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Woody was trapped in a box with Buzz.
It all happened too quick for Woody to process. Andy, with the help of his mother, had been tidying up his room. It was time for another yard sale, to every toy’s dismay. Some would be sold, others stored away. Then, Andy’s mom scooped up Buzz and Woody.
Now they were in a box. Presumably in the closet. Something was on top of their box, another box, most likely.
“You okay Buzz?” Woody asked into the darkness. He couldn’t see Buzz. He lifted his hands, waving them in the air until they collided with a solid chest.
“To infinity and beyond!” Buzz’s speaker shouted when Woody accidentally hit a button. Buzz responded with his actual voice a second later, “Yeah, I’m fine. You?”
“All good,” Woody replied. “Although it is dark.”
“Wait a...” Woody could hear the creak of plastic as Buzz shifted around. Suddenly, a dim red light filled the box. Buzz’s laser. Woody could see his face and gave him a grin.
“Nice thinkin’, space ranger,” Woody complimented. He rearranged his limbs into a more comfortable position. There wasn’t much room in the box, so Buzz and Woody sat across from each other, legs touching.
“How long do you think we’ll be in here?” Buzz questioned.
“Oh, not long,” Woody assured. “Once Andy realizes what happened, he’ll get us out right away.”
A few hours passed, not enough to raise concern among the other toys to the whereabouts of Buzz and Woody. They filled with mild chit chat between the two friends, before footsteps could be heard and Andy’s voice called out, “Goodnight Mom! Goodnight Molly!”
Woody frowned when he heard no concern in Andy’s voice. It deepened when he didn’t hear him open the closet.
Buzz noticed his visible worry. “I’ll get us out of here, Woody,” he promised with an edge of overconfidence.
“No, no,” Woody replied. “He’ll get us in the morning.”
Buzz looked like he wanted to say something, but whatever it was never made its way through his mouth. They settled in silence, both wishing the night away.
And the morning came. Andy could be heard rustling around his room. Buzz was half-asleep, eyelids closed as he leaned against a cardboard wall. Woody was wide awake. He listened carefully. His heart leaped when the closet door opened, startling Buzz awoke.
Andy didn’t open the box. He grabbed up a shirt and closed the door again.
Woody was nearing panic mode. He couldn’t spend another day in this box, away from the other toys, with Buzz.
He hadn’t spent this much time alone with Buzz since, well, the whole mess with Sid. That felt like ages ago. Since then, Jessie and Bullseye came along, and Bo left, and…
Andy was growing up.
Woody remembered when Andy cried and cried whenever he misplaced him. Now, days, weeks, months passed before Andy even looked at him. Buzz sensed it too, surely. They all did by now.
“Woody?” Buzz asked, still a bit out of it from sleep but awake enough to know his friend needed help. Woody didn’t reply. He sighed and buried his face into his hands. Buzz nudged Woody’s leg with his foot. “Jessie will get us out.”
“I know,” Woody responded, muffled by his hands.
“Then what’s got you down, cowboy?” Buzz questioned.
Woody closed his eyes. “He’s growing up, Buzz. I knew it was coming, and yet…”
Buzz’s hand came to rest on his shoulder. “It’s like you said, we’ll have each other and the rest for infinity and beyond.”
Woody couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle. “Yeah, until y’all decide to leave like Bo.”
Buzz stared at Woody for a long couple of seconds. “It was Bo’s time—”
“Well, when will it be your time, huh?” Woody interrupted. “When will you decide this house isn’t your home planet anymore and fly out into the stars? If not today or tomorrow, it will be someday, won’t it?”
Woody knew he was putting too much vulnerability on display, but he couldn’t help it. Part of him broke when Bo left, and the other part ridden with anxiety at who it would be next. Maybe Jessie, who couldn’t bear to be abandoned again. Maybe Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head would go off to adopt all sorts of toys. Maybe Buzz…
Woody hated it when Buzz entered his life. He would hate it even more if he left it.
Buzz grabbed Woody’s hand, his plastic fingers unable to hold Woody’s smaller hand very tightly. “Woody, I swear I won’t leave you. You’re the best friend I’ve got…” Buzz trailed off, eyes floating around the box aglow with his red light. “When Al took you, and I thought you might be gone, I… I don’t know what I would have done with myself. You’re the reason I’m the person I am today. Who knows when I’ll need you to lasso us out of another problem?”
Woody held onto Buzz’s hand. He opened his mouth to apologize for his irrational outburst, but Buzz continued.
“And, uh,” Buzz stuttered suddenly. “I, um, you… I like your boots!”
Woody’s eyebrows drew together. “You like my boots?”
“Y-yes!” Buzz exclaimed. “They, er, are the same shade as your eyes.”
Woody withdrew his hand, as if he had just suffered a blast from Buzz’s laser.
“I’m sorry,” Buzz mumbled, eyes squeezing shut and head shaking rapidly. “Let’s forget I said that! God, Jessie was right. I’m terrible at this—”
Woody pressed a kiss to Buzz’s cheek. It’s how Bo showed she felt the same way Woody had, when he stumbled through a confession, years ago and long before Buzz crash-landed into Andy’s bedroom.
Buzz was frozen in place. Woody would have laughed if he wasn’t breathless.
Suddenly, the box shifted and Buzz fell on top of Woody. The box opened to reveal blinding light and Jessie waving down at them.
“There you boys are!” she shouted excitedly. “Sorry I didn’t find ya sooner! Honestly, I thought Buzz finally got his head outta his wings and you two were off smooching somewhere! Based on the conversation I overheard, that’s a more recent development.” Jessie wiggled her eyebrows.
Woody huffed out a laugh. Buzz grinned.
For once in a long while, Woody thought things were going to be alright.
As long as he had Buzz Lightyear at his side.