**

He hadn�t gotten her anything today. But that was okay, he was Steven � he NEVER got her anything. He sort of sucks like that, but that�s okay. He got her a shiny burger once. Plus she thinks he�s still mad at her.

So she misses him as she sits alone in the basement watching television and waiting for him to come back and start their Valentine�s . . . time, or whatever she can get. She hardly thinks he�s going to show with a gift, but it would be nice. If he doesn�t though . . . Oh well. She�s learned not to expect presents from Steven, and for the very first time in her entire life she didn�t really care either. Being with him was good enough; it was a bit of a weird feeling at first and she tries to shake the notion that it�s unusual whenever the thought comes.

But she knew this wouldn�t be a gooey holiday, he�s still mad at her. But she doesn�t regret her outburst, save the fact she did it in front of Steven. His shocked face was burned into her mind like a brand to signify her foolishness. That night is still burned into her memory too, crying over Steven and wondering if it was going to become like when she and Michael were together before, fighting. On those nights, after her less-than-stellar boyfriend dropped her off, she would come up with imaginary scenarios of what it would be like to be with Steven as *his* girlfriend, wondering if he�d cheat on her too. Jackie spent the night of her realization crying at the quite real possibility that Hyde wouldn�t even think to speak to her again. She fell asleep whispering that she loved him like her pillow was his ear.

Get off my boyfriend.

Phfft. That�d go down in the books.

But Steven got over it, sort of; she sees that he�s still working through it. He knows how she feels though, after she dropped the fake front of normalcy and laid it out for him. He didn�t say it back but she�s sure he wanted to. That was enough for her.

She likes to think he wanted to say it, anyway.

I love you. Just like she said to him.

It was probably before summer when it started, thinking back she tells herself how stupid it was to not suspect anything was off when you listen more closely, pay attention to mindfully, and hold another man in higher regard than your own boyfriend. She thought it was respect, and it was, still is, but it was more, then more and more and more.

Jackie had been sure she had experienced the love of her life in Michael Kelso, kismet. When it was over, it was like absolute obliteration of her heart. Now it seems like the affection she felt � the same she was positive had to be stretched to it�s limits of feeling � was now like a teensy little box in the middle of an ocean of more. It feels so very amazing that sometimes she has to stop herself from getting completely wrapped up because. . . Even when she doesn�t want to she thinks of how much she *thought* it hurt when she split from Michael, and she scares herself with the possibility that Steven might leave and really break her up so bad she�ll never be the same.

Steven was, is, her consistency, as unpredictable as he can be. When she needed someone he was there, he even took her to her first prom, and she hopes he�ll take her to her next. Once, she let herself revel in him, enjoyed a crush, until they kissed on the hood of her car and she realized she was about to jeopardize something � someone -- she needed more than anything else. She has Donna, she had Michael, but Hyde always seemed to hear a lot of her problems, sometimes he was the only one she wanted to listen.

Her Zen Master.

So Jackie had disciplined herself into a show, rejecting Hyde after their date, and rejecting any �other� feelings she had for him. She was weak every once in a while, only human, kissing him when she shouldn�t, but he kissed so well, her stomach would flip and she would want to keep on and on. But she was strong enough to stop each time and settle for second best that she thought was first rate, especially after Steven was the one to pull away from their kiss after she bought him boots. His retreat hurt more than the fight with Michael. A boyfriend she loved � as much a notion of love she had � because she thought that even if it was usually crappy with him she wasn�t damaging something that was great.

Then he left her instead of being �chained to her for life� . . . and summer came soon . . . and it didn�t hurt as much as she thought it would. Not as much as their first break-up, or their second or . . . After a few days it seemed that she didn�t care anymore even though she was certain she should, being that they were engaged and all. But all she wanted to do was hang out in the basement, even without Michael, it was like nothing changed except the dramatics in her life that revolved around her former relationship.

Now Jackie got why she was always in the basement, whether she�d dragged her former boyfriend with her or not. And she settled into it, liked it, and watched countless game shows, sometimes with Fez, hardly with Eric, but almost always with Hyde. After the millionth showing of �The Price is Right� she got an excuse to be weak. And stuck with it.

In spite of how she�d go home each night, her lips still buzzing and her body still ringing with the energy he�d created within her, she would wonder what would happen when he didn�t want to do it anymore. She�d lay there and imagine what it would be like without him, and couldn�t quite picture it, falling back into the memories of their time to lull her into a welcome sleep.

She�d even tried to stop it once, be strong. If she ended it, reduced it to random making out, then they could shrug it off. But he matched her words and they ended up on the couch, Jackie trying to concentrate best she could to memorize the precise way he pushed down the straps of her tank top so that if this blew up she�d have some things to remember.

She sighs a little when remembering Donna and Eric finding them out, and claiming they had to tell Michael. But if Michael knew Hyde would want to stop, so she tried to prevent it. She even asked Donna to keep her big red mouth shut, but as secret things do, it came out. And in the end he wanted to stay with her anyway.

She thinks of that when she worries if he�ll leave her.

Now today is Valentine�s Day, sugary sweets and similar make-up in the form of words. But she doesn�t get that stuff nowadays. She gets dragged to Donna�s when she didn�t really want to go, and taken to the basement � which she didn�t mind � until Fez and Michael followed. She got pretty much ignored until she baited him with a sexual innuendo. She got her boyfriend taking off to make sure his best friend didn�t get found out, or killed, when she wanted to be alone with him. She got Hyde not noticing she spent last night choosing her clothes and morning perfecting her make-up for him.

And she didn�t even yell at him about it and make him get her something. Was love changing her for better or for worse? But Steven didn�t get presents, and he didn�t tell her he loved her, and he hated Valentine�s Day. So she expected it and didn�t mind.

�Hey.� He nodded to her as he came down the steps, crashing onto the seat next to her. �Where�d everyone go?�

�Fez and Michael left when they heard Red�s �What the hell?� voice,� she said in disinterest.

�Ah. And you stayed?� he asks. She turns to him and he�s looking at her through tinted lenses, rubbing his palms on his jeans. It�s almost like he�s � anxious? But . . . oh. Maybe he�s less mad than unsure of how she feels about him. She guesses he has doubts and that�s probably right. It wasn�t like she presented him with the ultimate seal of trust to pin on her, but she loves him. Even if she has to go through this reassurance for a while she�ll do it every time to make him understand it�s just him, not Michael, or anyone else for that matter. Steven Hyde, he�s . . .

The only one she ever really loved.

�Yep, I stayed. It is Valentine�s Day. You�re supposed to be with your sweetheart,� she informs as she moves closer to him.

�I didn�t get you anything.� At least he�s honest.

�I figured.�

�What? I can�t get you anything nice?�

�Well, you didn�t,� she answers to his almost comical delivery. She sits back, grabbing his arm and pulling it over her shoulders as she leans into him.

�It�s a fake holiday created by card companies and the U.S. government to hike up consumer prices and--�

�I know,� she answers simply, staring at the television.

He looks at her, she sees it out of the corner of her eye and he looks . . . regretful. Which is nice enough, that he feels like he should have gotten her something. When she became to accustomed to actually appreciating the thought over the gift she isn�t sure. She hears him sigh in annoyance and he shifts.

�I�ll be back.�

�Wait, where are you going?� she asks him, holding onto his hand.

�Out, I�ll be back.�

�No, I don�t need anything.�

�Jackie Burkhardt refusing a gift? The shopping community is going to fall into disarray.�

�Steven, I�m serious,� she tells him. �Just stay here.�

He looks at her and she can tell he�s skeptical, �Is this because of what happened? You�re letting me off the hook because you�re trying to make up for it?�

Right to the point.

Get off my boyfriend. Ick.

�Maybe,� she says snuggling back into him. �I love you, and I just want you here,� she tells him as she wraps her arms around his midsection.

�You should say those things to a guy like me,� Hyde declares, adding, �. . . You�re likely to never get another gift again.�

�When did I get one anyway?� she smiles at his redressed statement.

He moves close, and he kisses her softly. Her stomach flips a little like it tends to do, especially if it�s make-up make-outs and she wants to go on and on like she always does. She pulls him to her, sliding his glasses up and away and he responds by moving until she�s lying under him. He�s always so confident in his kisses, touches . . . She moans and let�s his warm palms play along her ribcage, burning her body from that spot out.

�I love you, Steven,� she whispers as he sucks on her earlobe and she arches into him. He pauses a moment, spilling hot breath over her skin and making her shift impatiently to touch his lips to neck. Then he kisses her once, twice, before speaking.

�I�m not going to say it back.�

She breaths in great big gulps, her chin tilting down so his face rises, eyes meeting hers. Clear, beautiful, blue, the most perfect eyes she�s ever seen.

�I�m not asking you too.� She lets it sink in so that he�s certain that she doesn�t expect it before she kisses him again, shutting her eyes slowly and wrapping her legs around him. His mouth moves over hers, his tongue baiting her to move her head forward to seek more and more. She touches his hair, soft under her hands, sliding her fingers to his face, the prickly skin of his cheek.

He kisses her deeply, almost desperately and she likes it. Long, wet kisses and it feels like he�s trying to tell her something through them. At least that�s what she likes to believe, because he�s Steven and that�s probably all she can get, because he doesn�t say things like that. His tongue glides against hers and it�s almost not such confidence, but a fury of taste, touch, want. He pulls away from her sucking on her bottom lip and she moans a little softly.

His action was slow, pulling back like he was moving through molasses. A breath away from each other she slides her pointer finger from the bristly stubble on his cheek across his lip to rest, her eyes trained on the moist sheen that her own tongue accomplished in creating.

�I love you.�

He speaks the words with her fingertip still on his mouth and she�s certain she feels the words just as well as she can see them. Her eyes meet his in a flash and he stares into her as he repeats it so clearly, his tongue rolling with the L and his mouth forming a sweet U.

�I love you,� he repeats.

Her smile rolls across her face and she feels like energy is billowing through her body and choking her throat. His kisses her again and she wraps her arms tightly around his neck, she almost feels like squealing but she doesn�t want anything to break through their very own, personal, minute that was somehow officially made just for them.

She thought it didn�t matter if he said it, because he was Hyde and Hyde didn�t say those things, especially since it seems like he�s spilling his heart out despite his best judgment.

And that�s why it meant more than anything else did.

�I love you,� she whispered back, kissing him with a smile.

He was great at giving Valentine�s gifts.

The End. My second Heart Day fic for Jackie and Hyde. They are just plain fun to write. If you liked it, hated it, or whatever drop me a line at [email protected]