Chapter 18: "Did you really come back to see me?"

As the days and weeks and even months passed, Jesse Tuck and Liz Prescott became further apart (emotionally). Liz went to Yale University in New Haven, and Jesse scrambled in the streets of Washington, earning money from gambling. Liz knew she would never see Jesse again, and after a while, she decided to try to get over him, drowning herself with many other guys. Jesse missed Liz acutely, but he knew he could not go back and face Liz, not when he had been so careless with his goodbye. Liz had needed him, and he had turned away, just to keep his secret from her, and also because of his internal fear of getting hurt again.

Years passed, and everything seemed to change. Life was going by so quickly. Jesse wondered how old Liz was by now, and would it be too late if he went back to Treegap? Sure Liz would be older than him, but hopefully not much older. Jesse may have the body of a seventeen-year-old, but by age, he would be considered ancient. Jesse found many other girls, but none he loved as much as Liz. In fact, every single one of them reminded him of Liz, his Liz.

One day, Jesse decided to go and look for Liz. He was going back to Treegap. He would find Liz, and tell her how he felt. Jesse had grown some facial hair (some, so it's not like a beard or anything), and his hair had gotten longer (A/N: I think in the book "Tuck Everlasting", it said their hair couldn't grow or something. If it didn't, thank God, but if it did, then in THIS story, their hair DOES grow, okay?). He looked a bit older.

Liz Prescott had long matured out of thinking there was some kind of chemical under the Tuck tree. That was impossible, mescaline, amphetamine—those couldn't be produced under a tree! Jesse had lied to her, and she knew it. However, Liz never drank out of the spring. If Jesse had wanted it to keep it a secret from her, let it be.

Liz had been visiting her family over spring break. Everyday she had gone to Winnie Foster Jackson's grave. When Liz approached the woods, she saw someone else in front of the grave—a man with long reddish-brown hair, gleaming in the sunlight as a bird chirped nearby. Could it be...could it really be—

"Jesse!" Liz cried out, "Jesse Tuck, is that really you!"

The man turned and gazed at her. Yes, those same eyes...those same lips...it was definitely Jesse.

"Elizabeth Prescott!" he exclaimed, delighted to see her.

Liz ran down to Jesse, embracing him with all her might. "Wow, it's been like, what, three years!"

Jesse nodded. "Yeah, I guess it's been a long time."

Liz let go of Jesse, and examined him from head to toe. "You look...the same!"

Hesitantly, Jesse answered, "You look the same too."

It was a lie, Liz didn't look like the same girl she was three years ago, when she was seventeen. Her hair had been cut short, and was now up to her shoulders. Her wardrobe was different too. She was wearing a striped scoop neck sweater over a white blouse trim, a tab-pants Capri, and a leather mule shoes with a tassel. A typical college-kid outfit. She didn't have a lot more make-up on though, and that just proved her natural beauty. She had a pair of diamond earrings on, which looked stunning, especially in the sun.

Liz smiled. "Not exactly a fan of shaving?"

Jesse shrugged. "I shave just maybe once every three weeks or something like that."

Then, the tone changed. "Jesse," Liz said seriously, "what are you doing here?"

Jesse smiled nervously. "I came back to...to see you."

Liz nodded. So he was being honest for once. "Come on," she said, "come to my house."

Jesse shook his head. "Your parents—"

"They don't hate you that much! Come on, there's someone I'd like you to meet!"

Jesse shrugged. Why not?

When Liz and Jesse arrived at the Prescott house (formerly Foster house), Jesse noticed the number of cars parked. So they must be having a family reunion! "This is...nice." Jesse said.

Liz rang the doorbell, and a young man dressed in a Ralph Lauren polo shirt and baggy jeans opened the door. "Hey," he greeted Liz.

"Justin, this is Jesse, an old, old, old friend!" Liz beamed.

Justin held out his hand for Jesse to shake. "I'm Justin Atkinson."

Jesse shook his hand. "Jesse Tuck"

He's probably her cousin, Jesse told himself.

"Jesse," Liz said lumininously, "Justin is my fiancé."

Jesse's mouth almost gaped wide open in shock. She was engaged!

"Oh...u-um...congrats!" Jesse managed to choke out.

Justin smiled, then wrapped his arm around Liz' shoulder, as if claiming her for his own. "We're actually getting married tomorrow."

"I know it's last minute," Liz said, "but you can still come to my wedding. In other words—please come!"

Justin and Liz laughed. They acted so mature...

"Oh, um...sure." Jesse replied dumbly.

Liz nodded, then turned to Justin. "I hope you don't mind, Justie, but me and Jess has a lot to catch up on."

"Hey, go right ahead. Your sister was actually having an important discussion with me on what colleges to apply to. She was thinking UC Berkeley, but I suggested Yale, since we're both Yale students, and her—your father's alma mater was Yale."

Liz had always felt jealous when any of her boyfriends even talked to her now seventeen-year-old high school senior sister, Claire. She had better looks than Liz, and because she jogged and worked out, she also had a better body. "Tell her to go to UC Berkeley." Liz murmured. The last thing she wanted was her little sister at the same school as her and her husband.

Justin shrugged. "It's up to her..."

"Come on," Liz said, turning back to Jesse, "let's go for a walk."

Jesse and Liz were taking a nice walk around the park, like they had done when they first met three years ago. It was a nice walk down memory lane. It was a bit uncomfortable for them to see each other again, especially for Jesse. "So, Liz...I guess I missed a lot while I was gone, huh?" Jesse said, trying to start a topic.

"Yeah, you sure missed a lot." Liz replied, then after a pause, "I missed you, you know that?"
"I missed you too."

"Jesse, did you really come back to see me?"

"Yes, I did."

Liz and Jesse both chuckled. "This is awkward!" Liz exclaimed.

"I'm sorry I left you last time like that." Jesse said sincerely.

"It's okay, you were young. We were both young."

"I'm really happy for you and Jordan..."

"It's Justin", Liz corrected.

"So, whatever happened to that Charlie guy?"

Liz laughed. "We...dated for a while, but in the end we decided that what's best for us was to remain friends."

"Oh."

"He's one of my closest friends," Liz added. "he went to Yale too. He was roommates with Justin, so now Chuckie's gonna be best man at the wedding! Isn't that nice!"

Jesse didn't want to be rude, but he shrugged. He didn't care about Liz' wedding and most certainly not Charlie or Justin. Oh, God, no!

Liz cleared her throat ever so softly. "So, Jesse, have you found anyone?"

Jesse shook his head. "No, not me."

Liz smiled. "Well, you'll find someone someday."

Jesse didn't like this new Liz. She was so...so much more formal. So...mature.

"Liz," Jesse said, changing the subject, "what um...what are you majoring in? Do you still wanna be a historian?"

Liz laughed. "Yes, I'm majoring in history. So, what are you majoring in?"

Jesse was taken aback. What should he tell her? "I'm...not in college." Jesse said honestly.

Liz looked surprised. "Why not?"

"Well, I...I decided that..." he took a deep breath. "Look, Liz, me and you—we have different expectations. I'm not exactly the college-attending type of guy..."

"So do you have a job?"

"Uh...I was planning to get some part-time job here..."

Liz nodded. So Jesse was here to stay for a while?

"But I know you go to this really good leaf school..."

It took a second for Liz to realize the mistake, and laugh. "No, no, not leaf, it's ivy! Ivy league!"

Jesse flushed. Idiot, idiot! He thought.

"Well anyways, how's your family?"

Why did Liz have to be this way! "My family's fine." he muttered.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Liz said, concerned. "I didn't know you'd feel uncomfortable to talk about your family, I just—"

"It's okay." Jesse assured. That's not it, anyways.

"Well, I guess we should head back."

And with that, the two started to walk back to the Prescott house. Suddenly, Liz started to hum a tune—the tune from the old music box Mae used to listen to until she lost it in Italy. It made Jesse a bit uncomfortable, to hear an outsider hum the tune. It was a Tuck family song, and the only other people who had known about it were Winnie Foster and that man in the yellow suit—and of course, Miles' old family. They were all long dead.

"Where'd ya hear that tune?" Jesse demanded.

"Oh! It was like my grandmother's favorite song."

Jesse laughed out loud. So Winnie did bother to think about him even after her marriage.

"What's so funny?" Liz asked suspiciously.

Jesse realized his mistake. "Oh, nothing." he muttered.

Liz was furious! Here Jesse was, keeping secrets again.

"I know you lied to me about the water under the tree!" Liz said.

Jesse's eyes grew wide in fear. "L-Liz, I can explain..."

"I don't know why you want to keep it a secret from me, but if you want it that way, so be it."

And with that, she walked away. Jesse may have come back to see her, but she couldn't cope with him and those secrets anymore.