"Why can't I come?" demanded Charlie to a very irritated Willy Wonka, who was going about, putting on his large winter coat. The boy was nearly sixteen, hard as it was to believe sometimes. When Willy had told him he had to leave for a few hours, he knew in a flash something was wrong.

"Because I need you here, Charlie," said Willy. "Trust me, this isn't something you want to get... tangled up in."

"Can I at least know what's going on?" asked Charlie. Willy sighed and turned to him.

"Someday, perhaps. But not right now, Charlie. Right now... there's too little I have to do and so much time for me to talk to you." Charlie made a face, and Willy groaned, rolling his eyes. "Strike that, reverse it!"

"You're scaring me, Willy," said Charlie, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Don't be scared," said Willy, offering him a reassuring smile. "Everything's going to be okay." He ruffled the boy's hair and headed off to the glass elevator. "I'll be back very late so don't wait up for me. I'll see you in the morning, 'kay?" He looked over at Charlie, who seemed very disappointed, and slightly angry to be left in the dark.

"Whatever," he muttered, and sulked off. Willy sighed, but there was no time for him to make things right, right now, so he pressed a button and was gone. As the glass box hovered over the city, his mind began to wander again, thinking back on things he'd been pushing away for years.
-
(Picking up where the last flashback left off...)

That night, Willy did sneak out, only it wasn't for the movie. His father always stayed up late, reading dental magazines, but that didn't mean sneaking out was hard. His father always read in the living room, so Willy would sneak out through the bedroom window, the opposite side of the house. Then it was a four foot drop to the ground, and he was free to roam wherever he wanted.

Everytime he did this, he was convinced his father was watching him from somewhere, but he had yet to get caught. The theatre was only a few blocks away, and he managed to get there just as the movie was letting out. He recognized a few people from his school, some neighbors, a teacher, the crazy cat woman from across town, and finally, one of Rose's friends, shortly followed by Rose, who was talking and laughing with her friend, but seemed to be hugging herself tighter than usual.

Willy smiled (as best as possible with that ridiculous head gear) to himself, knowing she would never admit to being scared, even though she looked ready to crush herself. She spotted him and separated herself from her friend, catching up with him with a completely fake smile.

"So," he said softly. "How was the-"

"Keep walking," she muttered, her voice sounding deadly under that fony clown smile. He obeyed, and it wasn't until they were around the corner that he spoke again.

"Was it scary?"

"No!" she said, looking at him as if he were crazy. "Please, movies like that don't scare me!" But as she said this she hugged herself a little tighter, and he noticed. He simply nodded, knowing she'd never tell the truth.

"Okay," he said, and started walking in the opposite direction.

"Where are you going?" she asked, her voice slightly squeaky.

"I have to go home before my dad knows I'm gone," he said, then waved over his shoulder. He didn't get very far when...

"Will, wait!" He stoped and turned, looking at her as she fidgeted, shifted her weight from side to side, and wouldn't look up from the ground. "C-could I sleep at your house tonight?"

Part of him wanted to shout, "AH-HA!" in her face, and he took in a deep breath to do so. But she looked up at him and there were tears in her eyes. Tears? He had known her since they were babies and he had never once seen her cry! Never! Though she really wasn't crying much, just a little teary, but even that was a breakthrough.

"Why?" he asked. She looked off to the side, then to the ground and shuddered.

"I don't really feel like going home to monsters tonight. Please?" He half smiled, not fully understanding what she meant by that, but nodded and she jogged up to him. They snuck into his house through the bedroom window and they fell asleep on his bed almost the minute they were under the covers. The next morning she snuck out at the crack of dawn and his father never knew about it.
-
(Back to the present...)

Willy looked up at the terminal as passengers got off the plane with their bags, talking and smiling to each other, and he didn't rise from his seat until the last one got off before the flight attendants. When he saw her he sighed. She looked so different.

What used to be long brown hair was now cut into a short pixie cut and dyed black. She was slightly muscular, and had developed a tan from being outside so much, but in her eyes there was a hollowness to her. She seemed empty, numb, completely devoid of any sort of spirit. When she saw him, the smile she gave him was so fake that even he saw right through it. She walked up to him, and he stood up, making his way over to her.

"Hey, Will," she said, holding out her hand to shake his. "Thought that was you sitting over there."

"Hi Rose," he said with a smile. "Do you have any baggage?"

"No," she said, a hint of sadness coming over her. "When you called I was so... so rattled and not thinking clearly, I just took off with what I have... oh man..." She looked down, tears flooding her eyes, then she looked back up. "...my mom..." her voice trailed off, and he felt sympathy for her again.

"Yeah, I know," he said softly, putting an arm around her. "C'mon, let's go. The hospital's closed now, but we can go there tomorrow night." She nodded, wiping her face and recovering immediatly from whatever had come over her.

They boarded the glass elevator and rode along silently for a long time. Rose watched the city zoom by below her, and smiled to herself. Willy hadn't changed a bit. He looked different of course, but inside he hadn't changed. She looked up at him and realized he wasn't even looking at her. His mind was wandering as it often did and she sighed. "Will," she asked and his eyes glanced up at her, though his expression wasn't entirely friendly. She knew he didn't want her there, that he didn't want to see her again ever, but it didn't matter much to her right now. "Things between us... they're still the same, right?" He stared at her as if he were contemplating it, then looking back down on the city and shook his head.

"That was a long time ago, Rose," he answered rather bluntly, and they didn't speak to each other for the rest of the ride.
----

When they arrived at the factory, Willy had all ready had the oompa-loompa's prepare a room for her near his so she could find him easily if she needed anything. It was around one thirty in the morning when they got to the factory, and they hardly said a word to each other as he showed her to her room. Then he went to bed, sleeping fitfully, his mind hardly allowing him to make it for a minute without thinking of her.