Morning - I know I'm very late with this chapter, so sorry about that. They'll probably be two weeks apart from now on? I'm not sure. But I hope you enjoy this chapter all the same! :D

(February 1978)

"I'm getting back together with Michael," said Jackie, almost as soon as she entered the room. Quick and easy, just like a Band-Aid.

Hyde paused from where he was lighting up a joint, staring up at her with wide eyes. "Okay?"

"I just thought you might want to know," she said, fluffing her skirt a bit. "Since we've been hanging out, and all."

Hyde just gaped at her. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, uncomfortable.

"Okay, well, that's all I had to say, really." She ran her tongue over her lip. "Unless you think it's a stupid idea? In which case you should tell me. I mean, I know he cheated on me, but I really think he's changed, y'know? And if he hasn't, well, I'll hit him in the nuts. But I like having a boyfriend, and Michael's definitely the most attractive option, don't you think? I mean, I could date one of the football players, but ugh – can you imagine putting up with all that sweat? No thanks. So really, I mean – who else is there?"

She paused her babbling to stare at him for a long, electric charged second. Who was she going to date, if not Michael? She couldn't date Steven. Steven had no guarantee. And since she wasn't going to date Steven, she had no business hanging around waiting for his answer.

"Exactly," she said, and left right as he opened his mouth.

(June 1978)

"What are you doing today then, Steven?"

Mrs Forman put a fresh plate of eggs down in front of him, and he offered her a smile in silent thanks as he shrugged.

"I don't know – probably hang out with Jackie," he said, shovelling a forkful into his mouth. He didn't miss the gleeful look that crossed Kitty's face, and he took a gulp of orange juice to cool the blush creeping up the back of his neck.

"Don't," he warned, and looked back down at his food.

Mrs Forman bit her lip to contain her smile, but it wasn't successful. "I didn't say anything," she said, sliding into her seat. "I just think it's cute that you have a girlfriend."

"I don't –" He rolled his eyes. "Jackie's not my girlfriend. We just watch TV."

It was true, mostly. When Jackie had first shown up in the basement, he'd made a point not to talk to her. It had been confusing – she'd waltzed in as if two weeks earlier they hadn't all been complete jackasses to her, and acted like nothing was wrong. Guilt had gnawed away at him, so he'd offered her his chips. It was a silent olive-branch, and it seemed to have worked: so far, she'd come back every day. She'd sit next to him on the couch, chew her bubble-gum and make snotty comments about whatever he was watching. He wasn't exactly sure when, but somewhere along the line he'd started to enjoy them – look forward to them.

It was kind of nice.

But that didn't make Jackie his girlfriend, or – god forbid – his soulmate. He couldn't have one without the other with her, so he'd stick with friend. That was for the best.

Hyde scratched his neck uncomfortably. He'd been a pretty shitty friend to her, and it still made his skin crawl a month later. He'd been so concentrated on helping Donna through her rough patch, but in doing so he'd ditched Jackie.

"You know, she's something special, that one," said Red, pointing his fork at him. "You should hold onto that."

Hyde huffed. "There's nothing to hold onto."

Red shrugged. "I'm just saying. She'll wizen up eventually, son."

Hyde pulled a face and went back to his eggs, fading out of the conversation. He hoped Jackie did wizen up… maybe she already had. He'd been looking for any signs that she was cut up about Kelso, but for the most part the only suggestion that she might have been was her aversion to hanging out with Fez and Rhonda. But that was understandable in of itself – watching them french wasn't top of his list, either.

He helped Mrs Forman with the clean-up, drying the dishes as she finished washing them up in the sink.

"Forman still not showing up for breakfast, huh?" asked Hyde when he dried off the final plate. Forman's behaviour was stupid, but he knew his friend well enough to know that it wouldn't change until he was ready. Pulling him out of bed to go to Fun Land wouldn't work this time – and part of him knew that once Forman was up and active, his alone time with Jackie would significantly decrease. For the sake of his sanity, he decided not to focus on that aspect. Hyde scrubbed his plate a little harder than necessary: "Thought Red would've put his foot up his ass by now."

Kitty sighed. "I don't know how to help him. Donna even called yesterday and he wouldn't talk to her! I'm starting to agree with Red's idea of sending him off to the army!"

She laughed nervously, but Hyde froze. "Donna called?"

"Yep. Wanted to see how he was doing." She pointed her finger at him. "My guess is she realised what she was missing!"

"A skinny, depressed schmuck with the muscle quantity of asparagus?"

It was a burn he'd gotten off Jackie, and it made Mrs Forman's lips twitch, even as she chided him for it.

"Steven. That's not nice."

"Sorry," he grinned. "So, um, did Donna leave a number?"

Mrs Forman nodded. "It's over on the legal pad. But, sweetie? Call her after nine when the rates are lower, alright?"

He nodded. "Sure thing, Mrs F."

(later)

Steven was a lot like smoke, in Jackie's mind. Foggy, mysterious. Beautiful, but not obviously. She was humming a little tune to herself, swaying as she did so. Steven was solid and grounded – not like smoke at all. Certainly, he wasn't wispy. Wispy. She giggled. Wispy-tipsy.

"Jackie?"

There was smoke in front of her, which was weird, man. How had it appeared right as she was thinking about it? Crazy. She suddenly scrunched up her face. She shouldn't say 'man', she told herself. Steven said 'man'. 'Man' was a Steven Thing. Capital T. And if 'man' was a Steven Thing, smoke was a Steven Thing. And if smoke was a Steven Thing, then Steven had the smoke. Or Steven was the smoke?

"Hey, Jackie."

She giggled some more. Steven wasn't smoke, that would be silly.

"Dammit, Jackie," said the voice again, "take the joint."

She was Jackie, she remembered. She blinked, widening her eyes because they hadn't been wide enough before. Steven was holding out a rolled piece of paper, and it took her a moment to realise it was weed.

"Steven!" She gasped, "That's illegal."

He broke down in laughter. "No shit, baby. Good thing I'm about as far from Johnny-Law as you can get."

Jackie giggled, and then remembered that she was weed, too. "That's true. Hey, you ever think about colours?"

"No."

She sighed. "No, you wouldn't. This is fun, Steven. I'm really glad that list thing didn't come between us."

Hyde leaned back against the couch, the same place he'd been sitting for three weeks. He stretched out his legs and plunked them on the coffee table. Ba-boom. The sound reverberated in Jackie's head, making her stomach feel all queasy.

Ba-boom. Ba-boom. Ba-boom.

The sound was in her heart! Jackie sat up straight, swaying. She blinked a few times until the room stopped moving.

"- quick to lap it all up?"

She frowned. "Huh?"

Steven offered her the joint again but she waved it away. She was high enough as it was.

"The list, man. Why'd you get so hung up on it?"

She watched as he stubbed the joint out in his ashtray, chewing on her lip. "Well it's… it's the list, y'know?"

Hyde shook his head.

Colours were starting to fill the edge of her eyes, like a kaleidoscope. She waved her hand in front of her face until they disappeared. Steven was looking at her strangely – all soft and dopey.

"What?"

"Nothin'," he replied, but the corner of his mouth was ticked up. She smiled back.

"Anyway, what was I saying? Oh!" Jackie clapped her hands, "The list is indisputable, Steven!"

Steven shrugged. "It's kind of dumb."

She gasped. "Steven! How can you say that?"

He pulled a face. "It is, man. I mean what's it supposed to do, discourage you from seeking them out? Why'd they even bother with it in the first place? And who the hell is they?"

He pointed his finger at her, leaning in. "I'm telling you, it's all the government. They wanna make us weak so we don't pay attention to what's going on upstairs! But they won't get me, man. I'm immune to that crap."

"Upstairs?" Asked Jackie, cocking her head to listen. Was that Mr Forman, clunking around the living room?

Hyde shook his head, and the motion brought Jackie back down to Earth. "No, man. Not upstairs-upstairs. Upstairs in the government. The lawyers." He nodded very seriously, "Now that's who you've gotta watch out for."

Jackie sunk back against the couch. "My dad's an attorney," she said. "And he and my mom were list-matches, and they're perrrrrfect for each other. So the list is good! And Mr and Mrs Forman! C'mon, Steven, you've got give me that."

He shrugged, copying her actions and leaning back against the couch. The movement exposed a thin strip of skin around his hips, and Jackie suddenly felt uncomfortably hot.

"Yeah, the Formans are good for each other. But they probably would have found each other anyway, without some dumb soulmate thing."

Jackie wanted to bang her head against a wall. "You just don't get it," she cried, flapping her hands, "The list is about loving people despite those traits. Don't you think that's beautiful?"

Hyde shrugged again. "Not really."

"But – but!" Jackie blinked heavily, trying to organise her mind. "Okay, like, you've got 'deeply rooted emotional trauma' right?" Hyde scrunched up his face at her. "Don't you hope there's someone to love you despite that? Because of that? A soulmate is a guarantee. Sometimes you need a guarantee."

Hyde was silent. "Deep rooted emotional trauma?"

She shrugged lightly, and thought of the list under her pillow. "Oh, I don't know, it's something I saw on Donahue."

"You're a weird one, man," said Hyde, getting up to change the TV channel. He knocked her knee as he sat back down, definitely closer to her than he had been before. "It's not half-bad."

(three days later)

"Stop it," said Jackie, slapping Hyde's hand away. "We agreed that I got to do the radio!"

"No, you agreed," said Hyde as he pushed the channel switcher again, and again until the heavy drums of the Eagles filled the El Camino.

Jackie pouted. She'd finally managed to drag him out of the basement, with Fez and Rhonda's help, but he was still being annoying. Not that she blamed him – at least she got to go home to her air-conditioned house and pool: all Steven had once she left was Eric. Hanging out with a fleshy, human-sized slug was bound to put a damper on the mood.

"Steveeeeeenn," she tried again. "Fez wants to listen to Shadow Dancing, don't you Fez?"

In the backseat, Fez nodded. "I do."

"See?" Jackie beamed brightly, turning to Hyde in triumph and already switching back the radio. "Two against one, I win."

"But Rhonda likes the Eagles," piped up Fez again, smiling mushily at his girlfriend. "Don't you, my lovely?"

"I do," added Rhonda. "So it's two against two."

Jackie opened her mouth to protest the obvious unfairness at foot, but Fez beat her to it. "But anything Rhonda likes, I like, so it is actually three against one."

"Uh!" Exclaimed Jackie, in a rather good (if unintentional) impression of Kelso. She whipped around in her seat to glare at Fez, but in doing so saw Hyde smirk out of the corner of her eye, which just made her crosser. "Aren't any of you on my side?"

There was silence from the backseat. In defeat, she righted herself and pouted out the window. Stupid Steven couldn't even play by the rules of basic decency.

"Fine," she muttered. "Play your stupid Eagles song. See if I care."

Hyde snorted, and privately Jackie counted that as a victory.

It wasn't until she was at the counter ordering her meal that she realised Steven had forgotten to switch it back. She smiled a little to herself, and absent-mindedly let her fingers ghost to her lips. She'd kissed him exactly once before, in her car, but that two second peck was hardly enough to satisfy her curiosity. Hanging out with him for the last almost-month had been virtually torturous. There was only so much The Price is Right she could take before she started looking for alternative methods of entertainment. She picked up her milkshake and two servings of fries, as well as tomato sauce for Steven, and headed over to the table they'd secured.

"Here ya are," she said, passing a bowl of fries over to Hyde. "Frank said your burger'd be ready in a minute."

She slurped on her drink cheerfully, observing him. "I knew I could get you to take me out for a milkshake," she said.

Hyde shrugged. "Yeah, well. Basement was gettin' kinda stuffy."

She rolled her eyes fondly, deciding to let him have that one as Fez and Rhonda sat down, slurping from the same drink. It was kind of sweet how enamoured they were with each other, but it made her miss being in a couple. Donna would have told her to enjoy her time by herself, but Jackie meant what she'd told her at Christmas: she already loved herself, she just wanted to french someone.

She snuck a sly look over at Hyde while Fez gulped down his soda. Rhonda reached out to grab it from him – "Fez!" She chided, peering at the cup's decreased contents.

Fez shrugged guiltily. "Sorry. I'll get you another one."

He made to get up, but Rhonda tugged him back down. "Oh, it's okay sugarpuff. We can get more at the movies."

Jackie raised her eyebrow: "You're going to the cinema?"

A dark (air-conditioned!) room, scary movie and precariously placed popcorn? The universe was answering her prayers!

Rhonda nodded and smiled. "You guys can come if you want! We're seeing The Muppet Movie."

Jackie frowned - there went that plan. Hyde laughed.

"You missing Kelso, man?" He asked Fez, who nodded glumly.

"Yes." He sighed, picking at his food. "I cannot wait for him and Donna to return."

Jackie watched Hyde closely: his shoulders tensed up, and he avoided her eye as he answered. "Yup, Donna'll be a welcome relief. Forman might actually leave his room."

"Please, Steven." Jackie dipped her fry in his sauce, "That would require him to get out of bed."

Hyde snorted.

"What are you and I going to do, then?" She asked. "No offense, but I don't need to see a bunch of puppets with hands up their butts try and navigate their way across America."

Hyde shrugged. "Back to the Formans?"

She groaned and slumped against the wall. "Really? That's all we ever do."

"Go to the pool then, I don't care."

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't talk rubbish, yes you do. Without me you'd have spent the whole summer at home getting high."

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "That's pretty much what I've been doing with you around, anyway."

She paused, mouth open. "Well... that's just… whatever."

She looked around for inspiration, eyes landing on the pinball machine. She lit up, "Ooooh, let's go to the arcade!"

Hyde wrinkled his nose, but she pushed on.

"No, Steven, it'll be fun! We'll see who can win the most."

He hesitated, fry halfway to his mouth. "So, like a bet?"

Gleefully, Jackie nodded. "Yup. You in?"

Underneath the table, his jeans brushed against her leg.

"Fine. But I'm gonna win."

A jolt of electricity rocketed down her spine, but Fez and Rhonda didn't seem to have noticed. She stuck her hand across the table, grinning, and he shook it.

"You're on."

On Jackie's pot-smoking scene: I've smoked pot exactly once in my life, and I don't remember a lot of it. The style of this scene is taken both from my experience and the general feel of pot-scenes from other fanfic. It was fun to write, but if there's something you feel doesn't sit right, please let me know!