closer to check if she was sleeping, and by the soft sound of her breathing, he figured that she was. But why was she crying on his bed?

He fought every urge in his body to crawl into bed behind her and hold her close. But she would definitely kill him if she woke up and saw him there. They've broken up many months ago. It wasn't a very appropriate maneuver. So he just covered her with his blanket, changed his clothes to a wife-beater and sleeping pants, and left to the basement after turning on the tinkle lights. She would feel better if she woke up with the warm glow of the tiny lamps. She always had.

Jackie woke up in the middle of the night and found herself covered by Hyde's blanket. She didn't remember falling asleep, even less covering herself up. Looking at her watch, she found out she's been sleeping there for hours.

Then she realized that the room's owner hasn't shown up yet. She thought that by the time Hyde would be probably coming back from one of his nights out with some chick. She didn't want to be there to witness it. Quickly, she put on her shoes and grabbed her purse, leaving the room immediately.

Almost reaching the basement back door, she noticed that someone was sleeping on the couch. Some sort of warmth sparkled inside of her chest when she saw it was Hyde. He wasn't at a bar making out with some skank. He was sleeping on the couch, probably because he didn't want to kick her out of his bed. His body shivered a bit, for he was covered only by a thin sheet.

"Psst, Steven." She leaned down next to the couch and poked him a few times till he lazily fluttered his eyes open. "Go back to your room, you're freezing in here. I'm heading home, okay? Sorry for stealing your bed."

"Jackie, what time is it now?" He whispered while scrubbing his sleeping eyes.

"About 3:30."

"You can't go home now, man. It's dangerous out there. You could get hurt."

Her face turned into a painful expression and her eyes became on the verge of tears. "Like someone would care."

"What are you talking about, man?" He sat up and reached for her to sit down next to him. "C'mere."

Jackie was crying uncontrollably against his chest. He remembered that time when she bribed him to go to prom with her. It was quite the same vision, except the tears were real now, and he could never handle her crying.

"Do you wanna tell me what's going on?" Hyde whispered gently to her hear as he tried to sooth her with caresses on her hair and back.

A few moments later, Jackie calmed herself down a little bit and straightened her spine. She whipped her cheeks with the back of her hands and took a deep breath before speaking. Her voice was still low and cracked, and her sad eyes were fixed on the hands over her lap.

"My dad's lawyer called me when I was hanging out in the basement earlier. He told me dad is not leaving jail next month, as he was supposed to. The prosecution found out about more illegal schemes, so the lawyer doesn't know yet how long is he going to stay arrested. Then I called my mom and she told me she's not planning to come back anytime soon." The crying came back full force and she buried her face on her hands. "It's all happening again, damn it! I feel so alone right now."

Hyde took a deep breath then sighed out loud. He knew the feeling of being abandoned. This was the one thing they both shared that no one else could completely understand. But the difference between them was the way they handle the situation. He would usually go with zen and nonchalance. Jackie would cry and feel miserable.

He had to do something to ease her pain, so he reached for her legs and pulled them over his lap. Then he hugged her tighter, burring his face on the raven silky hair.

"You're not alone, Jacks. You've got the Formans, the gang…" He hesitated for a moment, but took the courage to say what he thought she needed to hear. "…and you've got me."

"I don't think I've got you for a long time, Steven."

"Then what were you doing crying in my room, huh?" He joked, pulling her tighter into his chest.

She chuckled lightly as the corner of her lips turned upward. "I guess I just needed a safe place to stay."

Hyde couldn't be more overwhelmed by her answer. Jackie used to come to his bedroom everytime she had a problem back when they were together. He knew she felt safe in there, but he would never guess she would still feel the same way after everything that happened between them.

"Then you should stay there till you feel better. C'mon, you can go home in the morning." He said as he picked her up in his arms and headed back to his room. Once there, he laid her down and pulled the blanket back over her tiny body.

The warmth in Jackie's chest grew wilder, spreading through all over her body. It's been so long since Steven has been that nice to her. This was her Steven. She could see it in his loving blue eyes as he helped her take off her shoes.

Once done with the bed preparation, Hyde stood up to leave the bedroom, but was stopped by Jackie's low voice calling his name.

"Don't leave me alone."

"Jackie…" He mumbled. All he wanted was to lie down next to her, but he thought it could mean trouble later.

"Please, Steven."

Her sad doe eyes pierced right into his heart and he didn't resist anymore. He crawled into bed behind her, holding her tight against his chest. Her warmth invaded his body too, and he was complete again. He felt her arm take hold on his, bringing his hand to the space between her breasts. He always loved when she did this, because he could feel her heart beating.

"Thank you, Puddin'." She whispered in the dark and felt a kiss on the back of her head, falling asleep right away.

Hyde realized that this very moment was the last missing piece of the puzzle. He silently thanked Forman for bringing back "the force". They were all finally gonna be fine again.

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THE END