One-Shot: Tuck Everlasting Kiss

The night was silent, save for the crackling of the crude bonfire. Warming themselves against the blaze lay two young teenagers, blissfully in love – though neither had openly admitted their mutual state to each other. Winnie Foster allowed herself to remain wrapped in the arms of Jesse Tuck, as yet unaware that she was being protected by a young man elevated to the status of demigod, or perhaps even an offspring of Jesus Christ himself.

"I wish this moment could last forever," she sighed.

Now, forever did not mean as much to Jesse Tuck. For him, the word had lost its profundity long ago. Still, he entertained his paramour's romantic musing, cliché as it was. "Forever? You want to spend forever with me, Winnie?" The question was really a test, but it did not take much for Winnie to pass it.

"I do," she sighed.

A pause, and then:

"You know, we could see the world together. We could do….. everything together. Have a million moments like this one that would….. never, never stop." At last, Jesse took the plunge, that leap of faith. "There's a part about us you don't know. The part I've sworn not to tell you."

Winnie sat up right away, intrigued and entranced as any child would be. "A secret? The reason you don't want anyone to find out about you?" Jesse's silence made her smile in triumph. "I knew it! You're…. you're bank robbers or…. grifters!" The thought of adventure and mystery enthralled her.

Jesse stared at her in amazement, unsure whether to laugh or not. She never ceased to captivate him. Of all the guesses he thought Winnie might make, he hadn't exactly put the words Bank Robber or Grifter at the top of the list.

"You are the first human I've ever met I wanted to know the truth," and he meant every word with an intense sincerity.

Winnie beamed, her eyes full of admiration. "Jesse Tuck….. you're the first human I've ever met that I ever wanted to…. to…" Overcome with love, words failed her, and she leaned in and pressed her lips to his. The first boy she had ever kissed. "To…. do that."

The ghost of a smile played at Jesse's mouth. The two children leaned in as one, and kissed again. One drawn-out, and the other a light peck before drawing away.

Jesse grinned for real this time, and gathered his courage. Now…. tell her now! "Winnie, listen: you remember the giant oak tree at the center of the word where we met?"

She nodded.

"The little spring that you saw me drink from?"

Winnie nodded again, smiling at the memory.

"Do you remember when I told you I was 104 years old?"

Yet another nod.

"Well…. it's the honest truth."

Winnie's smile faded; she now looked confused. Jesse plowed right on. "I'm gonna live forever. I'm never gonna change! The same with Miles and Tuck and Mae; something happened to us! As far as I know, I'm gonna be 17 until the end of the world!" And he laughed at the thought as if he was learning that reality for the very first time all over again.

Winnie now eyed her lover warily, unsure whether to believe him.

"It's the spring, Winnie. It's the water; something's wrong with it! It stops you right where you are – if you had a drink today, you'd stay just like you are….."

A sudden crack of branches made Winnie snap her head up. Jesse spun around to discover the eavesdropper leaning against a stack of boulders. The intruder finally spoke, his inquiry directed at Winnie:

"Don't you wish he'd told you? Before you kissed him?"