Tuck Everlasting - Alternate Ending

Chapter 2

"Winnie? Winnie Foster?"

Her eyes snapped open.

That was Jesse's voice.

"You came!"

She sat up.

It was Jesse.

She scrambled to her feet.

He looked exactly the same as he had the last time she had seen him.

"You look great," he said, looking her up and down. Her cheeks heated up and her heart thumped wildly in her ears. If she thought she loved him when she was a kid, she didn't know what she felt now.

"You're not bad yourself," she managed. He chuckled and waved her off.

"Have you drank yet?" She shook her head. "Good, I'm thirsty." He walked over to her and knelt by the spring. She joined him. He looked at her and took her hand.

"Hey, we still getting married?" He asked. She smiled.

"We'll see," she said. If she could go through with it, yes, obviously yes. If not...

"Ready?" He asked. She took a deep breath and nodded. He let go of her hand and collected some of the water in his cupped hands. She copied him, hands shaking.

"Jesse, I'm scared," she said, her eyes filling with tears.

"You don't have to do this," he said.

"No, I want to."

"Okay. Don't be scared. Here, I'll go first."

"No. Together." He grinned. She raised her hands to her lips and closed her eyes. "Three, two one."

She took a long drink, until her hands were empty. She swallowed and barely had time to let out a breath before he threw his arms around her and pulled her to him.

"Congratulations, Winnie Foster," he breathed, grinning widely. "You are now stuck with me forever."

"Am I supposed to feel anything?" She asked, setting her cheek on his shoulder.

"Nope," he said simply.

"Okay." She wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes.

"Stuck," he repeated, his voice light. "Winnie, usually six years goes by like nothing. These last six years felt more like six decades. I was always scared you wouldn't drink the water and I'd never see you again."

"Hey, I haven't had the best six years either," she said. "After I came home, my mother was even more strict. I haven't seen any of Treegap other than the school, the church and my house for years."

"We should probably get going. I didn't exactly tell Ma, Pa or Miles where I was going. Or, for that matter, that I was going. It's a pretty long way from here." She nodded and detached herself from him. "You go get your stuff, I want to do something. Oh, and stack those rocks, will you?"

She did as she was told, only turning around when she heard a scraping noise. Jesse was carving something into the tree with a knife. She crawled over to him just as he sat back, admiring his work. Under the T, the tree now read:

WF + JT

She smiled and ran her fingers over the letters.

"I could get Pa to marry us," he said. "It wouldn't be official, but that could be the first thing we do when we settle in a town. I could even get you a ring, if you like."

"I don't need a ring or any fancy papers," she said.

"Then we'll be married when we get to Ma and Pa's place. I think you'll like it, it's nicer than the last one." He stood up and offered her his hand. She took it and stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Are you ready?" He asked. "We won't be here again for a while."

"I think so," she said.

Maybe her father would find the tree on on one of his walks and the letters carved into it and conclude she had run off with a boy. That was, after all, what she was doing, in a way. Hopefully they wouldn't worry about her too much.

"Okay," Jesse said, snapping her back to reality. "C'mon. We've got a long way to go."