Chapter Text
Hyde watched Jackie Burkhart wave goodbye as she entered her oddly un-lit house. He waited for her bedroom light to turn on, to make sure she got home alright, before heading towards the Foreman's.
She offered to drop him off, but he wanted to walk. He needed to clear his head. The only thing his mind seemed capable of at the moment was replaying their kiss over and over again.
"I didn't feel anything" she had said. She put him in a corner, all he could do was agree. He's not gonna let Jackie Burkhart walk around gloating that she got the stoner burnout to feel things with her self proclaimed magic lips. But... nothing??? She had to to be lying.
Hyde knew it was for the best. Regardless of her fibbing, she has her reasons. And those exact reasons are why they would never have worked out. It's not like he wanted it to work out either. He didn't regret their date. Now hopefully she'll leave him alone and he can continue to... continue to... continue to do what Hyde does best. And that did not include dating a preppy cheerleader.
This feeling of rejection, that he's not enough, he's numb to it. What's the difference now that it's Jackie? Hyde can get with women who have substance, depth, and actually know that Led Zeppelin is a band. Or he can stay single. He's a free man. He has no attachments. No material possessions. No emotional possessions.
Hyde got over Donna's rejection real fast. He's never even been depressed after a breakup before, he just moved on. So why can't he stop playing that kiss over and over in his head?
"Well, did you feel something?"
Damnit.
Jackie turned on her bedroom light and walked towards the window to see Steven Hyde begin to walk away from her house. She let out a sigh and slumped to the floor, grabbing the closest stuffed animal to hold.
Nothing. She felt nothing. She just had to keep telling herself that until it was true.
Her kiss with Steven was electric. The whole day seemed unreal with him punching Chip, and taking her on a date. He really was her knight in shining armor. But when Jackie pulled away from Steven, she saw herself in his Aviator sunglasses. She saw what he saw: a loud mouthed, bratty stuck up rich cheerleader who's only ever dated Michael Kelso. And she knew he would never love her as she was, that he would never give her the time of day.
Inviting Chip to the Veteran's Day BBQ was an attempt to move on. And their date was a miracle, a dream. But she realized, Steven was right. They would never last. She saw how caring, thoughtful, and sensitive he was. She saw the lonely kid who needed a family, and love. But she knew he only ever saw her as Michael's bratty ex-girlfriend who likes unicorns and fluffy things.
And... he would have a point.
Jackie got up, and went into her bathroom to take off her make up. As she looked in the mirror, and ran her makeup remover down her face, she began to see herself more clearly. And she realized.... she didn't know who she was. She knew she liked money, and hated foreigners, and loved herself. She knew she was beautiful and fashionable. But also, she's 16 now. In a few years she'll graduate high school... and then where will she be?
Jackie imagined herself in five years: stunning, of course, but also, mature. She held herself high, she had her arms interlocked with Steven who was in a suit and tie and- no, stop. She can't keep fantasizing about Steven, that's how she got here in the first place.
She opened her journal, and she made a declaration for herself. Jackie Burkhart is now on the path to discovering the mature Jackie, the Jackie that has it all, that's older and wiser, and somehow, yes somehow, even more stunningly beautiful than the present day Jackie. No more boys like Michael who cheat on her and gaslight her. And no more boys like Steven who don't care to see who she really is, even when she tries to show herself.
Jackie Burkhart is reborn.