After that, Bo Peep was no longer a part of playtime. Molly, afraid she would break even more, had mom remove her from the nightstand and onto a higher shelf. She continued to light the room, but it made getting down even harder. In addition, Molly started keeping her door closed, so Woody found himself seeing less and less of the Shepherdess. Andy adjusted just fine, knowing she really wasn't a toy and wasn't really his and found new scenarios for his playtime, but the room missed the special spark only she carried.

As much as Woody loved time with Andy, he was thrilled when mom said he couldn't bring any toys on their weekend camping trip to his grandparents. The family would be gone all weekend, which meant there'd be no rush getting Bo to back to Molly's room and he would have plenty of time with her.

As soon as the van left the driveway, he leapt into action. He didn't need to tell anyone where he was off to, it was all he had talked about all week.

"Hey Bo!" He exclaimed, creating a staircase with Molly's books to her. "They're gone! Oh boy, I've got a great weekend planned for us!" Suddenly he began coughing. When he finally stopped and saw her, he found why: she was covered in dust. Molly hadn't been using her. She had tried in vain to brush it off before he saw, but to her embarrassment the dust only spread,

"Oh Bo," he began, his smile vanishing.

"Hey there Sheriff," she said, her tone sweet and sad. "Go stretch your legs girls."

Her sheep hopped off the perch happily, their normal white coat now gray and dingy. Woody offered Bo his hand and helped her off her place, she was a little wobbly after not being able to move for awhile.

"Sorry I didn't have time to clean up," she joked, though her smile was duller than usual as she patted her skirt.

"Hey, no amount of dust could hide how beautiful you look," he smiled, guiding her down onto the floor. and changing the subject. "Awh, the fellas are so excited to see ya! And guess what mom rented and still has for another week? Oklahoma! Oh it's gonna be a blast!"

"Sounds wonderful," she said softly, locking elbows with him as they left Molly's room, her sheep skipping happily behind. She rested her head on his shoulder as he continued.

"Oh, and Andy's started that new math class and it's been giving him real trouble," Woody caught her up. "Did they change math? Because, I gotta tell ya, I looked at his papers and it looked like gibberish to me. They're using letters now I guess? In math? Poor Andy."

"Hmm," Boo sighed, not really listening but enjoying being close to her cowboy after so long. Days felt like years, but she hadn't seen him for weeks. It might as well have been a lifetime.

"Hey everyone Bo Peep is here!" exclaimed Rex excitingly when they entered the room. All the toys stopped what they were doing and rushed over to Bo Peep, bombarding her with greetings and questions.

"Bo! Did Molly ever sell enough cookies to beat the girl down the street?"

"How was the talent show?"

"Can you please tell Woody we should be allowed to watch TV if mom forgets to turn it off?"

"Okay, okay one at a time," she chuckled, stopping to embrace each toy she passed. "Hello there, oh I missed you too. How are you?"

"C'mon guys, you'll have plenty of time to pester her all weekend, but we've got plans," said Woody, trying to pull her away from the chaos.

"Aw, Woody, trying to keep me all for yourself?" teased Bo, pulling him to her side with her staff. She gently kissed his check, making his smile crooked and his eyes soft. "Why don't you run downstairs and get the movie ready? I wanna talk to Jessie real quick, see if she can watch my sheep."

"Okay," said Woody, utterly love struck as he walked backwards from her, keeping her in his sight as long as possible. He offered a gentle wave as he left the doorway and nearly fell on his face not watching where he was going.

Bo laughed and then made her way over to Jessie. Her sheep ran ahead excitedly to the cowgirl, jumping up to greet her.

"You know you don't need to ask me to watch yer sheep Bo, I love these critters," said Jessie happily, bending down to brush the dust off the porcelain animal as she followed Bo over to Andy's desk.

"I know, thank you," said Bo, leaning on her staff, glad her girls were having fun. "I just wanted to talk to you, catch up, see how you're doing."

"I'm doing great!" Jessie exclaimed, hopping up. "Bullseye and I are having the best time here."

"I'm so glad," Bo smiled gently, but her eyes betrayed her.

"Somethin' wrong?"

"Nothing, really," Bo tried. What she wanted to ask was no easy or fun thing, but it needed to be done. "I was wondering if I could ask you about… Emily?"

"Emily…"

"If that's okay," Bo said quickly. "I don't want to pry, if it's too hard I don't-."

"It's fine," Jessie said, cutting her off. "What did you wanna know?"

"When she was growing up, did you ever suspect… I mean, before she…"

"I knew," Jessie said. "I didn't want to admit it, but I guess I did know. She had friends to talk to, she didn't need me as much. Then one day…" her voiced trailed off and her breathing got heavier

"Jessie, I'm sorry if-."

"No, it's okay, really," she insisted, steadying herself and offering her friend a small smile. "I used to think... it was my fault. That I wasn't enough. But being here makes me realize that I did my job. I was there when she needed me, I helped her when no one else could. I'm part of the most special memories of her life. And I miss her, sometimes. Less lately. But I wouldn't trade those days for anything. But, I've also got a lot of special days ahead of me too, ya know?"

"She was lucky to have you," said Bo, touching her shoulder. "And so is Andy."

"Thanks Bo," sighed Jessie, noticing she looked worried. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," said Bo after a moment, though uncertain.

"You don't think Molly…?"

"I'm not sure," admitted Bo, scared to finish Jessie's sentence. "There's just been some talk of... redecorating."

Jessie brought her hands to her mouth, knowing the change those words had meant for her. "Does Woody know?"

"No," said Bo flatly. "But it's just talk right now. No point in getting him worked up, right?"

"Right," said Jessie softly, the words hitting her. Bo was so calm about all this, she couldn't imagine handling this with such grace. It was talk, yes. Mom talked about redecorating all the time. But, a toy could never be too safe.

"Just promise me you won't say anything?" said Bo, her former demeanor slowly returning. "Especially to Woody? Now I love him, but he can be so dramatic."

Jessie laughed and made an X over her chest in response. "Promise," said Jessie, serious. "But, just know you don't have to go through this alone. When I was with Emily, I was her only toy; I didn't have anyone like you, or Woody… or Buzz." Bo's smiled returned in full when she noticed how soft Jessie's voice got when she said Buzz's name.

"Hmm, I bet. So how is Buzz?" asked Bo, switching to focus to happier things.

"Fine, I guess," said Jessie, looking over to where the space toy was across the room. Rex was talking to him about something but Buzz didn't seem to be listening. He was looking over to where she and Bo were talking, but the awestruck look on his face suggested he was watching a sunset. Jessie waved at him, but when he saw that she had saw him, he quickly looked to the ground. "Does he always act so…" she struggled to find the word.

"Smitten?"

Jessie snorted in spite of herself. "What? That's a hoot." She swayed back on forth on the heels of her boots and twirled her braid as her eyes darted back to check if he was still looking, a smile fighting its way through her coy expression.

"Mhm hm," Bo smiled knowingly, she had missed watching this blossoming courtship while being held up in Molly's room. She made a mental note to press Woody about not helping Buzz work up the nerve to talk to Jessie more. "Well, I shouldn't keep Woody waiting. Thanks again, Jessie." She reached down and gently squeezed her hand. "For everything."

"Course, Bo," she replied with a gentle nod.

Bo sauntered away and looked back at Jessie enthusiastically talking with the sheep. Then she looked further back and saw Buzz also watching the cowgirl, his smile was crooked and familiar. The same goofy grin she loved making Woody wear.

"Poor boy's got it bad," she whispered to herself, walking over to him. He didn't even notice she was there until she spoke. "Ya know, I bet Jessie could use some help watching the sheep tonight. If you don't mind."

"Huh?" He said, his trance broken. He saw the knowing look on Bo's face and felt his own grow hot with embarrassment. "Oh! Yes! No, I wouldn't mind, why would I mind? But, I think she's got it handled. She's very good with animals. She's kind and engaging and funny and well, uh you've trusted a fine young woman to look after your flock."

"You should tell her that."

"Who? Me?" Buzz asked, as though the very idea of coherently communicating with Jessie was impossible. "No, I don't know if I could. I mean, she's so busy right now I'd hate to interrupt and…"

While Buzz tried to get out of the hole he dug for himself, Bo gave a faint whistle. She sheep looked over to her and she delicately brushed the rim of her hat and then pointed at Jessie. They nodded, having understood her message and followed orders. When Jessie was turned around, the trio jumped up and grabbed her hat from her head. She spun around, laughing at the game and chased them. They ran in circles around her, and she took joy in diving and running after them. They ran over to Buzz and dropped the hat in his hands. He looked down confused, but quickly tensed up realizing Jessie was running over to retrieve the hat he held.

"Looks like this is your chance," whispered Bo happily as she made her way out of the room. Before closing the door, she watched as Jessie ran up to Buzz who nearly dropped the hat when she stood before him. He struggled at first, but soon he said something that made Jessie laugh and felt bold enough to keep talking after she returned the hat to her head. She gave her sheep a quick thumbs up before closing the door, hoping her push would move things along.

—-

When Bo made her way down to the living room, Woody could hardly contain himself. He rushed over before she could step all the way in and covered her eyes.

"Woody, what's all this about?" She laughed.

"Well I wanted to make it special," he said. "Keep your eyes closed."

He removed his hands from her eyes and locked arms with her to lead her into the room.

"Oh, you didn't need to go to so much trouble," she lied, enjoying every second of this.

"It's no trouble, no trouble at all," he said, gazing at her eager expression. She knew he was wearing her favorite sappy grin and it made her own smile wider. She would've been content just walking around the room like this all night so long as it was just the two of them. "Okay," he said at last. "Open your eyes."

Her bright blue eyes fluttered open and were astonished at the sight they beheld. "Oh Woody!" She gasped. "It's lovely!"

Woody had truly outdone himself. He had borrowed Barbie's corvette for the night and had placed it on the coffee table in front of the TV, making their own personal drive-in. The room lights had been turned off and around the table he had strung some old Christmas lights, encasing the room in a soft, warm glow. He had also dug out some of mom's scented candles so the air was tinted with the scent of Bo's favorite flowers.

"Oh, it's nothing," he shrugged, delighted.

"It's perfect," she looked up at him, the lights reflecting in her eyes making them seem even bigger. Woody could've stayed there staring all night, but he snapped out of it to continue the plan.

"Well then, let's begin, shall we?" He said, hopping over to the car. "Allow me to get the door for you miss?" He went around to open the passenger's side door.

"Oh, that's awfully sweet, but I can open my own door dear," she teased, opening the driver's side and sitting down. "But you can close it for me." Woody chuckled and obliged, and then ran over to start the movie. Bo smoothed her dress as Woody returned to the car and sat beside her. The movie began to play and Woody scooted himself a little closer to the shepherdess. Bo true to hide her smile, knowing exactly what he was up to. Woody gave a long and exaggerated fake yawn, stretching his arms out wide. As he went to set them down, he tried to position his left one behind Bo, but somehow miscalculated and ended up hitting her staff, knocking it forward.

"Oh, shoot I'm so sorry," he muttered, reaching down to pick it up but in that process his hat ended up hitting her in the face. "Oh, sorry Bo! I uh, let me just move that." In his flustered state, he impulsively three both his hat and her staff outside of the car. He sat back, unable to explain what he has just done. "Sorry," He said again, Bo responded by just tilting her head and raising her eyebrows knowingly. She returned her gaze to the film as though nothing had happened.

A few minutes passed and Woody felt confident enough to try again, having learned from his blunder. He let out another yawn, more carefully positioning his arms this time, and went to place his arm around Bo. She glanced at him and spoke before he could complete his mission.

"You feeling tired Sheriff?" She asked mischievously. "Want to call it an early night?"

"Huh? Oh, no I uh-." He sputtered, embarrassed, recoiling his arms inwards back to his sides. He cleared his throat and cursed himself, trying but failing to focus on the movie. He wasn't aware that Bo was doing the same thing, but because she enjoyed watching him so much more.

"Hey Woody," she whispered, as though there were others in the theater with them she was trying not to disturb. "Could you hold something for me?"

Before Woody had a chance to respond, Bo took his hand, pulled him closer and then carefully draped his arms around her shoulders. She nuzzled her head into the nape of his neck and gave a gentle sigh of content. He rested his head on top of hers and the pair sat in comfortable silence as the movie played on.

In the back of Bo's mind rung her conversation with Jessie. She knew she had to tell Woody, she knew he'd want to know if something was causing her anxiety. But she felt so comfortable and safe here that she was half convinced if they just didn't move they could live in this moment forever. But she was not the perfect hopeless romantic, and knew this warmth was temporary. She didn't want to ruin this memory .She would find the right time to tell him. Maybe, just maybe, there'd be nothing to tell.

But the crack that graced her arm just below were Woody's hand fell told her that was unlikely.

—-

As nice as the weekend was, it went by far too quickly. Soon Bo had to return to her shelf. Woody tried to prolong the inevitable as long as possible, but the moment weighed too heavily on Bo to be omitted. So when they knew they needed to head back to Molly's room, they had never walked slower.

Before he left her, he made sure as much dust had been removed as possible. He angled Molly's curtains and shades so that when the sun shone through the light would hit Bo. He hoped the sunlight would remind Molly she was there in case she had forgotten and that it would make Bo feel less alone. As he lingered, saying goodbye for the 12th time, Bo's sheep finally took it upon themselves to push him out.

"Okay, okay I can take a hint," he laughed as they nearly pushed him off the shelf. "I'm going, I'm going."

"Don't be a stranger," said Bo, leaning against her staff watching him in amusement.

"Never," said Woody, tipping his hat to her before finally leaving. He heard the family come in the door downstairs and ran for Andy's room. He took his place on the bed where Andy had left them, and felt weight return to his heart. Every part of him wanted to rush back over there and sit on the shelf with her tonight but the sound of Andy's voice paralyzed him.

Andy opened the bedroom door and ran for the closet once he turned the light on. He rummaged around for a second before he found what he was looking for. "What about this one, mom?"

His mother came up the stairs and looked at what her son held. "That should work, she should fit fine in there. Go get her ready, carefully though."

Andy went ahead and went into Molly's room. Woody looked up from the bed, concern and worry flying around his mind. He assumed the worst but maybe he was wrong. He had to be wrong. He had never wished to be wrong before but if he could be wrong about this, he'd happily be wrong the rest of his days.

But he was right.

When walked out, he carried a box in his hands and Woody could see the top of Bo's sticking out. Woody barely waited for the coast to be clear before he ran after them down the stairs. He didn't have a plan or time to explain to the other toys, but that didn't matter. He watched carefully as. Andy set the box by the door and shut the folds. He examined the box and then looked around.

"Do we have anymore newspaper to wrap her in?" Andy called up to his mother.

"Uh yeah look in the kitchen."

Once Andy left, Woody ran over to the box and quickly pulled back the folds. When he opened it, he found Bo in her signature pose covered in newspaper. When she saw it was him, she stood up uncovered her sheep.

"It's okay girls," she whispered, patting their back.

"Yeah, were gonna get you outta here," said Wody. "Here Bo, hand then to me I'll hide them behind the plant."

"Hide? Woody, oh no," said Bo Peep, standing up. "We can't hide."

"Then we'll put the lamp back and plug it in, maybe Molly will see it and-."

"Molly doesn't need me," Bo stopped him. "She's not afraid of the dark anymore."

"Well then Andy will-."

"I'm not Andy's toy," she said sadly. This was not news but the fact still hit Woody like a ton of bricks.

"But I-." He started but trailed off. What could he say? Of course he wanted her to stay but could he really ask her to spend the rest of her life on a shelf for him? She was far too bright to settle for such a dull fate. That was no life but he couldn't give up so easily.

She heard the words he couldn't manage to say and placed her hand beneath his chin to bring his eyes to hers. "It's time for the next kid," she said quietly. "Mrs. Foster down the street just had a baby girl. And I can do for her everything I did for Molly."

"But I…" He simply didn't have the words, everything that came to mind was pointless or selfish and he knew the look in eyes meant her mind was made up.

"When she has a nightmare I can be there to remind her someone is looking out for her," she went on. "When it's storming outside, I can make the shadows go away. When she come home after a long day, I'll be the first thing she sees when she walks in her room and the last thing she sees before falling asleep. I've got a lot of happy days ahead of me, I'll be fine. I know what I have to do." She hooked her crook around his neck and brought him closer. "And I think you know what you have to do."

His eyes darted into the box at the empty space beside her, her sheep jumped excitedly at his stare but Bo quickly silenced them. She heard footsteps approach them. "Thanks for everything, Sheriff," she said, her voice breaking. "Take care of them." She turned away and took her place back in the box, her sheep snuggling up to her. Before he could think of anything to say, Andy turned the corner and he flopped onto the floor, his hand still clinging to the box.

Andy didn't notice Woody and opened the box to wrap Bo in some more newspaper and when she was secure to his satisfaction, he placed her back in the box. He taped the box shut with bright read tape that read: Fragile. Woody watched helplessly as Andy and mom brought the box out to the car and drove away with her as though it was nothing at all.