I don't own Tuck Everlasting.

Miles and Jesse Tuck came into Tree Gap for the first time in one hundred years to find Winnie Foster. The last time they had been here she had promised Jessie that she would wait for him. And for the past century, Winnie had done just that. She drank the magic water on her 17th birthday.

Since then she managed to put off getting married until her mother died. After her mother's death her father didn't care if Winnie got married and so she didn't have to keep coming up with excuses. He died about a year after Winnie's mother, before he could discover that his daughter never seemed to grow old. Mr. Foster left his entire estate to Winnie.

She fired all the staff, with the exception of one maid whose only job was to buy the things Winnie needed in town and leave them on the front porch. This maid never saw Winnie. After 50 years Winnie fired the maid and started going to town herself. By that point anyone who would recognize her was either dead or very older.

On the day that Miles and Jesse came to town Winnie was 115 years old. But to everyone that saw her she looked seventeen. In fact, using a false name, Winnie had gotten a job waiting tables at a coffee shop in the town of Tree Gap. Miles and Jesse came into the shop to get coffee. Without looking at them Winnie went to take their order. "Hi, what can I get for you today?"

Jesse took one look at the waitress and his jaw dropped, "Winnie!"

Winnie worked quickly to protect her cover, after all the last Winnie in this town had been Winifred Foster, who in the general public's mind had died 30 years before.

"Shhh, that's not my name when I'm here. You are going to blow my cover. I'm going to take my break now. Come outside in five minutes so we can catch up properly."

Jesse knew that Winnie was right and that he had to act like he had never seen the waitress before. Winnie walked over to the other waitress and explained that she was taking her break then. "See you in 45 minutes."

Miles laughed, "Nice going Jesse, of course she's not going by Winnie! Not in Tree Gap anyway, according to the public records Winifred Foster died of pneumonia 30 years ago. There's a grave with her name on it in the cemetery, I checked. The Fosters are a local legend. There's a statue of Winifred Foster and her father in the center of town. Winnie had to really work to keep her secret. She faked her death Jesse. But people will get suspicious if a girl who looks a lot like Winnie Foster starts going by the name Winnie. We don't need that kind of attention."

It was Jesse's turn to laugh, "You're right. I just can't believe it's her! After one hundred years, she still looks exactly the same."

"Of course she does, we all do. You, mom, dad, me, we all look the same. Now shut up. People might hear our conversation."

"Okay, Miles would you relax?"

"Not until we are far from Tree Gap."

"I'm going to go find her."

Jesse walked through town until he reached the old jailhouse. "Historic Tree Gap Jailhouse, press 5 on your audio tour," read the sign by the front door.

"They're very proud of their jailhouse, the locals that is, but I don't get it. Maybe because I just moved here a few years back. Apparently this girl named Winnie was kidnapped, but some people said she ran away. Anyway the police went looking for her and the supposed kidnappers, this lady, her husband and her two sons, killed this one man, but the sons got away. Anyway they locked the woman and the man in the jailhouse. It was new back then, the jailhouse, and it was supposed to be escape proof. But on the night before their execution the couple escaped with the help of the local girl. It was a big deal; the only thing that kept her out of jail was her dad's money. She grew up, and she and her father donated a lot of money to the town, so they built her a statue. But she died an old maid 30 years ago."

Jesse turned around and saw Winnie, standing behind him, "Now, Ms. Foster we both know that's not how the story really ends."

They ran into each other's arms and kissed passionately. "Jesse, I've missed you!"

"Not nearly as much as I've missed you!"

Winnie sat down on the bench in front of the courthouse. "Jesse this is the last place we saw each other."

"You're right. This is where me and Miles got into the wagon with Mom and Dad."

"How are Mae and Tuck?"

"They're doing alright, they bought a farm in Pennsylvania, me and Miles go to see them every ten years like always but now we can call and video chat as much as we like. My god will Mae be happy to see you. She wants grandchildren something terrible."

"How's Miles?"

"He's been a lot better. I think meeting you really helped him out. He's been much happier for one thing and he once told me if he met a girl that would drink the water he would marry her and settle down."

Winnie smiled, "That's great."

Back at the café Miles and the other waitress, Allison, were chatting. "So what brings you to Tree Gap?"

"My brother's old girlfriend lives here. She was that waitress that left a little while ago."

"Oh you mean Wendy? She's nice. Started working here 3 years ago when we were both sixteen. Funny thing about her though, it always seems to take her a second to realize that you are talking to her and she knows a hell of a lot about Tree Gap, more than I do, and I've lived here my whole life and she moved here 3 years ago."

They talked for a while and then suddenly Allison burst out, "It's hard to have to lie to everyone!"

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean! Winnie is my best friend. I'm the only one in town who knows her secret. Hell, I am part of her secret."

"Wait you know about the water?"

"Yeah, you see my mother worked as a servant for the Fosters. After the running away incident they decided Winnie needed a friend. I was her age and lived next door in the house the Foster's maintained for their staff. They started encouraging us to spend time together. It worked, Winnie and I spent a lot of time together and she told me everything. We celebrated her 17th birthday by drinking the water. I worked as a servant in Winnie's house until her father died. After his death I ran all the errands for Winnie. For 5 years I went to the stores in Tree Gap, then the next town over, then another town, then back to Tree Gap, every five years I switched towns to avoid suspicion. But eventually everyone we knew was dead and it was safe to move into town. Winnie and I share an apartment. We sold the Foster house to the local Historical Society 30 years ago when Winifred Foster died."