This mini vacation was an odd idea from the beginning; it was odd for two people who were just friends to go away for the weekend to a private beach and spend their time having deep conversations with each other, and it still would have been weird if the only thing that had changed from the aforementioned scenario was that if it was known that the two people involved were both members of a special club made out of only five people. The only way such as trip to sunny Mexico could not have been seen as odd would have been if these two people were in fact more than just friends, much more to be specific. While Charlie clearly wanted something deeper and more meaningful than just reconnecting with someone he initially spent a few hours wandering around a massive complex with as a child, he was too timid and anxious to even kiss his crush and initiate this more meaningful relationship. Veruca on the other hand, while incredibly resistant to expressing any emotions apart from contempt, rage, eminence and noticeably fake enthusiasm in public, she still found herself intrigued by Charlie's presence, even if his follies did irritate her. The little brute liked it when he was around, and she especially liked it whenever he complimented her and made her feel special, because unlike when it came from everybody else it actually felt genuine when he did it, after all, the Good Boy could not tell a lie.

Now, the little brute knew Charlie craved intimate dialogue between the two of them, and for some reason something in her drove her to reveal her thoughts regarding the heir, and so she blurted out, "I hope this is the endorphins from the cocoa beans I ate talking, but I am really enjoying myself here."

"Endorphins, what are you talking about?" Charlie asked in response, not sure of what the little brute was referring to.

Little did he know that the brat had remembered something from that fateful day when they first met, something that only served to strengthen the bond these two former Golden Ticket winners already shared, and so she admitted, "Remember during the tour when Wonka explained how cocoa beans make you feel like you're in love? Well, I'm kind of feeling like that right now."

The Good Boy chuckled at the fact the little brute had absorbed a lesson her tormentor dispensed during the tour and remembered it for all these years, and then playfully asked, "You remembered that?"

"I pay attention to what people say, I learn," the little brute assured him, flexing one of her lesser-known traits, her exceptional cognitive abilities.

Apart from an acknowledgement from the brat that Wonka's nuggets of wisdom did have some sort of application in her life, things appeared to stay normal between the two former Golden Ticket winners, that was until Charlie was caught off guard after remembering the crux of what Veruca had just said, which lead him to ask for clarification, "Wait, you feel like you are in love?"

The little brute sighed when she heard that question, she had hoped she wouldn't have to address that part of what she had just said but she knew the Good Boy wouldn't let the opportunity to have her say how much he meant to her slip away from his grasp, leading her to respond with, "Ugh, I wish you wouldn't have picked up on that."

Charlie grew concerned with the apathetic tone Veruca had just taken, especially since she had been so jovial only a few seconds prior, and when the little brute noticed this, she clarified for her inviter, "What I am trying to say is that I am enjoying the time I'm spending here with you."

Interestingly, when Veruca spoke this time, she wasn't her typical cocky self, instead, she was very awkward and found it very difficult to express her emotions, at least emotions that didn't result in shattered glass or dented walls. In this sense, Veruca was really similar to Charlie, with the difference being that the Good Boy got anxious because he feared rejection while she got anxious because she feared opening up and being vulnerable with other people, and so Charlie attempted to alleviate this tension by grabbing her hand and caressing it, all while reassuring her, "I am too, Veruca. And I hope we can do stuff like this again and again."

As with any discomfort she encountered, the little brute despised having to be put in such an emotionally turbulent state so she physically brushed it off by shaking her head with her hands grasping her hair and her clenched jaw exposed by a slightly open mouth. After cleansing herself of her previous undesired state, the brat realized she needed to change the discussion, she needed an ego boost in order to get passed the heightened levels of anxiety that came along with opening up, so she leaned in closer to the Good Boy as she twirled her brown hair with her right index finger, and asked, "So, tell me, Charlie, why do you say I'm pretty?"

"Well, I mean, like you said, look at you. I am not lying, am I?" The Good Boy responded, sounding so awkward as he was put on the spot to comment on the beauty of someone he liked.

"Of course not, who has ever been as beautiful as me?" Veruca assured him, even though such a grandiose statement was more to feed her own ego and better her emotional standing than to try and convince anyone else of the validity of her statement.

But at the same time, Veruca did become a bit curious as to why the Good Boy, who was always so reserved, was so willing to tell her how he felt about her, and so she tried to probe him on this by rephrasing her original question, asking, "But, I guess what I am trying to say is what do you hope to gain from telling me I'm pretty?"

"Well, to be honest, it's the only way I know you'll pay any attention to me. I know how your ears just perk up the moment someone compliments you and I've always been the kind of person who smiles when I can make someone else smile, so this path seemed the most natural," the Good Boy reasoned.

Veruca didn't understand why someone would do something generous for someone else without expecting anything valuable in return, at least something which she deemed valuable. And while she typically would not have cared to learn why someone did such a thing, her curiosity in this field sparked when Charlie became the subject of study, leading her to simplify his actions in simple terms, "So, you like helping people?"

The Good Boy could tell The Bad Nut was confused by his response, but instead of trying to explain it to her he realized he had a chance to shift the conversation to a different topic, and luckily there was something he wanted to clarify. The little brute's initial statement that started this whole conversation about how they each felt about each other got the heir thinking of all the different possibilities and one in particular stood out in his mind, and so he asked his guest, "You know, I have my own question; what if you are wrong?"

"Wrong about what?"

"What if it's not the endorphins in the cocoa beans making you enjoy our time together? What if it's something else?"

"Well then, forget everything I just said. Shut up!" The little brute barked back before turning away from facing Charlie.

The brat's overreaction was not to be unexpected; she didn't want to deal with the ramifications of having her feelings of being in love not come from some external source like the cocoa beans she ate the day before. But, regardless of her reaction, the Good Boy always wanted to leave a good impression on Veruca, leading him to announce, "You know, I'm always open to spending time and doing stuff together, especially on weekends."

"I am sure you are," the little brute replied, knowing full well how unimpressive Charlie's social life was.

But, the Good Boy was not going to allow the little brute's impulsive verbal jab to get him down, and so he tried to bring the conversation back to something that the two could to together in the future, and so he proposed, "Well, how about we watch a film, at your home, if you would like that?"

Nevertheless, Veruca was not that interested in discussing this suggestion at the moment, so she responded, "Lets not talk about home right now, let's just enjoy ourselves here and now."

And enjoy themselves they did; apart from basking in the sun's warm rays and letting the sand below them find its way in between their toes, the two of them had an entire private beach all to themselves, including the actual ocean. The two former Golden Ticket winners then ran into the water for a swim, but while Charlie was fine stopping just before the spot where he could no longer touch the floor, Veruca, on the other hand, just kept going and going deeper into the ocean. The Good Boy preferred to spend his time lounging around by floating near the shore where he could quickly set foot on the floor if he felt he was drifting too far away from the beach and letting the waves rock him back and forward, while at the same time the little brute purposefully chased large waves that crashed far beyond the coastline. It was a much more thrilling pastime than getting swayed back and forth by the comparably small waves preparing to crash on the shore, but The Bad Nut wasn't afraid to jump head-first into a ten-foot wave that was about to crash in the where she swam to. In fact, she tried to get Charlie to join her by calling his name and telling him to go deeper into the ocean, something he didn't really want to do out of fear he might get swept deeper into the sea, but he eventually agreed if only to keep Veruca happy.

Near peer pressure aside, Charlie found it difficult getting to the spot Veruca hung out, he was not a good swimmer at all, and his lack of upper body strength didn't help him fight the current when it drifted towards the shore. The only help he got came from when the current rescinded, taking him in deeper, unfortunately the stronger the current got, the larger the wave it formed grew. Veruca managed to dive through the large wave as it prepared to crash, but when she reemerged from the water and looked out towards the shore all she saw was the wave crashing and taking Charlie along with it. The wave had crashed before the Good Boy could cross it and its power sent him tumbling towards the shore the moment after the mass of water crashed, leaving his scrawny body all red and sore from the beating. Yet, throughout that entire frightful ordeal where all the Good Boy could possibly think of while underwater was how he was going to drown to death, all Veruca could do was laugh her head off at the sight of what had happened to Charlie. The heir reemerged from the water soon after being dragged closer to shore, but he could see and hear Veruca laughing hysterically. Looking back, he had never seen the little brute genuinely laughing, albeit, laughing at his own misery, but laughing nonetheless, which was something that made the pain of being beat by the ocean feel a little less sharp.