Prettyinpinkgal: Hi! School started...NOO! (sobs) Although, the good news is that we're learning languages this year, so I thank God for that! 54 reviews! Woot! Thank you so much! I liked reading your comments about Natasha. ;) Here's the next chap! And I guess it is pretty weird that Jesse forgot about Winnie, but it has been a while and he loved Natasha, so he moved on and probably made himself forget about Winnie since he figured she'd still be aging.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tuck Everlasting...just a copy of the book. I don't even own a copy of the movie! (sobs)

FOSTER EVERLASTING

CHAPTER FIVE: JEALOUSY AND HURT

Winnie blinked. "Um, I'm Winnifred Foster. Everyone calls me Winnie. And you?" she asked the girl before her.

"I'm Natasha Williams. Although, I guess I'll soon be Natasha Tuck!" she said happily.

Winnie thought for a moment. Then she grinned. "Miles! You're getting married?"

Miles looked uneasy. "I'm not marrying her, Winnie. Her fiancee's..."

Suddenly, a boy about seventeen hopped out of the back of the wagon. He stopped and looked at the scene before him. His family felt ackward as they awaited what was sure to be a fight between Winnie, Jesse, and Natasha.

Jesse stared at the girl he barely recognized, but it hit him within moments. This girl was Winnie Foster, a seventeen-year-old. She's grown up a lot, her brown hair longer and more beautiful than he remembered. She'd matured a lot from the ten-year-old he once knew.

"Winnie?" he asked, disbelief in his voice.

"Jesse," she breathed, tears of happiness sliding down her cheeks.

"How...I mean, why..." Jesse cleared his throat as he searched for the words he was looking for. "Um, I thought you didn't drink the water..."

Winnie smiled through her tears as she said, "Well, I did!"

"But...why?" he asked bluntly.

Winnie blushed a bit, especially due to the fact that she was going to say this in front of the Tucks and a girl she barely knew. "I did it because...I love you, Jesse." Winnie felt a joy she had never felt before. The Tucks were back, and she was staring right at the boy she loved!

"Excuse me, but Jesse's my fiancee," Natasha in an angry tone. She turned to Jesse. "Who is she?"

Jesse felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach. Winnie drank the water for him. She'd given up her family, her life, her future, for him. But he loved Natasha now. "Uh, Winnie was a girl I knew a long time ago. She drank the water like you, I guess," Jesse said, rubbing his fingers through his hair.

Winnie stared at Jesse. "You're...engaged?"

"Winnie..." Jesse Tuck tried searching for some words of consolation; something to make the pain easier for Winnie to take. However, there were no such words. So he lamely said, "I'm sorry."

Just like that, Winnie's eternal world came crashing around her.

Jesse added, "I like you as a friend, but nothing more." Seeing Winnie's crestfallen expression nearly killed him. Turning away, he said, "I'm sorry, Winnie." For some reason, he still felt attracted to Winnie. But he shook his head. He was engaged. He couldn't be feeling like this.

Winnie began trembling, tears beginning to form. She gave up her life for him, all for him, but he was engaged. Winnie looked at the ground while her bangs covered her eyes. No. I'm not going to cry in front of them. She could vaguely feel Mae patting her back, saying, "I'm sorry, Winnie."

Suddenly, Winnie felt something she never felt before. Hatred. Hatred for the words "I'm sorry" that bring nothing but pain. Hatred for herself, that she gave up everything for this eternal hurt. Hatred she couldn't find Jesse before Natasha did. Hatred that he choose her over Winnie.

Winnie Foster never felt hatred before, to anything. When she was ten and ran away, she didn't hate her family or her life. Disliked, yes. But she didn't hate. Now, the bitter feeling swept over her. Why did he choose her over me?

But Winnie didn't hate Natasha. And she certainly didn't hate Jesse. But she did feel like she hated herself. If she had only gone off to search for him sooner... What ifs filled her mind, but she shook them away. There was no undoing what had already been done. She had to accept that Jesse was taken by another woman. Easier said than done.

"Congratulations," she choked out, her throat tight from the hidden tears. Forcing a smile, she said, "You're very lucky, Natasha."

Natasha looked surprised. Who could blame her? Winnie had waited for years for Jesse to come back, and had given up her death for him. Now, he was out of reach, and Winnie was speaking kindly, if not sadly, to the woman who kept him from her.

Try as she might, Winnie could not look Jesse in the eye. She simply said, "Goodbye." And off she ran. She vaguely heard the Tucks calling after her. Even Natasha could be heard calling. But not Jesse. Not the one person she wanted to hear beg for her to come back.

He didn't care. He didn't care at all! He was going to live for eternity with a beautiful wife and wouldn't think again about Winnie. She would be a forgotten memory.

Winnie didn't know where she was going. She didn't care anyway. She could only think, Get away from Jesse. Run away. Never look back. Forget him. Forget everything. Just run, then cry.

She then realized she was in the deepest part of the woods. How she had once loved these woods! Even before she met the Tucks, the towering trees she saw from her old yard were amazing to her. Now, the woods were a painful reminder of the Tucks. And Jesse.

Winnie now knew she was far enough away. Then, she broke down. She collapsed onto the leaf-covered ground and sobbed, for how long, she didn't know. Before she knew it, however, the sun began to set, first turning the sky to a fiery orange-red, then slowly into a dark black with some dots for stars. Gradually, the tears began to subside, but not altogether stop. Her eyes began to droop, and finally fell to sleep.

A couple thoughts floated in her mind before she lost consciousness: Why? and Jesse...

Winnie Foster's dreams would then be haunted by images of Jesse and Natasha, as well as Natasha's engagement ring.

Prettyinpinkgal: I don't think it was very long, so I apologize for that. Well, other than that, how was the chapter? Pretty depressing, huh? Well, please review:)