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Encounter #5
It’s a miracle none of the neighbors have heard. Even if the houses in this neighborhood have enough space between them to fit a football field, it seems that the occupants in this one are trying their hardest to overcome this… particular barrier.
A vase teeters dangerously on the small side table in the foyer before a hand reaches out to steady it. The effort is futile however, as another accidental bump sends the vase careening to the floor where it shatters into a million tiny pieces.
“Hyde!”
Jackie’s breathy moans are replaced by an annoyed shriek as she pushes him away. They both turn to look at the evidence of their actions on the floor.
“That was a Wedgewood,” she groans and covers her eyes. “My boss is gonna kill me.”
Hyde just smiles, pulling her hands away from her face and placing a quick kiss on her lips. “I’ll buy another one.”
“It costs half a million dollars!” Jackie looks at him unimpressed.
“Like I said,” Hyde smirks. “I’ll buy another one.”
Jackie straightens down her dress and pulls the right strap back onto her shoulder. She huffs and walks towards the closet, presumably looking for a broom and dustpan. “Put your dick back in your pants.”
Hyde just laughs before doing as he’s told. “Or I’ll just buy the whole damn house! You are my real estate agent after all. You’re just doing your job and showing me around.”
He reaches for the broom in her hand. “I’ll say the vase wasn’t really my style. Which- ” He glances down at the shards. They’re an ugly brown color. “ -it really wasn’t.”
He quickly sweeps up the shards and puts everything to the side before sidling up to Jackie again, who is leaning against a doorframe nearby.
“Are you still mad at me?” Hyde chuckles, cupping Jackie’s cheeks. The applied pressure pushes her cheeks together, giving her lips a pouty look. Hyde gives her a quick peck.
“No,” Jackie sighs. “Just annoyed we were interrupted.”
Hyde laughs. “Let me finish my job then,” before grabbing her hand and pulling her up the stairs.
Jackie’s laughter echoes all throughout the empty house.
Encounter #9
“Just jump in!”
“I can’t! ”
“Why not?”
“Because,” Jackie hisses. “One, this is a lot different than sleeping around in empty bedrooms, and two, I don’t have anything to swim in.”
Hyde just raises an unimpressed eyebrow. “I’ve seen you naked more times than I can count.”
“If you’re suggesting skinny dipping- ”
“Of course I am!”
“ -in a random pool- ”
“Jackie, live a little,” Hyde says, beckoning to her again from his place in the deep end. He had stripped down to his boxers and jumped in before Jackie had time to protest.
Jackie bites her lip, eyes scanning the perimeter of the backyard as if she expects to find thousands of pairs of eyes looking into their (you could call them) illegal activities.
“Come on,” Hyde says again, this time more softly.
Jackie looks back at him, and the sincere and happy look on his face does something weird to her insides. She doesn’t want to think about that right now.
“Okay,” she finally agrees and begins to strip.
Hyde wolf whistles which just makes Jackie blush and giggle. Sometimes she can’t believe she’s having constant nefarious rendezvous with a famous musician.
They’d met five months ago, when Hyde had moved to Los Angeles from New York, citing a want for a change in scenery. Her real estate agency had assigned her to him, and she’d spent the last five months showing him various expensive properties in the Hollywood hills and surrounding areas.
She had initially just been doing her job. Of course she had found herself attracted to him, the curly hair and the sunglasses had lured her in and his sense of humor was doing enough to keep her entertained, but she had kept it strictly professional. For a month. Until they had both snapped and lunged at each other in the kitchen of the rustic Spanish style villa she had been showing him that day.
After that they had hooked up at every single property Jackie had shown him. But it was never anything more than that. Jackie wasn’t going to fool herself into thinking that a big time musician, somebody with millions of adoring fans and possible groupies, wanted anything serious from her. A simple real estate agent. She kept her distance. She wasn’t going to fall for him.
This was strictly physical. Especially because they never met at her place or his.
Except Hyde’s looks and personality had pulled her in over the months like a supermassive black hole, and she was teetering on the edge of the event horizon, about to fall in.
She’d brought up the fear that they would be caught, that it wasn’t believable that Hyde hadn’t found himself a place after all this time. But Hyde had assured her it would be okay. That he was just picky. That he was staying with an old friend for the time being and wanted to use this time to catch up with him, and the real estate agency would understand his reasoning (even though they didn’t care and never asked).
So here they are today. Skinny dipping in god knows whose pool.
“Jump in, baby!” Hyde yells.
Baby.
Jackie doesn’t let herself think about the pet name before she plugs her nose and jumps into the deep end.
She kicks up with her feet and hears Hyde’s whoops and hollers as she breaks the surface. She feels arms wrap around her and opens her eyes to see Hyde just a few inches from her face. Her breath hitches.
“Tell me that didn’t give you a rush,” Hyde smiles at her. She smiles back, unable to stop herself. She is feeling ridiculously happy.
She wraps her arms around his neck and feels his arms tighten around her. His fingers brush up and down the small of her back. Only the thin layer of Hyde’s boxers is separating them. She doesn’t know if she’s glad for that extra layer or annoyed because technically she’s the only one skinny dipping here. She tells him as much.
Hyde makes quick work of them, peeling them off underwater and tossing them to the side without even looking to see where they land.
Jackie can feel all of him now as he wraps his arms around her again. Her breasts brush up against his chest, and she can feel him half hard against her thigh.
“This really gets you going,” she comments.
“You get me going,” Hyde smirks.
Jackie rolls his eyes and dips her chin, but she can’t stop the small smile that creeps up on her face. She feels Hyde’s fingers pulling her chin up, before his lips descend on her. He tastes like chlorine, but it doesn’t stop Jackie from grabbing on tighter and deepening the kiss.
Hyde grunts as Jackie’s fingers pull at his hair. Jackie relishes in the fact that she has that effect on him. He moves from her lips to her jaw and down neck, nipping and sucking marks into her smooth skin. Jackie can’t stop herself from letting out small, breathy moans.
Hyde groans, and Jackie can feel how he’s fully hard now. “You taste so good.” His lips move across her throat, placing wet kisses everywhere.
“I taste like chlorine probably,” Jackie says breathlessly.
Hyde shakes his head. “And that vanilla lotion you use.” He’s moved down to her breasts, pressing sweet kisses into her wet skin.
Jackie feels herself blush again at the small detail he had remembered about her. “Steven…” she whispers. Hyde stops his progress down her body to look at her almost in shock, but the sides of his mouth seem to be tugging upward.
It’s the first time she’s called him by his first name, bar the day they were introduced.
Jackie doesn’t quite know what to do with herself, especially because of how big Hyde’s grin is. So she abruptly turns around and swims towards the pool’s ledge.
“Come get me,” she yells over her shoulder.
“Hey!” Hyde shouts. She can hear him swimming after her, and there’s the sudden thrill of being captured by him.
She’s almost to the edge when she feels an arm wrap around. The other comes to rest on the ledge next to her head. She twists in Hyde’s grip and once again finds them almost nose to nose.
“Gotcha,” he whispers.
It’s quiet for a moment as they stare at each other. The sun is high in the sky, beating down on their heads and making the water droplets on their skin shine. Hyde looks every bit the famous musician he is. But he also looks soft in this light, and Jackie imagines for a moment that this is what their life might look like together; swimming and laughing with each other under the summer sun, enclosed in their own world away from flashing lights and late nights. Before she can do something stupid, like blurt out the words “I love you,” Hyde ducks down and kisses her deeply. The hand on the ledge moves to her cheek as he cradles the side of her head. Jackie imagines that if she had been standing on land, her knees would have buckled.
Hyde pulls away too soon for her liking. “Come on,” he pulls her towards the steps in the shallow end.
Jackie is still a little dazed from their kiss. “Where?”
“Inside,” Hyde chuckles. “If I don’t have you right this second, I won’t make it.”
They climb out of the pool before Hyde whisks her inside.
Encounter #15
The pillows have been strewn across the room haphazardly and half the bedding is on the floor, but Jackie will worry about that later.
Right now, the only thing she can concentrate on is Hyde’s face pressed against her most intimate parts. One of her hands is gripping the bed sheets, white knuckled. The other is entangled in Hyde’s curls. She pulls on his hair as pleasure courses through her, and Hyde’s moan in response indicates that he is enjoying this just as much as she is. This only fuels her arousal and before she knows it, Jackie is coming, arching off the bed as she rides Hyde’s tongue through her orgasm.
Hyde rises up before cupping her cheek and slotting their lips together. Jackie sighs and chases the taste of herself in his mouth. The kiss turns sloppy and Jackie can feel the evidence of Hyde’s arousal against her stomach.
She breaks the kiss, frowning. “You didn’t come yet.”
“It’s okay,” Hyde assures her before kissing her again.
“No, hold on.” Jackie is very adamant about getting Hyde to finish. This is what their arrangement is all about. Right? She reaches down between them and wraps her hand around his dick, using his precome to make it easier before stroking her hand up and down.
Hyde curses under his breath and Jackie tilts her chin up to kiss him. They’re both breathing heavily, so it’s more of their open mouths sliding against each other, but Jackie loves it. She loves the feeling of Hyde hot and heavy in her hand, and she loves the feeling of his mouth against hers. She moves her hand faster and Hyde groans, dropping his head down onto her shoulder.
“I’m close,” he whispers. He places small, open mouthed kisses on her shoulder and chest. Jackie revels in the feeling. “You feel so good around me, baby.”
Jackie closes her eyes and thanks God that Hyde can’t see her face right now, because that damn pet name again . She tries her best to not let out a shaky breath. Instead she slides her other hand up his toned arm to grip onto his shoulder.
“Come for me, baby.” Two can play at this game she thinks.
A few more strokes, and Hyde spills over her hand and stomach with a moan. Jackie revels in the sound. Wants to record it and play it over and over again like a freak.
He doesn’t waste any time when he looks up at her. “Let me see your lips,” he murmurs before turning her chin and kissing her deeply. Jackie wraps her arm around his neck and pulls him closer, neither of them caring that they’re smearing Hyde’s come everywhere.
Hyde breaks the kiss faster than she would like. Jackie is mortified at the pathetic whine that escapes her, but Hyde only heads into the ensuite bathroom before coming back with a wet towel. Sliding back onto the bed, he carefully cleans Jackie up before doing the same to himself.
Jackie wants to lay in bed and cuddle with him. Instead, she sees him reach for his jeans on the floor, and a feeling of panic engulfs her. Is he just leaving her like this?
“I would love to stay and shower with you here, Jackie, but I’ve got to meet up with my manager in,” he checks his watch, “twenty minutes, and he is not going to be happy if I’m late. Again.”
Jackie can only nod and squeak out a small “okay” while Hyde quickly dresses himself. She’s still naked for God’s sake. She grabs the comforter and pulls it up to cover herself.
“I’m really sorry.” To his credit, he really does look apologetic, like he would rather be doing anything except going to a meeting with his manager. He ducks down and presses a soft kiss onto her forehead. “Promise this won’t happen next time.”
He checks his watch one more time, curses, and makes to run out of the room, but stops at the doorway. He glances back at Jackie, and gives her a wink. “The house was nice.” And he’s gone before Jackie can say another word.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do, Brooke,” Jackie groans as she collapses onto the worn leather couch in her living room. Her best friend, Brooke, had come over for a Friday night hang out, and Jackie had just finished pouring the both of them a glass of red wine.
They’d met in college where they had shared the same dorm room and had hit it off. Now, almost ten years later, they were like platonic soulmates. Their Friday night hang outs used to be a weekly thing, but lately, with both of their busy schedules, the pair hadn’t found the time to get together and share gossip the way they usually would. There was only so much you could say in a phone call once or twice a week. This week, however, had afforded them both an opportunity to finally get together after more than a month.
Brooke levels her with a look. “I told you not to do this months ago, Jackie.”
Jackie buries her face in a pillow. “Don’t start with that.” Her voice comes out muffled.
“What should I start with then?”
Jackie looks up and glares at her. “How about ‘Jackie, darling, light of my life, of course he’s in love with you, he could be crazy not to be, what with your hot bod and great personality.’”
Brooke snorts into her wine glass. “Jackie, darling, light of my life, you know me better than that.”
Jackie smacks Brooke lightly with her pillow, which causes both of them to giggle. “I’m serious,” Jackie sighs. “He was so sweet and gentle when we got up to the bedroom. He even knows what lotion I use, for God’s sake!”
“He’s also a multi-million dollar recording artist who probably does this with a bunch of girls anywhere he goes.” Brooke says and takes a sip of her wine.
“He hasn’t… given me that impression,” Jackie mumbles, looking away and taking a sip of her own wine.
Brooke groans. “Don’t tell me. You’ve actually fallen for him! Oh… Jackie, why didn’t you listen to me?”
“You try being near him and not wanting to climb him like a tree or hold his hand or - or give him a goodbye kiss.”
Brooke gives her a sympathetic look. “I think you need to tell him, honey.”
“Tell him so, what, he can laugh in my face about it? Another simple girl falling for the unattainable rock star.”
“Or at least make it clear you can’t keep showing him any more houses. That you have to start being professional.”
Jackie is silent for a while before she nods her head. “You’re right. I know.”
Brooke rubs her shoulder for comfort. “You’ll get over it soon enough.”
“It’s just the sex was so good,” Jackie cries out.
Brooke’s laugh is loud enough to be heard down the street.
Encounter #16
Jackie is ready. She had prepared a speech of sorts with Brooke on what she was going to say to Hyde the next time she saw him.
“...I just have to start being professional and work with other clients as well,” she mumbles under her breath. She was pacing on the front porch of the latest property she was scheduled to show to Hyde, practicing her lines.
Latest, and most probably last.
She turns around at the sound of tires crunching on gravel and is greeted with the sight of a blue convertible Corvette, one she hasn’t seen Hyde drive before. The man in question is getting out of the car, a smile on his face as he looks over at Jackie.
Jackie curses and tries to will the butterflies in her stomach to go away.
“You look amazing,” are the first words out of Hyde’s mouth. He climbs the steps up the porch and approaches her, standing much closer than a typical client and realtor would be.
And here’s the thing, Jackie knows she looks good. She’s always been aware of her looks and loves to dress nice. But that doesn’t stop her from blushing furiously.
She gapes at him for a second, her brain muddled. “I know,” she replies simply, trying to save face.
Hyde’s grin widens. “Well, are you going to show me around?”
She clears her throat. “Follow me.”
The house is huge, with a grand staircase that greets you right as you open the door. Dozens of rooms are off to the sides, and Jackie heads towards the closest one on the left to start the tour. She’s only taken a couple steps when she feels arms wrap around her behind and Hyde’s lips against her neck.
“I’m kind of more interested with what’s going on here,” he mumbles, nibbling at her neck.
Jackie closes her eyes and tries to calm herself down. She moves out of his grasp and ignores his quiet sound of frustration.
“You have to let me do my work sometimes,” she tries to deflect.
“This is so much more fun though.”
Jackie rolls her eyes. “Come on, you’re gonna love the kitchen.”
He’d previously confided in her that he loved to cook and bake. He didn’t have as much opportunity to do it while on the road, so having a big kitchen was an important factor. The one in this house was huge, with two ovens, a giant stainless steel fridge, a twelve burner stove, and a farmhouse sink.
Hyde’s eyes light up as he walks in, like a kid walking into a toy store. Jackie smiles at the look on his face. She finds his love for cooking and baking cute and endearing. She had imagined, more than once, what it would be like to have him cook for her, but that fantasy had been squashed almost immediately. It wasn’t good for her to think things like that.
“This is perfect,” Hyde says. He walks around the giant island in the middle, his fingers gliding across the granite. He opens and closes cabinet doors, peeks into the fridge, plays around with the knobs on the stove.
Jackie feels oddly emotional. “I’m glad you like it.”
Hyde walks back to her, eyes surveying over every surface before landing on her. “You really get me the way no one else does.”
Jackie wants to run away. In lieu of that, she simply says: “Well, it is my job.”
Hyde furrows his brows and opens his mouth to say something but seems to think better of it. He glances around the kitchen once more before turning back to Jackie. “Show me the rest.”
They slowly move through the rest of the house; Jackie is trying to delay the inevitable. She really doesn’t want to have this talk. But when they reach the master bedroom and Hyde reaches for her again, the way he always does, the way she’s grown to love, she knows it’s time.
“Hyde…” she says softly, pulling away from his touch and putting some distance between them. “This has been fun, really, but… I need to start doing my job again. This has been a nice distraction, but I’m your realtor at the end of the day. I need to be professional.”
She wasn’t expecting to see such a hurt look on his face.
“A distraction…” he says.
“It’s been great,” she insists. “I just think it’s time. You’ve been looking at places for months now. My bosses might get suspicious.”
“...Right.”
“And really,” Jackie continues, not sure where the rest of her words are coming from. “I’m sure you’re tired of all this. You probably wanna settle down and find a girlfriend.”
Hyde furrows his eyebrows again, like the words coming out of her mouth are in another language. Jackie fights the urge to reach out to him
“Right now I just want to look at properties with my real estate agent,” he replies a bit coldly.
Jackie just nods her head, looking anywhere but at Hyde. “So, there’s this one. I have one more I can show you, but that’s probably it.”
“Jackie-”
“If you want to see more, I can direct you to one of my coworkers,” she continues hurriedly. “They’ll find you a place in no time.”
And with that she quickly shuffles out of the room and down the hallway. She’s rushing down the grand staircase when she hears Hyde calling out to her.
“Jackie!” She can hear him huffing. “Will you slow down? Tell me what happened.”
Jackie ignores the tight feeling in her chest as she turns around to look at him. She stops at the bottom of the stairs while he stops halfway, just looking at her with a shocked and hurt expression. Or maybe that’s just what Jackie wants to see.
He slowly walks down, but makes sure to leave a few feet of space between them when he comes to a stop again. “Did I do something?”
“No,” she assures him. “You haven’t done anything wrong. I’ve just been distracted and need to start focusing on my work again. I’m up for a promotion and if Brenda ends up getting it instead of me, I might just rip my hair out. She’s terrible, Steven. Doesn’t work a day in her life, but somehow my boss loves her. I don’t know if she even sells any properties. I deserve it much more than her. I’ve put in the hours, thank you very much.”
She’s rambling, she knows it. But she doesn’t know what else to say in this situation. She just wants to get out of here and go back home and wallow in her feelings.
“You called me Steven. Again.” Hyde points out, referring back to their day at the pool.
Jackie splutters. “Well - it’s - yes, that’s your name, isn’t it?”
“You always call me Hyde.”
“Just a slip up.”
“Uh huh.” Hyde starts to slowly move closer to her. “And don’t you think it would be great for your promotion if you sold a house to a famous musician?”
He’s less than a foot away from her, and she wants to reach out to him. Instead she says: “It’s been almost six months, and I haven’t been able to sell you anything. I think that’s bad business.”
“I’ll take this one then,” Hyde replies simply.
“You haven’t even seen the backyard.”
“Don’t need to.”
“How can you be sure?”
“I just am.”
He’s smirking at her now. Jackie is both annoyed and turned on.
“Well either way, you sign the papers, and we’ll be done,” she points out.
Hyde’s smile falters, as if he hadn’t considered that part. “We can’t still be friends?”
“Oh, is that what we are?”
“I thought so.”
Jackie crosses her arms. “Friends don’t typically do what we’ve been doing.”
Hyde reaches out to brush her hair out of her face. His palm lingers on her neck and she’s unable to resist; she leans into his touch.
Hyde leans in as well, his mouth brushing against her ear, and Jackie melts. “And what have we been doing, Jackie?”
Instead of answering, Jackie gives in and pulls him even closer. His lips are a welcome weight on hers and Hyde immediately opens his mouth, inviting her tongue in. He groans and wraps his arms around her, deepening the kiss. They’re flush against each other and Jackie is in heaven. She doesn’t know why she had ever stupidly considered giving this up.
“I wasn’t kidding, by the way,” Hyde mumbles against her cheek. He’s placing kisses all over her face, and she can’t suppress the shudder that runs through her body. “I’m taking the house.”
Hyde does buy the house. For a price tag that has way too many zeros. He decides to throw a party to celebrate. Jackie knows this because she receives an invitation in the mail a week later.
Saturday. 8PM
He’d even written her a small note. A simple “hope to see you there” that does terrible things to Jackie’s heart.
She does the only thing she can think of in this situation. She calls Brooke.
Brooke has barely sounded out a hello before Jackie blurts out: “I couldn’t go through with it.”
The silence is deafening before Brooke sighs. “I’m coming over.”
True to Brooke fashion she arrives quickly. Or as quickly as she can traveling through the afternoon rush hour in a busy city. She doesn’t even bother knocking, just unlocks the door to Jackie’s apartment with the spare key Jackie had given her years ago.
“Okay, tell me what’s up,” she says, falling heavily onto the couch. Jackie is lying down under a bunch of blankets with only her eyes and the top of her head visible.
“We had sex,” Jackie mumbles.
“What?”
Jackie moves the blankets away from her face, and lets out a big sigh. “We had sex.”
Brooke raises an eyebrow, waiting for her to elaborate.
“We had sex after I was supposed to break things off with him.”
“Uh huh,” Brooke says. “And how did that happen?”
“He just- you know,” Jackie waves her hand around.
“I don’t know actually.”
Jackie huffs. “Brooke, don’t make me say it.”
“You love talking, Jackie. I just want you to hear yourself,” Brooke teases.
“I tried,” Jackie groans. “I really tried. I said the speech we prepared and everything, but then he said he would buy the house we were looking at, and then he got closer and I let him! And then we were kissing and - and -”
“And then you had sex,” Brooke says bluntly.
“Yes,” Jackie moans before throwing herself facedown on the blankets. “And then he sent me an invite to his housewarming party.” She grabs the invitation from where it’s wedged between her side and the couch cushions and blindly holds it out to Brooke, who takes it from her. “I’m a grown woman, Brooke, why am I acting like a hormonal teenager?”
Brooke gives her a sympathetic look and rubs her back. “You know why, honey. I really think you would feel better if you told him how you’re feeling.”
Jackie looks up and takes a shuddering breath. “I’m scared, Brooke. I think I really love him. I don’t know what I would do if he said no.”
Brooke takes her hand, clasping their fingers together. “I’m not going to promise you a happy ending, but you’ll never know if you don’t try. And if he does say no, you can start getting over him.”
“But- ”
“I’m not saying it’s gonna be easy,” Brooke continues. “I know how hard you’ve fallen, but at least you’ll have your answer and know where to go from there.”
Jackie nods, wiping at her eyes, not realizing she’d teared up a bit.
“And I’m always gonna be here with you, babe. You don’t have to go through all that alone.”
Jackie sniffles and smiles at her best friend. She loves Brooke so much, she doesn’t know what she would do without her. “Thanks, Brooke.”
Brooke envelopes her in a hug and smiles. “But really, he would be crazy not to fall in love with you. I mean look at you.”
“I know!” Jackie cries out.
“Now come on,” Brooke says, standing up and offering Jackie her hand. “Lets go pilfer your closet and find you an outfit to wear to his party.
Saturday comes. Jackie’s standing outside Hyde’s new house - new mansion - debating if she should go in. She wasn’t sure how famous people partied and thus didn’t know if she should arrive on time or fashionable late. She’d decided she would get there at 9PM, rules be damned. She wasn’t famous; she didn’t have to follow their rules.
It appears, though, as if she’s made the right decision, because there’s loud music coming from inside and it looks packed. There’s other people arriving at the same time as her so she doesn’t feel too left out. She holds her head up high and makes her way inside.
It’s pandemonium. There’s so much going on that Jackie doesn’t know where to look. A few people seem to be snorting lines on the living room coffee table. She sees couples making out on the grand staircase, in the dining room, in the hallways, even the opening to a broom closet. She walks deeper into the house, past the numerous rooms on the first floor, hoping to catch a glimpse of Hyde. The heart of the party is the giant family room in the back where the floor to ceiling sliding doors are wide open to allow people to filter to and from the backyard easily. She sees people swimming in the pool, a few others lounging in the jacuzzi. Everyone else is dancing. The loud bass from the music is rattling her skull.
“Jackie!”
She barely hears it, but her heart flutters at the sound of his voice. She turns to the source, the way a sunflower follows the sun.
Hyde is smiling softly at her. His signature sunglasses are hiding the crinkles that she knows he gets around his eyes, and a thrill goes down her spine that she might be the only person here who knows that. “You made it.”
“Wanted to see the place in action,” Jackie says looking around.
“How do you like it?”
“It’s,” Jackie takes a moment to think. “Loud.”
Hyde laughs. “I guess, yeah.” He looks her up and down, eyes lingering on the cleavage she’d purposefully shown. Brooke had dug out the skimpy top from somewhere in the back of her closet and made her promise she would wear it. So here she was. “You look good.”
“I know,” Jackie says, reminiscent of the last time they’d seen each other.
Hyde reaches for her. The weight of his hand is warm and comforting in hers, his signature ring pressing into her skin. “Come on, I want you to meet some people.”
He leads her through the sliding doors and out into the backyard. They can’t walk more than two feet without people running up to him, wanting to touch, to feel; Jackie understands completely, but it doesn’t stop her from feeling a bit jealous. She pushes the feeling down however, because all these people might be fawning over him and giving him attention, but it’s her hand that’s entangled with his, it’s her who he had specifically sought out, it’s her who he wants to introduce to people. Hyde just politely thanks the people that come up to him, but subtly pushes them to the side before pulling Jackie along.
Jackie looks back at one of the girls he’d stepped around to find the girl glaring at her. She smirks back, feeling triumphant, and tightens her hold on Hyde’s hand. Hyde glances at her, giving her a surprised smile.
They reach the edge of the backyard where there’s a fire pit surrounded by lawn chairs. There’s a small group of people draped across the chairs, and they look up at Hyde’s arrival. There’s a faint smell of weed in the air. Jackie thinks he’s about to pull his hand out of hers, but instead, he just pulls her closer and wraps an arm around her waist. Jackie blushes.
Hyde clears his throat. “Alright, guys, I want you to meet someone.”
The man closest to them lets out a small whoop. “Damn, Hyde, you already found a lady? That was fast even for you.”
Jackie freezes. She’d assumed Hyde was somewhat of a womanizer, given his lifestyle, but to have his friend confirm it-
Hyde smacks the man, who lets out a small yelp. “Shut it, Fez, will you?”
“There was no need for you to be hurtful,” the other man pouts.
Hyde just rolls his eyes. “Guys, this is Jackie.” He pulls her even closer, there’s not even an inch of space between them, and smiles. “She helped me buy this place. Jackie, this is Fez, Eric, and Donna. They’re my best friends.”
The girl, Donna, grins. “So you’re Jackie.”
Jackie just nods. She’s still feeling a bit uncomfortable from how the conversation had started but everyone is looking at her expectantly and Hyde has her in a firm grasp.
“It’s nice to meet you all,” she simply says.
“We’ve heard a lot about you,” the other boy, Eric, says with a knowing look.
“Really?” Jackie asks disbelievingly. “What could you have possibly heard? I’m just his real estate agent.”
“Oh we’ve also heard that-” Fez starts out, but Hyde smacks his arm again before he can finish.
“I’ve just told them how great you are.” Hyde grits his teeth. “Right, Fez?”
“Ay, yes he’s right.” He rubs the sore spot on his arm.
“Oh,” Jackie breathes out.
“I wanted you to meet the important people in my life,” Hyde explains. He ushers her to sit down on one of the vacant chairs before taking a seat next to her. His hand lands on her knee. She subtly squirms away and ignores the hurt look on his face.
She moves closer to Donna, who holds out what looks like a joint. Jackie raises an eyebrow and Donna just smirks at her and offers the joint again. “It’ll help you relax. You look spooked.”
Jackie thinks fuck it and takes it from her. She hadn’t driven her so it wouldn’t be hurting anybody. Hyde whoops and Fez yells out a “hell yes!”
She’d only smoked weed once before, and that was in college with Brooke. She’d hated the smell but the floaty feeling had been nice. She takes a big drag, but overestimates her abilities to hold it in and ends up coughing. Eric and Fez laugh, not maliciously, while Donna thumps her on the back and takes the joint from her.
“I’ll go grab you some water,” Hyde says before he disappears back into the crowd.
Jackie wipes at her eyes, careful not to smudge her makeup. She feels embarrassed from her failed hit and a bit awkward now that Hyde isn’t here as a buffer. The fire crackles in front of her and she reaches out to warm her hands, if only to give herself something to do.
“So,” Donna says quietly. Eric and Fez are steeped in their own conversation now, hogging the joint, but Jackie isn’t mad about it. Neither is Donna it seems. “How are you liking it with Hyde?”
“With… him?” Jackie asks, a bit confused. Has Hyde told his friends?
“Yeah, you know, being with a rockstar. Is it exciting?”
Jackie can feel herself starting to panic. She could get fired if anyone knew about what they’d been doing. “I’m not- ,” she shakes her head. “I’m just his realtor.”
Donna gives her a look as if she doesn’t believe a single word that’s coming out of her mouth. She opens her mouth to say something, but Jackie beats her to it. “I’m gonna go find Hyde. He’s been gone for a while, and I need some water.”
She scrambles out of there without a second glance and hurries towards the house. The inside is more chaotic than it had been only thirty minutes ago, and Jackie has to push past multiple groups of people, who are both drunk and high, in order to get to the kitchen. She makes it to the kitchen island, feeling out of breath, but freezes at the sight across from her.
Hyde. With another woman pressed against him. Her hands are running up and down his chest and she’s giggling and whispering in his ear.
Jackie can’t stop the tears that spring to her eyes, and she turns to get out of there before Hyde can see her, but it’s too late. Their eyes meet across the kitchen, and she can see his face drain of color. Jackie doesn’t stick around to see what he does; she pushes her way back through the crowd, hoping the thick crush of people stops Hyde from coming after her.
She makes her way out the front door and breathes in a sigh of relief before a sob escapes her. She knows she has no right to feel angry about this. They had never said they were together, exclusively or not. She had made it clear to him that what they had was only a bit of fun, nothing more.
But that doesn’t stop Jackie’s heart from breaking. She had pushed him away and kept him at a distance to keep her heart safe, only for it to backfire in the end. She wipes at her tears and straightens up. No more she thinks. This is the end of it all. Hyde had found his house. She had done her job. There is nothing more for them to do.
Jackie pulls out her phone and calls a taxi. She’d learned her lesson.
Sunday morning, Jackie is woken up by the relentless sound of the doorbell. She scrambles out of bed and pulls a robe around herself, glancing at herself in the mirror and hoping her red, puffy eyes aren’t too noticeable.
“I’m coming!” she yells as the doorbell continues to ring. It’s eight in the morning. It should be illegal to be up this early on a weekend.
“What-” her words are cut off when she opens the door to see who’s standing on the threshold. “Hyde.”
“Hi, Jackie,” he simply says. He has a morose look on his face, and Jackie can’t imagine why . He seemed pretty content with that blonde bimbo from last night.
She gives a slight shake of her head. “What are you doing here?” Her tone is cold and unwelcome.
“Wanted to see you,” Hyde says. “After you ran off like that last night.”
“I didn’t run off,” Jackie tries to defend herself. She wasn’t going to be made to feel humiliated in her own home. “I had to get back home. It was late.”
Hyde is looking at her like he can see through her obvious lie. “You’re upset.”
“As if,” Jackie scoffs and rolls her eyes.
He opens his mouth to say something, seems to change his mind, then: “Can I come in?”
Jackie sighs and moves aside, gesturing for him to enter. If they’re going to have a clean break then now is probably the time to do it. “If you must.” She leads him to the living room where Hyde sits in the armchair across from her. It pains her a bit to see him like this in her space. She always imagined it in a happier way. Waking up together in her bed, having breakfast at her kitchen island, cuddling with each other in the living room while watching a movie or shitty reality TV. She almost snorts at the thought now. How foolish was she? Famous musician Steven Hyde content with her in her tiny apartment.
Hyde rubs the back of his neck, like he’s trying to figure out what to say. “Just - was it that girl? Because if it was, Jackie, we weren’t even doing anything. She just appeared and you saw us right when I was going to push her away.”
“It’s nothing,” Jackie replies quickly. “I was just tired and wanted to go home.”
“Jackie-”
“No, Hyde. That’s it.”
“Would you stop calling me that?” He sounds frustrated.
“It’s your name,” Jackie replies with what little calm she has left. She doesn’t want to have this conversation so early in the morning. Her tears from last night have barely dried and she can feel a fresh wave building inside her.
Hyde looks at her with such a sad expression on his face that Jackie wants to immediately get up and hold him. “Not to you.”
“We’re done with business,” Jackie says. “You got your house - congratulations by the way - so there’s really no reason to see each other anymore.”
“Really?” Hyde challenges. “If this is just business then why did you run out when you saw me in the kitchen?”
Jackie scoffs. “Do whatever you want with whoever you want, Hyde . We were never together. This,” she gestures between them. “Was just a bit of fun and nothing more.”
“Sweetheart, come on.” Hyde moves across the room and sinks down next to her, taking her hand, and Jackie feels like she’s been stabbed. “Don’t be like that. Don’t act like you’re not hurt, and then turn around and take it out on me. If this really means nothing to you, then you have no right to be upset with me.”
Jackie snatches her hand away and stands up. “ Don’t call me that. You’re right, I shouldn’t be upset with you, and I’m not. Have you thought that maybe I’m just tired of this whole thing?
Hyde stands up as well and reaches for her one more time, fingers circling her wrist. His fingers are calloused from years of playing the guitar, but they still feel soft where they’re rubbing against her skin. Jackie, like a moth to a flame, allows herself to be held by him. For just a moment before she forces herself to pull away.
“Don’t,” she whispers.
“Tell me you don’t want this,” Hyde murmurs.
Jackie takes a deep breath. “I don’t want this,” she replies in a shaky voice.
She can see his jaw clench, but he just nods after a moment. “As you wish.”
And with that, Hyde turns around and walks out of her life.
A week passes.
Jackie doesn’t hear from him.
Two weeks.
A month.
She wants to cry all the time. Because she knows it’s her fault. She was too scared. Too scared to be loved by him. Too scared to be with him. Too scared to be hurt by him. Too scared by what it all meant.
She finds herself reaching for the phone more often than not. His phone number is burned into her brain. But she always ends the call before the first ring can go through.
Two months.
She busies herself with work to keep her mind off of him. It works somewhat. Until her boss gives her a promotion for her outstanding work with the famous Steven Hyde , and Jackie just wants to curl up and die.
Brooke is her saving grace. She spends as much time as she can at Jackie’s place, just hanging out and having girl’s night, or going out for drinks, or shopping. Anything to keep Jackie’s mind occupied with thoughts other than Hyde.
It’s mid-August when Brooke propositions her with something. She’d been seeing someone for the past few months, and Jackie had yet to meet him. Someone named Michael. Who was apparently throwing a birthday party next Friday and had invited both Brooke and Jackie.
“It’ll be fun,” Brooke sing-songs. “Come on, there’s going to be a bunch of people there. You might meet someone new.”
“I don’t want to meet someone new,” Jackie says without looking up from the magazine she was flipping through.
Brooke rolls her eyes. “At least you might get laid.”
Jackie looks up at her with a glare. “And where did that get me last time?”
“It might be different this time,” Brooke shrugs. “But okay, you don’t need to get laid. You can just come and have fun .”
“Fine,” Jackie says. “Only because I need to vet the guy you’re seeing and see if he’s worthy of you.”
Brooke smiles sheepishly. “He is. He’s a really great guy.”
“I guess I’ll find out next Friday.”
Jackie is wearing her “sluttiest outfit” as Brooke had lovingly called it. The shortest skirt she owns and a cropped halter top. She looks hot, and she knows it. She is determined to have fun tonight. Maybe she actually will find someone to distract her. No thoughts of Hyde were going to ruin this tonight.
As she steps out of the taxi with Brooke, she immediately regrets her choice of outfit. Despite the time of year, there is a cool breeze and Jackie wishes she had grabbed a jacket. But she tells herself she can push through. They set off towards a house that could only be categorized as “loud.”
The front door is wide open and from what they can see, the house is packed. Jackie smiles despite herself. Yeah. She can probably find a guy to fool around with tonight.
“Brooke!” They hear someone call as they cross over the threshold. Jackie’s eyes land on a tall man walking over to them. He almost looks boyish with his hair almost reaching down to his shoulders and a dopey smile on his face.
“Michael,” Brooke breathes out
Ah . This is who Brooke’s been seeing.
The two of them stand there staring at each other with shy smiles on their faces, forgetting that they’re surrounded by a bunch of other people, and Jackie has to clear her throat to get them to remember that she’s there as well.
“Oh!” Brooke laughs sheepishly as she turns to look at her. “Jackie, this is my- ”
“Boyfriend,” Michael interjects, waving a hand at Jackie and pulling Brooke into his side. “My name’s Michael, but almost everyone calls me Kelso.”
Brooke is blushing, a bit wide eyed. She’d never explicitly said that Michael was her boyfriend.
Jackie just chuckles. “I’m Jackie, Brooke’s best friend.” She gives a small wave of her own. “Nice to meet you.”
“Alright!” Kelso exclaims. “You guys are gonna love it here. Come on!” And he grabs Brooke’s hand as he leads them deeper into the house.
The three of them weave through the crowd, people calling out to Kelso left and right and wishing him a happy birthday. Jackie unwillingly finds herself comparing this party to the last one she’d gone to. While this house is packed and the music flowing from room to room, it’s more mellow than it was at Hyde’s place. More intimate. At least people aren’t snorting coke off the coffee table.
Jackie’s eyes land on a brunette haired man standing off to the side, a red Solo cup in hand as he seemingly chats with some friends.
He doesn’t have curly hair. Perfect.
They make eye contact and Jackie gives a smirk, earning one in return.
Hook .
Kelso leads them to the living room where a group of people are sitting in a circle. It takes her a second to register that she knows these people. She’s seen them before. On one of the worst nights of her life.
Her breath catches as they all look up at the newcomers and recognition flashes across their faces. She needs to get out of here.
“Brooke.” Her voice is shaky and her breaths are coming out in short bursts. Brooke immediately looks at her with concern. At least he’s not here. Is he here? She looks around the room frantically but she doesn’t see him.
“Jackie? Honey?” Brooke’s squeezing her hand now. “What’s wrong?”
“Are you guys ready to smoke the best weed of your life?” She hears a voice to her left. His voice.
This can’t be happening. Here? Of all places?
Turning, she makes eye contact with none other than Steven Hyde. The same Steven Hyde she hasn’t seen or spoken to in two months.
Hyde falters when he sees her, and the rest of the room immediately falls quiet.
“Jackie,” he says as if he can’t quite believe his eyes.
Jackie just swallows and schools herself. She can do this. She nods at him. “Hyde.”
Everyone is looking back and forth between them, and Jackie just can’t stand it. She needs some air.
“I’ll be right back.”
She squeezes Brooke’s hand once and subtly shakes her head at her. She’ll be fine once she gets some air. She doesn’t want to drag Brooke out with her, not when Brooke was so happy to come here tonight and spend time with Michael.
Brooke sends her a silent Are you sure? but Jackie just gives her a small smile and heads back the way they came, avoiding Hyde’s eyes all together. She pushes past throngs of people before she finds herself on the back porch. It’s quieter out here, despite the loud house music, but it gives her some space to think and compose herself.
She can’t believe her luck. All of Los Angeles, and Brooke had to date one of Hyde’s friends. She briefly wonders why he hadn’t been at Hyde’s housewarming quickly but quickly throws the thought aside. She doesn’t care enough at this point.
“Hey,” a voice says from behind her.
She whips around and is surprised to see the brunette man from earlier that had caught her eye. “Hi.”
He walks up to stand beside her and leans on the porch railing, handing her a drink. Jackie eyes the drink suspiciously. She’s not going to drink something some random man gave her. Sensing her hesitance, the man chuckles before taking a sip of Jackie’s drink. “You’re safe. See?”
He looks nice enough. He’s got a soft face, a little bit of stubble. Tall. He reminds her a bit of a young Harrison Ford.
Still. She’ll wait before she tries the drink.
“I’m Nick,” he says, offering her a small smile and handshake.
“Jackie,” she returns, shaking his hand.
“So why’s a pretty girl like you all alone out here?”
Jackie cringes a bit internally. The pick up line is not doing it for her at all.
“It got too stuffy in there, I just needed some fresh air.”
Nick nods his head. “Yeah it was getting a bit much for me, too.”
Jackie scraps any ideas she had about possibly sleeping with this guy. He’s just too boring, but maybe she can slowly let him down and get back to Brooke.
“Are you friends with Kelso?” Jackie asks, trying to be nice.
“Nah, not really. He’s more of a friend of a friend. You?”
“A friend of a friend.”
Nick moves a bit closer, his hand inching closer to hers on the railing. She pretends to take a sip of her drink and tries to ignore his hand.
“Been in LA long?” Nick asks her.
Jackie huffs out a laugh. “Born and raised.”
“Wow," Nick whistles. "So what you’re saying is you can show me around the best places? I only moved here a couple months ago.”
Great. Jackie thought. Another LA transplant.
“I’m sure you have other friends willing to show you around, no?” she chuckles.
“None as pretty as you.”
Jackie screams internally, deciding she’s going to let this guy down hard and go back inside when -
“Jackie?”
She looks over Nick’s shoulder to see Hyde standing just inside the threshold of the sliding glass door. His eyes narrow in on her and Nick’s hands close together, and Jackie makes a split second decision that she hopes she won’t regret. She grabs Nick by his shirt collar and pulls him in, crashing their lips together.
Nick’s confusion lasts for only a moment before he’s grabbing onto her waist and pulling her closer. It’s only been a couple seconds, but Jackie is ready to pull away; Nick tastes way too much like beer, and she hates how he’s trying to force his tongue into her mouth.
She pulls back and looks over Nick’s shoulder. Hyde is still standing in the doorway, but he doesn’t look mad like she’d expected him to be. Instead, he looks… heartbroken? Confused?
Jackie doesn’t know what to do with that. Instead, she pushes past both men without another word and heads inside to find Brooke. She’s ready to get out of here.
Brooke’s still in the living room, sitting on Michael’s lap. She’s giggling way too much, and Jackie suspects that she’s high.
“Brooke,” she hisses, coming up to her friend. “We need to go.”
“Already?” Kelso asks, while Brooke looks at her in confusion.
Jackie just nods her head. The rest of the group is giving her odd looks but she ignores them. “I’m not feeling really well.” The sound of Hyde’s voice and the dejected look on his face won’t stop replaying in her head. She feels like she did something wrong even though she knows she didn’t.
“Did you see Hyde on your way back in?” Kelso asks, craning his head to look past Jackie.
She simply hums in response and Brooke gives her a knowing look before standing up. She gives Kelso a quick kiss and whispers something in his ear. Kelso is looking at her with such devotion that it’s making the queasiness in her stomach worse. She wants that - someone looking at her like she hung the stars - immensely.
She thinks maybe she’d had that. And thrown it away just as fast.
“Let’s go, honey,” Brooke says to her quietly, and grabbing hold of Jackie’s hand, she leads them out past the packed living room and into the cool night.
She’s trembling a little bit as they wait outside for a taxi, so Brooke wraps her arms around her. Jackie wants to cry.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers into Brooke’s shoulder.
Brooke just shushes her. “None of that.”
“You were really excited to come here tonight.”
Brooke pulls back a bit and cups Jackie’s face. “You’re my best friend. I wasn’t going to leave you here like that while I cuddled up to Michael.”
“But- ”
Brooke cuts her off. “What happened?”
Jackie relays the events of the night to her as Brooke holds her and rubs her back sympathetically. She’s finishing up just as the taxi pulls up to the curb.
Finally , she thinks. She’s feeling sad and exhausted, and she can’t wait to get home and crawl into bed.
Jackie chances a look back at the house and catches a glimpse of Hyde standing at the door, as if checking to make sure they get home okay. He gives a small nod of his head as she settles into her seat then heads back inside. The gesture confuses her more. Why isn’t he mad at her? Why does it seem like he still cares?
She brushes it off, too tired to think. She grabs onto Brooke’s hand and lets the rumbling of the taxi lull her into a short sleep.
Jackie sleeps in the next day. Though they’d barely stayed an hour at Kelso’s party, the night had drained her.
Determined to feel better, she spends the rest of the day cleaning, organizing, and listening to music, only taking a break to order herself some comforting takeout from a nearby restaurant. It’s six in the evening by the time she’s done with everything and decides that she’s going to have a nice, quiet night to herself and get wine drunk.
What she doesn’t do is think about how sad Hyde had looked last night. Or about how he’d waited and made sure her and Brooke got safely into their cab. Or about how much she misses him.
She absolutely does not think about those things. What good would it do? It’s not like she could rebuild that bridge. Even though she knows deep down that if the opportunity came up she would absolutely try.
Jackie sleeps in the next day as well. It feels nice, having a whole weekend where she can just relax and put her problems to the side. She makes herself an omelet and toast once she gets out of bed. Puts on some Madonna as she loads her dirty dishes into the dishwasher. She hears a knock on her door just as she finishes wiping the kitchen counters.
“It must be Brooke,” she happily chirps, pausing the music. It would make sense for Brooke to want to check in on her after Friday night, and Jackie could use her company.
It’s not Brooke.
Hyde is standing on her doorstep. “Come with me,” he says, hand outstretched towards her.
Jackie looks down at her outfit - an old pair of tights and an oversized t-shirt - and looks back up at Hyde, an unsure look on her face.
“Please,” Hyde says. He doesn’t have his sunglasses on and Jackie can see the blue of his eyes. They look sincere. Hopeful.
She’s sure she must be going crazy when she takes his hand.
Hyde’s hand immediately wraps around hers, and she almost closes her eyes to fully appreciate the feeling of having his warm hand enclosed around hers once again. She’d so missed the feeling.
“Let me just grab my keys,” she says quietly. Hyde just nods, but still keeps his hold on her while she locks up, as if afraid Jackie’s going to disappear into thin air. It’s a bit endearing, and Jackie hides her shy grin.
“Ready.”
Hyde gives her a small smile - Jackie feels herself blush - before leading her down the hallway. They make it outside where a sleek 1970s El Camino is waiting on the curb. She huffs out a small laugh; figures that the man famous for making 70s style rock music would also be into 70s style muscle cars.
“What was that for?” he asks, opening the passenger side door for her.
Jackie shakes her head, getting in and sliding her hands across the aged leather seats. “She’s gorgeous.”
Hyde grins, clearly being spurred on by Jackie’s responsiveness, as he crosses over to the driver’s side and slides in. “She’s my pride and joy.”
Jackie rolls her eyes, faux-annoyed. Some of the tension from earlier had dissipated. “And where are you taking me in your pride and joy?”
Hyde pushes in a cassette - Jackie has to do a double take, she doesn’t remember the last time she saw one of those - and pulls out onto the road. She doesn’t recognize the music that starts playing, but it’s soft and calming. Maybe The Grateful Dead .
“You’ll see,” Hyde simply replies.
They meander through the Los Angeles streets in silence. It’s not exactly awkward, but it’s not comfortable either. Jackie doesn’t know if she should say something or wait for Hyde to take the lead. She chooses to stay silent and enjoy the ride.
The windows are down, the sun is warming her face, music is crooning in the background. It’s nice.
She recognizes the general direction they’re heading in, and soon enough, she can smell the ocean and hear seagulls. She sits up straighter. “You brought me to the beach?”
Hyde only hums in response. Soon they’re pulling onto a gravel path that looks like it hasn’t been used in years. It’s overgrown on both sides with weeds and surrounded by drooping trees. Jackie is beginning to wonder if she should have just stayed home when Hyde finally parks and cuts the engine.
“Come on,” he says. He grabs a blanket and a picnic basket from the trunk of the car before gesturing for her to follow. Jackie’s mouth falls open at the implication before she falls into step beside him. Hyde immediately grabs onto her hand and squeezes. She pretends the butterflies in her stomach aren’t fluttering like crazy.
The gravel pathway opens up to what looks like a small private beach. There are cliffs rising up on their right with what look like caves underneath while palm trees tower over them on the left. The white sand looks undisturbed, and the waves are lazily lapping at the shore. It’s like a small slice of heaven.
“This is beautiful,” Jackie breathes out. How had Hyde managed to find this undisturbed piece of beach? In Los Angeles of all places.
“I know,” Hyde says, letting go of Jackie’s hand to lay down their blanket. Jackie tries not to let her disappointment show on her face.
She’s not disappointed for long, however. Hyde gently takes hold of her hand once the blanket is nice and secure and pulls her down next to him. They’re pressed up against each other and Jackie relishes in the feeling. She doesn’t see the point in hiding it from herself anymore; she still craves him.
“I found it a couple months ago when I was just cruising along PCH,” Hyde continues. “My car was making some weird noises, so I pulled over to see what the problem was and ended up finding this place.”
Jackie glances around, digging her fingers into the warm sand. “How often have you been here?”
“A few times. Helps me think when there’s too much noise in the city.”
“And you’ve never seen anyone else here?”
Hyde shakes his head. “No. It’s nice and private.”
Jackie looks over to him to find him already staring at her. His eyes flick down to her lips before quickly glancing up again.
“So,” she looks away. She has to. “Why did you bring me to your private beach?”
Hyde sighs. She feels him caressing her hand with his thumb, their fingers still entwined. “I figured it’s time we talked, Jackie.”
“What about?” She feigns ignorance. Maybe if she prolongs this, they can just pretend everything’s fine for today. She can enjoy a day at the beach. She’s not sure she’s ready to hear what Hyde has to say.
“Don’t be like that,” Hyde says. “Come on.”
Jackie finally turns to look at him again. His eyes are pleading. “What do you want me to say, Steven?”
The corner of his mouth ticks up just slightly at the mention of his name. “I want you to tell me why you pushed me away so suddenly. And don’t give me that ‘it was just business’ crap, ‘cause we both know I’m not buying it.”
“Why?’ Jackie whispers.
“Why what?”
“Why won’t you buy it?”
Hyde hesitates before, “Because it never was to me.”
And how can Jackie resist? It all comes spilling out of her mouth before she can stop herself.
“Seeing you, the night of your party, with all your friends and your famous people, and that girl - I just - I realized I had no place in your life. Even your friends were joking around about you being a womanizer, so I just figured that I was nothing to you,” her voice breaks, and Jackie hates herself. She won’t look at Hyde. Doesn’t want to see his pity. “I love you, Steven. I have for a long time now, and… and when it finally dawned on me, I knew I had to put a stop to whatever all this was between us before I got hurt. Because why would you want me back of all people?”
She feels his hands cup her face and tries to blink away some tears that have collected. When she finally looks at him again, the look on his face is a mixture of happiness and frustration.
“You’re so…” Hyde sighs. “So self-destructive Jackie Burkhart.”
And then they’re kissing. It’s simple at first, just a press of their lips together. But then Hyde tangles his fingers in her hair and tilts Jackie’s head just so before deepening the kiss. Jackie moans at the feeling, reaching up to grab hold of him wherever she can. His arms, his shirt, his shoulders, his hair. Hyde guides her closer and she clambers onto his lap. Jackie opens her mouth for him and the kiss turns frantic. It’s a bit filthy, and she loves it.
She’s missed this. So much. The taste of him, the feel of him, the smell of him. She wants to be wrapped up in all things Steven Hyde.
He pulls away, and Jackie tries to follow after him, all feelings of shame and embarrassment gone. Hyde only chuckles and gives her a quick peck.
“Wait,” he whispers against her lips. “I have to tell you something.”
“What is it?” Jackie is breathless as Hyde places sweet kisses on her cheeks, her jaw, her ears, her throat. Even moves the collar of her shirt down to mouth along her collarbone before looking back up at her. He leans in and connects their lips again, and it’s enough to make Jackie dizzy.
“I love you, too.”
Jackie’s breath catches in her throat. She can’t have heard that right.
“I told you this wasn’t just business to me.” He moves his arms down, hugging her waist. It’s a welcome weight. Grounding. “I looked for a house for months, and it had nothing to do with me being picky. I just wanted to keep seeing you. I needed to keep seeing you. I invited you to my party. I wanted you to meet my friends!
“That girl in the kitchen was a fluke. I was trying to think of a nice way to let her down when you walked in.” Hyde pauses to brush her hair behind her ear. “I would never do that to you, Jackie. You - you mean everything to me. You’re funny, you’re smart, you’re a badass, you never take shit from anyone.”
“And I’m hot,” Jackie adds.
Hyde throws his head back and laughs. “And you’re ridiculously hot.” He places an open-mouthed kiss right below her ear, and Jackie arches towards him. His hands roam all over her, squeezing and pinching, caressing her hips and thighs. “So hot, baby, I can’t believe how lucky I am.”
Jackie closes her eyes. She can’t stop the smile that’s spreading on her face. Doesn’t want to. Doesn’t think she’ll ever stop smiling now. “I love it when you call me that.”
“Baby?”
“Yes,” she whispers, leaning her forehead against his. “Did you really mean all of it?”
When Hyde doesn’t respond she opens her eyes to look at him. She’s thrown back by the bright, tender look he’s giving her. A look that isn’t new. He’s been looking at her like this for months. Only Jackie now knows that it’s full of love.
“Every word,” he murmurs. “I want to be with you. Want you to be mine, baby.”
This time it’s Jackie who leans in and gives Hyde a bruising kiss. She pulls at his shirt until he gets the hint and pulls it over his head. It’s quickly followed by Jackie’s shirt and both of their pants.
“What about the food?” Hyde pants in between kisses. Their picnic basket lays forgotten in the sand. “I cooked your favorite things.”
“Fuck the food,” Jackie says, though she wants to scream at the fact that she’d fantasized about him cooking for her before and now he’d actually done it. “I haven’t tasted you in months.”
It seems Hyde doesn’t need more convincing than that. Soon they’re both naked and Hyde is pushing into her. Jackie is so grateful that their beach is private because the noises they’re both making sound unholy. But God does she love it. She’s never felt so good in her life. She comes with Hyde’s name on her lips, and he follows quickly after.
It’s a bit past sunset when they decide to head back to the city. They’d spent the whole day tangled up with each other - either cuddling, kissing, swimming, or having sex.
Jackie had always wanted to be loved. To be desired. To be needed. She’d never gotten that from her parents, so she’d turned to boys as she grew older, who had used her and then thrown her to the side without a second thought. Except now, she’d found the one boy who had come back, who had fought for her, who wanted her for her.
As they drive back into the hustle and bustle of the city, Hyde holding her hand over the gearshift, a cool breeze blowing through her hair, and Heart playing softly in the background, Jackie thinks this might be the happiest she’s ever been.