A/N: I would simply like to say that this is my first attempt at writing a fanfic, which basically means that I have no beta and that I am uber excited so I'll be posting chapters of random length and most likely random quality. 1. Hold no high expectations and 2. Be gentle. Also, I don't own any of the recognizable characters only the new storyline into which I have cruelly thrown them. I get no money for this people, geeze!
Additionally, I ask that you recognize the magic that exists in the Wonkaverse. This is essential. Remember, nothing is impossible, just improbable!
Also, for future reference, Haphephobia is the fear of being touched.
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Ch 9: Candy Man
As Chelsea began to regain consciousness she noticed three things. First, that she felt very, very good. Her whole body was relaxed and felt brand new. The second thing she noticed was that her sheets were really silky.. and she did not own silk sheets. Opening her eyes she discovered the third thing: she was not in her house and the boy from the park's face was mere inches from her own. Gasping quietly, she sat up and scooted away from him. He was sitting in a chair next to the bed with his arms folded on the bed and his head lying atop them. He was dozing. She looked about the room and covered her mouth with her hand to stifle what would have undoubtedly been a much less quiet gasp.
Oh my.
It was like she was in a dream. This room was decorated more uniquely than any she had ever seen. The walls were each a different, bright color, the art on the walls was huge and beautiful. Each piece of furniture looked like a particular candy. The lamp was a giant candy cane, the dresser a big square caramel. She looked down at the bed which was fashioned as a giant Wonka bar. Even the covers looked like the wrapping paper, and the silky sheets that she had noticed almost immediately upon her awakening were silver and shiny just like the inside wrapping of a candy bar. Wow.
Wait.. Wonka?!
The memory of what had happened the previous night came flooding back to her so fast that she nearly sobbed from the sheer force of it. Oh god.. She remembered everything except how in the world she ended up here, of all places. The last thing she recalled was being thrown off of her bed like a rag doll. She sucked in a sharp breath when she thought about her father. It was silly and she knew it was, but the immediate worry that sprang to the forefront of her mind was that he would be so angry that she was not at home. That he did not know where she was. She shook her head.
Why should I be worried about what he thinks any more?
She had spent her childhood silently wondering why her mother and father fought so often. It always seemed to be her mother's fault. But as she grew older she came to realize that it was simply her father's bad disposition. He was always a paranoid man; always the conspiracy theorist. He just seemed to be one of those types of people that could never fully trust those around him; and the type to demand obedience. Her rare friends and even Violet had often asked her why she stayed living with him all of these years. She surely could have looked after herself when she reached her middle to late teens. The truth was that she simple did not care. She was used to him, and more importantly he was her father. He was just there, a part of her life that ironically, in its constant state of unpredictably, seemed to never waver. The thing that no one else could see was the he did, in fact, care for her.
And most of the time he was just grumpy.
But this time he took his physical brutality far too far.
This time she was actually fearful of returning.
She shook her head again.
I need to stop worrying about what he thinks. His opinion can not matter any more. He has finally lost all of my respect, she told herself firmly. This finality seemed to snap her back to the here and now and she decided that the only way she was going to get any answers about what else happened last night was to ask the boy at her side. Reaching over she gave the boy's arm a good little poke.
"Humuhh?" He said as he raised his head from his arms with a questioning look on his face. When he registered that she was staring at him the questioning look was replaced by one of shock and then quickly by one of happiness. "You're awake!"
"Uhh.. yeah..Um, can I ask where I am? I mean, I have a pretty good hunch but that doesn't quite explain why either you or I are here…" she raised an eyebrow at him.
He looked at her peculiarly for a second then asked, "you don't remember last night?"
"Well I remember.. everything… except being brought here." She cast her eyes back down to the colorful comforter.
"Oh. Well, your hunch was correct. You are in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. I am here because its where I live as well."
She looked startled by this news. Her eyes found their way once again onto his face.
He reached out his hand in introduction and said, "pleasure to finally formally make your acquaintance Chelsea, my name is Charlie Bucket."
She grasped his hand and shook it slowly.
"Why don't you tell me what happened to you last night," he prompted.
"Well, my dad.. he.. he went insane I guess. He attacked me and then …" she got quiet and looked down at her hands.
"Did he …force you …to..?" Charlie was not sure if it was good idea or not to make a victim of rape remember their encounter the day after but he had to know for sure.
"No.. well he tried, I think... We just fought and wrestled a lot on my bed then when he ripped my shirt I panicked and grabbed a vase from my nightstand and smashed it over his head and then I kicked him off of the bed. He.. lay on the floor for a while and I thought that maybe I had killed him but then he got back up and grabbed me and threw me off of the bed. I think I hit the wall and that's all I really remember." She did not sound too uncomfortable reliving her story. Charlie was very, very thankful that she had not been…forced.
"So what happened after that?" She asked, meeting his gaze again.
"Well, Willy had been on the phone with you and heard you struggling so he called for me and when I realized that he was talking about you and that I knew where you lived we rushed to help you. When we got to your house the front door was hanging open, I guess your father fled because he was nowhere in sight. We went up to your room, it was the only one with any lights on, and found you. You… you were pretty banged up. We brought you back here and Willy had me give you an ultra strength Wonka-Vite and you've slept for about," he glanced at his watch, "17 hours straight. We've been taking shifts watching over you."
"Willy… has been watching me?" This fact made her uncomfortable but she could not pinpoint exactly why. It was not so creepy that he had helped her and had been watching her… it was more.. unfair, that he got to watch her when she had never even really seen him.
"Oh yeah, he's been really worried. He won't sleep or work or anything. He just leaves when I relieve him and I think he just paces around the factory…"
"Oh. I'm.. I'm really so sorry… I didn't mean for any of this.. I … you guys shouldn't have.. I mean…" she trailed off uncertainly.
"Chelsea, we are both really glad that you woke Willy up and that we were able to help you. If you had stayed.. I don't even want to think about what might have happened. Your father.. he could have returned.. and .. Look, no one is angry with you. We're both just happy you are alright now, okay?" He gave her a stern and yet glad look as if trying to force his point with his gaze.
"Um, alright. Th-thank you. I am glad you guys could help. You know, I'd really like to meet Willy but.." she had just remembered that she must look something awful. She leapt up, held shut the long rip in her shirt that exposed her entire stomach, and walked over to the mirror above the caramel dresser. The sight that met her was astonishing. She looked completely fine. Not a scratch or bruise anywhere. Her hair was a tangled mess and her clothing was ruined but she looked… great! "Wow," she said aloud.
"Yeah, that pill worked wonders. It's a miracle pill I swear. If you'd of seen yourself before you took it.. yeah.. wow pretty much sums it up," Charlie's reflection smiled at her in the mirror. "Willy grabbed some of your clothing.. hopefully enough for you to actually put something together. Why don't you go take a shower? You'll feel even better and then we can go have some food if you're up to it."
"Alright. Where are my clothes?"
"In your backpack, over there," he said, pointing to the floor next to what was presumably the bathroom door where her backpack lay.
She grabbed her backpack, muttered a quick "thanks" and rushed into the bathroom.
Wow.
It did occur to her that she was thinking the term wow a rather lot today, but the word was definitely warranted.
Exquisite. Grand… she wanted to squeal in pleasure. The bathroom was all marble and shiny and.. just wow. It was easily the size of her kitchen and living room combined.
She almost could not bring herself to finish up after she had already been in the shower for more than thirty minutes and the bathroom for probably well over an hour. She put on new underclothes and thanked her lucky stars that Willy had selected at least some decent clothing. She slipped on a pretty little orange sundress with blue designs covering it and then took the comb that was provided for guests to her hair. The wonderful conditioner that was in the shower made her hair comb out more easily than it ever had previously. Her hair was straight for the most part but had a bit of a wave toward the bottom and thus the bottom always tangled rather effortlessly. When she was satisfied with her appearance, after having used all of the toiletries provided, she stepped out of the bathroom with a cloud of steam. Charlie was still sitting in the chair by the bed, looking tired but not annoyed that she had taken so long. His face lit up when he noticed that she was back. It also reddened a bit when he took in the fact that her sundress only fell to about three inches above her knees. She blushed too, smiled, and then realized that she did not have any shoes to wear.
Charlie noticed her look down at her feet and then around the room. "What size do you wear? My mom has loads of sandals that would match that dress."
"I wear an eight."
"Hey! That's perfect.. I think she wears either seven and a half or an eight, either way that should work. I'll be right back, okay?"
"Alright.. thanks.."
With that Charlie dashed from the room leaving Chelsea to her own devices. Slightly overwhelmed from the whole situation, she made up the bed and then sat in the chair. Charlie was only gone a couple of minutes.
"Here!" He said as he approached her with the shoes. They were brown flat sandals with a couple of little crossing straps that came just above her ankles. She took them and slipped them on. They were perfect. She smiled up at Charlie, who held out a hand to help her to her feet. "C'mon, I told Willy you were awake so he said he'd have the Oompa Loompas get ready to prepare us all some food in his private dinning room. Its so exciting.. in all of the years I've been here I've only seen his private area of the factory one time! He took me to his library once because I had a school research project," Charlie was clearly eager. Chelsea found that eager could not accurately describe what she was feeling. She did not even stop to ask if the Oompa Loompas were the midget workers that Violet had mentioned because butterflies were rapidly filling her stomach … she was about to meet The Great Willy Wonka.
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Charlie had taken the lead and she followed close behind through a very curvy stretch of corridors. It took them fifteen minutes to even get to what Charlie said was Willy's private living portion of the factory. They just needed to find the door labeled "Dining Area." Apparently every door was labeled inside the factory. Maybe Willy Wonka was very forgetful?
When they found the correct room, Charlie knocked and then looked over at Chelsea. His face fell a bit. She looked frightened.
"Are you alright?" Charlie asked, reaching out and lightly squeezing her forearm to get her attention. At that moment the door opened and there stood the amazing Chocolatier himself. Willy looked down at where Charlie was touching Chelsea and then looked back up at them and Charlie dropped his hand. Turning his gaze then to Chelsea alone, Willy noticed that she was quite obviously in shock. He gave her a small and uncertain smile.
Chelsea was stuck. Her body would not move and it seemed her mind would not put any sentences together so that she could even say something appropriate. All her mind wanted to do was direct her eyes up and down and back up Willy's body and take in his whole, intriguing, appearance. He was very tall, at least six or seven inches taller than both herself and Charlie. He was dressed in a very soft looking maroon jacket, wearing a black top hat, black pants, and an almost black sweatshirt vest revealing the high neck of some sort of fancy design covered undershirt. He also had a golden "W" brooch clasped on the neck of the undershirt. He was a quite a sight; quite an appealing sight.
Both Charlie and Willy began to get increasingly uncomfortable with Chelsea's blatant staring for very different reasons. Finally, Willy chose to break the silence.
His voice came out in a very high squeak as he exclaimed, "g-good morning Starshine!" nervously. It seemed to be enough to snap Chelsea out of her stupor though. She gave a small curtsey that she did not realize she still remembered how to produce, reached her arm out for him to shake her hand, and said, "It's good to finally see you W…Mr. Wonka." She was not sure if she was allowed to refer to him by his first name when in his presence. Her hand hung in the air for a few seconds.
Charlie was about to tell her that Willy had Haphephobia and that she might as well just lower her hand when Willy did something that left all three of them quite surprised. As she started to lower her hand he quickly reached out and captured it in one of his own gloved hands and brought it to his lips. He brushed her knuckles very lightly with a kiss and then released her hand, or more accurately flung it away, in shock at his own boldness. Or because he might have contracted some sort of germs. He quickly forced his grimace into a smile once again.
Chelsea brought her hand to her chest as though she were out of breath. Slightly confused, she blushed crimson and lowered her eyes.
Willy fidgeted with his cane, stepped from foot to foot nervously, and tried to will away the color rapidly gathering on his cheeks.
And Charlie had his mouth hanging open and was staring incredulously at one and then the other of his companions. Finally he cleared his throat and said, "Uhm, …hungry?"
Chelsea brought her eyes back up and met Charlie's gaze nodding in the affirmative.
Willy exclaimed, "yeah lets eat!" and then turned to lead the way into the dining room.
One would have had to have been touching him to notice that he was shaking ever so slightly.
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Like all of the other rooms that Chelsea had been fortunate enough to see in the factory thus far, the dining room was remarkable. It was easily large enough to fit a few hundred people but was also comfortable and decorated as to not draw too much attention to its size. It was colorful but not as much so as the guest room. They followed Willy to a small table that appeared recently constructed for this very occasion. It was next to an immense window that overlooked what seemed to be an enormous courtyard.
"I didn't know you had any windows in the factory Willy, aside from the few in the very front that is," Charlie said.
"There is still so much I have yet to show and tell you," he replied to Charlie. Glancing at Chelsea and then out the window he continued. "This looks into the courtyard. Its like a giant greenhouse. Look up at the top out there," and he pointed out the window and up toward the sky. Charlie and Chelsea obeyed and looked up. "I had to cover the top with glass so that no one could sneak in by helicopter or hot air balloon or something, heh. I don't like people being able to look into the factory but its okay if they see into windows like this because it just leads.. well in here. Yeah."
"Cool," said Charlie.
"Its gorgeous," commented Chelsea as she stared out of the window, taking in the many beautiful flowers. She was raised onto the balls of her feet so that she could maybe get a better view. Willy's eyes found their way back onto her when she spoke. They also found their way over her hair, down the curve of her back and onto her calves and then back up to her face. He shook his head slightly as if to gather himself and then smiled and gestured for them to be seated. Charlie quickly pulled out Chelsea's chair for her and she smiled and nodded at him in thanks. When Charlie sat himself down he glanced at Willy who was staring at him oddly again. Charlie raised his eyebrows a fraction but Willy simply looked away.
Chelsea chose this time to make a very peculiar noise somewhere between "oh" and "what" that sounded a lot like, "Ohawat." Both men looked at her curiously. She was looking down at something at her side. Willy giggled and Charlie smiled knowingly. An Oompa Loompa.
"He just wants to know what you'd like to eat. Point to whatever you want on the menu he's holding," Willy said, grinning.
Chelsea decided to not get into the conversation of exactly what he was just yet, partly because she was famished. "Oh, um.." she bent lower to read the menu, unknowingly giving Charlie quite the view down the front of her dress. Charlie stared a bit, trying to look guiltless until suddenly exclaiming, "ow!"
"Are you okay Charlie?" Chelsea asked, concerned.
Charlie smiled at her and said yes and then glared at Willy across the table. Willy, feigning innocence, brought his cane out from under the table where he had just used it to whack Charlie in the shin, and leaned it against the wall.
The meal passed quietly as none of them knew what to say and all of them were rather hungry. Once satiated, Charlie cleared his throat.
"Um, Chelsea.." he began.
"Yes?" She wiped her mouth with her napkin and then sat it down and turned her full attention to him.
"I .. I don't think that you should go back to your father's house." There, he said it.
"Oh. Well.. I ..I have no where else to go Charlie," she looked down, causing some of her hair to fall and cover her face. She looked very sad.
"You are welcome to stay here in the factory for as long as you want Chelsea," Willy said, giving her what he thought was a reassuring look but only came off as him staring and smiling in a manic sort of way.
"You called me Chelsea," she stated bluntly.
Willy blushed a little and glanced at Charlie and then back at her. "Yeah, so?"
She smiled prettily at him. "I knew I'd like it when you'd say my name."
Willy's eyes widened, not expecting that type of response, and he fidgeted nervously with his utensils on top of the table. After a few moments of this he removed his hands from the table top and leaned in slightly to say, "so.. will you stay here in the factory?"
Chelsea's smile faltered. "Oh Willy I don't know. I couldn't possibly impose on you like that."
Willy smiled because she had said his first name and then frowned again because she thought that she was imposing on him. Waggling a finger authoritatively in her direction he said, "uh you couldn't possibly impose on me even if you wanted to and tried really, really hard, little lady! The factory is so big and there are so many open rooms that you could have your pick of any one of them. And I am a billionaire you know. Its not like it would be any trouble at all. So you can stay here as long as you need or want, kay?"
"…Alright, if you're sure.."
"I must insist," Willy said matter-of-factly, nodding as if the conversation were over.
Chelsea shrugged and then smiled at Willy and then at Charlie. "Okay then, I'll stay."
Both boys broke out in enormous grins.
Suddenly struck with an idea, Willy scooted his chair out and stood up to his full height. Looking down at Charlie and Chelsea he said, "now come, come dear children, for there is a factory that awaits your amazed ooohs and ahhhs."
"You're going to give me a tour?" Chelsea looked delighted.
"Naturellement mon joli," Willy replied.
Neither of them had the faintest idea what he had said. Chelsea had been tutored in French when she was a child but that was long ago.
When Chelsea showed no sign of having understood him he said instead, "come and I shall show you my Wonderland."
Chelsea smiled and stood up. Willy held out his arm and she hesitantly linked hers through it at the crook. They led the way out of the room. Charlie was not far behind but feeling just a little out of place. He was also wondering what exactly Willywas playing at suddenly being all touchy-feely.
