Chapter Text
“Are you sure you are going to be okay?” asked the Human as they, Quacksie, Cat and many others were seeing Buzz and Woody off at the back door. It was a very early Sunday morning, something around 5am. They could’ve left earlier, but Buzz and Woody wished to stay and help the toys around a little more. They wished to give back something for what the Human did for them.
If the plans held, Bonnie and her parents would be home in the evening, the earliest. The two of them had a lot of time to get back home.
Woody tipped his hat; “We will be fine. You’ve done so much for us already.”
“We know the way home.”
“If you ever find yourselves in the neighborhood again, come and say hi”, Quacksie smiled and signed with her wings for a hug. Woody and Buzz both hugged her, and Cat and many of the other toys joined in for the group hug.
“What are your plans from here on out?” Buzz asked from Cat, who was holding their figure up proudly and confident.
“I think I will be staying here for a while longer. Maybe I can be of help, like Quacksie and the others”, Cat answered as they gazed around themselves at the other toys.
“I want to be like you two”, they added as they turned back to Woody and Buzz; “I want to matter.”
Buzz and Woody both smiled dearly at their words.
“You matter”, Woody praised them; “More than you can imagine.”
“Hey!” Apollo the Astronaut hollered from the back, and they gently elbowed their way through the group of toys to Buzz and Woody. Woody’s brows pressed down; he was expecting the toy to start arguing again.
Apollo stared down at Buzz for a moment before he lifted his hand up and saluted. Woody was taken by surprise, and so were many of the toys too. The Human smiled gently; they knew Apollo well and had expected him to warm up to the two new friends eventually.
“Forgive me, Captain”, Apollo nodded at Buzz, then at Woody; “Sheriff. I… I was wrong about you both. I… after hearing your stories- everything you had to go through-”
Buzz smiled and shook his head lightly. He saluted back at the astronaut toy.
“It’s all good, sir”, he said; “No hard feelings.”
After both of them shook Apollo’s hand Woody and Buzz began their trip back home. They had grown so much closer with their experiences, and they felt confident and happy to know that, should a time like that ever arrive, they knew where to find friends and help.
—
The sun was rising, and people started leaving to work and to run errands. Buzz and Woody made sure to travel out of sight, and with Buzz’s leg all fixed it was almost effortless to advance. Soon they came to the neighborhood where Bonnie lived. And just around the corner of where Bonnie lived…
“Hey, Woody”, Buzz said to draw his attention. Woody stopped and looked at Buzz from over his shoulder. The Space Ranger had stopped a little further, and nudging his head to the other way he suggested; “Let’s take a roundabout.”
Woody walked over to him and looking down the way Buzz gestured towards Woody knew exactly what he was after. They still had time to get home, it was still early and they were pretty much just around the corner from Bonnie’s home.
“Yeah”, Woody hummed; “Let’s.”
—
“It looks just the way I remember it”, Woody sighed. He and Buzz were hiding on the other side of the road in a neighbor’s bushes, looking over at the Davis’ house.
Both Buzz and Woody stood in silence for a moment; they just looked over at the house and let the memories flow. Remembering them made them both nostalgic, a little sad even, but it was good sad.
“You okay, Cowboy?” Buzz asked soon. Woody nodded his head with a sigh.
“Yeah… yeah”, Woody answered and turned to look at Buzz with a soft smile on his face.
“You always have my back”, the Sheriff said out of the blue, confusing Buzz a little.
“You always make sure I am fine. And I don’t do it as often as you.”
“Oh, no, it’s fine-”
“I know it’s fine, but I want to do better”, Woody interrupted Buzz; “Are you okay, Buzz?”
Woody lifted a hand on Buzz’s arm, and on the contact Buzz felt the butterflies again. He lifted his own hand on Woody’s and answered him, genuinely; “I am now.”
“Oh, look!” Buzz pointed towards the house.
“Little Miss Molly and Mom Davis are off somewhere”, Buzz added as they watched the mentioned leave the house and get their stuff to the car.
“Little Miss Molly?” Woody chuckled.
“She’ll always be Little Miss Molly to me”, Buzz stated as a matter-of-factly. They watched as Little Miss Molly got into the car with her mom, and they watched as the car left the driveway and disappeared around the corner.
“I wonder where they are going”, Woody hummed to himself with a smile. Buzz placed his hand on Woody’s shoulder and shook him gently.
They left the Davis residence and continued the trip home. The sky was beginning to look like rain.
“Okay, home is just around the corner, let’s-”
“Woody, wait”, Buzz pleaded and lifted a hand up. Woody backed away from the corner and turned towards Buzz, a confident smile on his face.
“Yeah, what is it, Buzz?” Woody asked him, and Buzz held his breath for a moment. Well, he didn’t actually even need to breathe, but it was another one of those human traits he had picked up.
“O-okay”, Buzz started clearing his throat. He lowered his eyes down from Woody for just a moment, but long enough for Woody to grow slightly nervous.
“Hah, ha , Buzz you’re making me ne-”
“I think- n-no I- I am-” Buzz started, instantly breaking down to stuttering, he nervously fidgeted with his hands and panic started building inside of him. He was so confident and sure about this just now, how was he still not ready?
He stopped talking and looked down at his palms, unable to face Woody. He sighed deep, frustrated at his own incapability of saying a few simple words, overtaken by fear of rejection and abandonment. He was finally able to connect those feelings to specific words, and those were fear of rejection, and fear of Woody abandoning him and everything they had gone through. Buzz wanted to trust that there was nothing that could tear him and Woody apart after everything that they had gone through, but what if the only thing to do was to speak out loud the three words, I love you ?
Buzz closed his eyes and gently clenched his hands into fists.
It was starting to rain, gentle tapping of raindrops sounding all around them. Woody was bothered by the rain, but he didn’t see Buzz make any effort in taking cover from it, so he didn’t move either. They stood under the rain, and even if Woody didn’t like getting wet, he thought that whatever Buzz wanted and needed to say was more important than staying dry.
But Buzz was having a hard time confessing. Woody saw this too, and taking a deep breath he decided to act. Buzz felt Woody’s gentle touch on his hands. He opened his palms, and Woody took a hold of his hands.
“This… is hard for me”, Buzz said then, squeezing Woody’s hands gently in his.
“Why?” Woody asked him with such a gentle voice that almost ached Buzz’s being.
“Because I… am afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That, what I’m about to say, would make you reject me”, Buzz answered and finally he looked up at Woody. Woody’s brows dropped down in a little saddened way.
“I could never-” Woody started.
“I don’t need or want anything else other than to be with you, and even the thought of losing you…” Buzz interrupted him, fearing that if he left Woody any room to speak back he’d lose the courage to speak his mind.
Buzz pulled Woody’s hands against his chest, looked him in his eyes and after a deep inhale he confessed; “I love you, Woody. In- in the truest- most purest form one could love someone else. I finally know how love feels and… This is it.”
“Oh, Buzz. Haven’t you realized it yet? You’re stuck with me for good. You must’ve figured that out by now!” Woody spoke with a gentle chuckle and a warm smile. He pulled his hands free from Buzz’s and placed them softly on the Space Ranger’s cheeks.
“I love you, too, Buzz.”
The way Woody said it felt so true and so dear, that the butterflies inside Buzz's tummy felt now more like fireworks. Buzz felt so happy and so-
Suddenly Buzz flinched. Woody had said those exact words for him earlier, at the Human’s clinic- in the same exact way. Woody had confessed his love for Buzz, and Buzz had been too stupid to realize it.
“Y-you- you said-” Buzz stuttered, unable to comprehend his own stupidity. Woody found it rather adorable, though.
“Yeeeah, I did”, Woody chuckled. Buzz hid his face in his palms and mumbled something against them, he felt so embarrassed. Woody had confessed to him in front of strangers and Buzz hadn’t even realized it. Woody laughed lightheartedly and wrapped his arms around Buzz.
“I love you so much”, Woody whispered to him. The rain wasn’t bothering him one bit anymore.
—
The couple walked around the corner, and Bonnie’s home was just at the end of the road. They approached the house, holding each other’s hands as they did, but Woody pulled his hand off Buzz's to pressure the panic building inside of him.
“Buh-Buzz-!” Woody whispered sharply and pointed at the drive way of their house.
“They are already home!”
Indeed; Bonnie and her parents had returned ahead of their schedule!
“We have no time to waste!” Buzz commanded firmly. The two of them rushed over the driveway and under the fence to the yard, and were running towards Bonnie's window. Then Buzz grabbed Woody and stopped them both.
"Woody, no!" he sharply stated.
"What- why?" Woody questioned back. They realized they were out in the open, so they rushed under some bushes by the terrace.
"We are still wet from the rain", Buzz pointed out, and Woody mentally facepalmed himself.
“We can’t go inside like this-” Buzz added, and Woody got a light-bulb moment. He grabbed Buzz’s arm; “Follow me!” and together they slipped their way to the steps leading up to the terrace and the front door. They made sure no one was there to see them, and then dropped themselves at the end of the stairs, on the lawn.
“Hey, honey, can you- Oh! Oh no, have these been here the whole weekend?”
Mr Anderson picked up both Buzz and Woody and brought them inside. He inspected them a little, confused to see so much cut grass and leaves and other dirt on both of them.
“How did they get this dirty from just laying around? I wonder if some animals touched them by any chance”, the dad spoke out loud; “Bonnie! Can you come here, sweetie?”
“What is it, dad? OH, WOODY, BUZZ!”
“They were outside by the stairs-”
“OH, you’re both all wet and dirty and- and probably exhausted from the trip! Oh dear, we got to get you both cleaned up and dry and get an appointment with the doctor, in case you’ve got a cold!”
Bonnie rushed with the two toys to the bathroom. After she removed all the dirt and grass and whatnot from the toys, she wiped Buzz dry with a towel and took her time to dry Woody with a hairdryer. After Woody was mostly dry, Bonnie grabbed them and a few white and blue towels with ducks on them and rushed to her room.
She bursted in her room and started assembling a play-time.
“Oh, thank you doctor for seeing us with such a short notice!” Bonnie spoke as Buzz.
“Don’ mention’ it”, she replied with Chuckles.
Apparently Woody had caught a very icky cold, and had to take a couple of sour candies a day to heal from it. She wrapped Woody tightly in one of the duckie towels she brought with her, and suddenly it was time to eat. She placed both Woody and Buzz on her bed before she left the room and closed the door after.
“Buzz help me out-” Woody groaned, but had a hint of amusement in his tone. Buzz lifted up from the bed and came over to Woody, who Bonnie had laid comfortably on her pillow.
“Oh, you’re all snuggled up like an infant!” Buzz laughed; "Now you're the patient!"
Buzz helped to loosen the towel enough for Woody to slip out of it. Woody grabbed Buzz’s arms and Buzz helped him out of the towel.
Woody stepped out of the towel, trying to leave it looking untouched. He stumbled on his steps, and ended up knocking Buzz down on the bed. Woody fell on top of Buzz, but neither of them seemed too bothered by it. Woody settled himself on top of Buzz more comfortably; he placed his palms on Buzz’s chest and laid his jaw on his hands. He looked down at Buzz, who chuckled sheepishly. Woody grinned.
“Hi”, Woody whispered. He reached a hand on Buzz's cheek and brushed under his eye with his thumb.
“He-hello”, Buzz answered.
“YOU ARE HOME!” Jessie joyously cheered as she climbed up on the bed, and the moment she saw the two toys she squinted her eyes and smirked wide.
“D’ya fellas maybe need a moment-?” she teasingly began and drew circles with her finger, but Woody pulled up to his legs from top of Buzz, straightened his vest and hat and answered: “Hello to you too, Jes!” He didn't do it in a way to hide what happened, not at all. He offered his hands for Buzz to help him up, and after he got the space man standing next to him Woody wrapped an arm around his shoulders and placed a 'mwah' on top of Buzz's head. Buzz cleared his throat by coughing to his fist before wrapping it around Woody's waist for a moment.
Buzz then opened his arms for Jessie, who ran to him to hug him (she did the spin thing, too!). The rest of the toys welcomed the two of them home as well, asking a lot of questions and wondering where they had been. While Slinky told Woody how Hamm and Mr Potatohead had come up with a rescue plan to get them home, Jessie stayed with Buzz.
“So”, Jessie hummed and poked Buzz with her elbow.
“So”, Buzz repeated with a little hum and a shy little smile. There was no hiding it from Jessie; the instant she saw them just now she knew that Buzz had confessed to Woody, and she was so happy for them.
Even if their weekend was eventful, Woody and Buzz both kept what happened to themselves. They didn’t tell about the incident at the park, or Quacks-A-Lot, or the Human. They both wanted to keep all that to themselves, at least for now. It was something only the two of them had, and it made it all somewhat more special.
The night came eventually, and Bonnie had sat Woody and Buzz down on her windowsill. There they had a perfect view of the night sky.
“What a weekend, huh?” Woody hummed silently, he maneuvered his hand to hold Buzz’s. Buzz chuckled through his nose.
“What a weekend”, he repeated and placed a kiss on Woody’s hand.