When Reya woke, there was a blanket over her. Her head was resting on something warm that was slowly rising and falling, and an arm was around her, gently holding her. She realized she had fallen asleep in Wonka's arms and he had crashed on the couch, still snoring softly. Outside the sun was slowly rising and it was just starting to leak through the window. The colors of orange and red were in the room, and she smiled a little, pulling the blanket up over her shoulders and closing her eyes, trying to fall asleep again.
Wonka shifted a little, tucking his other arm behind his head and stroking her side with his free hand. Reya knew he was awake, and opened her eyes, looking up at him. "You awake?" she whispered softly.
"Yes," he groaned, stretching a little. "And stiff"
"I'm sorry," she said, starting to sit up.
"No," he said, stopping her with his hand. "You're alright. It's just me. I'm getting old." She layed back down and looked at the sunrise, shinning through the window. "Did you know you talk in your sleep?" he said.
"I do?" she chuckled sleepily.
"I've got some great blackmail material now," he said, smiling.
"Wow," gasped Reya, sitting up slowly. "Look at that sunrise!" She got to her feet and walked over to the window, stretching and yawning. She pulled open the curtains to get a better veiw and smiled. "It's beautiful." Wonka smiled from where he was as he watched her. She looked so carefree and distracted for once. So youthful and happy.
So pretty.
"It's always like that," he said, getting up and walking to her. "It comes slowly, but it's worth the wait when it gets like this." She smiled and looked at him briefly.
"What happened to your mother?" she asked. "You said last night that she died when you were a kid." His eyes darkened, something they almost never did, and he didn't look at her.
"I was six," he answered. "I always knew she was sick. My father always said it was only for a little while and that it would end soon. I thought it meant she would get better. I was wrong." He looked at her. "She had breast cancer and it was well advanced by the time I was finally told the truth. My mother held on, determined she would live to see her son grow up. Whenever she would get very sick and they would take her to the hospital, I was always left at my grandparents, waiting for phone calls to know if she was alright. Then one day they didn't call till late. I was in bed and my grandmother got the call." He lowered his eyes and then looked back up at the horizon. "No more mother"
"Oh my gosh!" said Reya, feeling bad for bringing it up.
"I hated my father for lying to me. I even accused him of making her sick. Deep down I knew he never did, but I didn't care"
"What happened?" He looked at her.
"I stayed angry with him for a long time, never speaking to him unless I had to. By the time I was a teenager, I was so messed up I didn't expect to live through highschool. I was sixteen when I started on herione. Don't ever do drugs, ever. It's not worth it. A large waste of money and braincells. I got caught with it by my father when I was seventeen and forced into rehab. When I was eighteen I signed myself out and went back to the way I was. It got to the point where I was kicked out of my home because my father couldn't handle it anymore. So I moved in with a friend of mine who was also a heroine addict. I thought I was happy, but I also thought I was going to die." Reya knew what he was talking about and knew he had to be trusting her a lot to share this with her.
"What made you stop?" she asked.
"I woke up," he answered. "One morning I woke up really early and had a chance to look around before getting stoned. The apartment I was living in was trashed. I'm not talking about clothes all over the floor and garbage. I mean there was moldy food laying all over the floor, vomit, they had a dog the went to the bathroom all over, and they were too drunk or stoned or whatever to do anything about it. Looking back, it's a miracle none of us died of disease. But I'll tel lyou something. Waking up to that and realizing this was my life, this was what I had chosen to do, was the worst thing I've ever been through"
"What did you do"
"I went home," he said softly, looking at her. "I went home to my father for help. He knew I was very desperate if I was turning to him..." he chuckled a little. "He took me in, payed for me to go to rehab as long as I was trying to get better. Eventually I did and I got to where I am now"
"Wow," muttered Reya. He could tell she was thinking about something and he tried to read her expression.
"What is it"
"That could have been me," she said, looking up. "I mean, I was already hacking away at my body. Drugs wouldn't have been too far out of reach"
"Why do you think I did everything in my power to help you?" he said looking at her. "There was no possible way I was going to let you go through the trash I did"
"What about when I told you to go away"
"I was still there. Not physically, but through candy. You were my inspiration for the healing chocolate bar. For when you need a Rey-a-hope." Reya chuckled and he smiled.
"You didn't put that on the wrapper, did you"
"I was tempted, but no." She smiled and kissed him on the cheek, catching him by surprise.
"Thanks for being there," she said softly. "You have no idea how much it meant to me." He smiled, his cheeks turning a little pink.
"You're quite welcome"
-
Reya came out of the shower to find it was pouring outside. "Whoa!" she said, looking out her window. The storm seemed to have come out of nowhere. She brushed out her hair and got dressed into a pair of jeans and a navy blue T-shirt she had bought at a nearby store. She owed Wonka $56.45 now, but knew she had the money at home. Why did clothes have to be so expensive? And they didn't even have any black.
When she went down the stairs, Wonka wasn't there. But she knew where to find him. When she had headed up the stairs, he had walked by in a bathrobe, carrying a towel. She walked out to the pool room and found him in the water, swimming on his back. She walked over and sat on one of the chairs. He saw her and looked up, treading water. "You should get in here," he said smiling. "The water's great"
"I don't have a bathing suit," she said, shrugging.
"You don't need one," he said, gesturing her to come over.
"I just showered," she said.
"So?" "I don't want to get chlorine in my hair"
"Then don't get it wet," he said. "I'll hold you above the water if you want"
She smiled, knowing common sense was not in the man's vocabulary, and kicked off her shoes and socks. "C'mon," he said and she walked over, slipping her feet into the water. She extended her arms and he pulled her in, carrying her, but making sure her hair didn't get wet. "There," he said. "No harm done"
"Yet," said Reya, smiling. "Have you thought about what college you're going to?" he asked.
"The SUNY college so I won't be too far away from home. I think that'd be easier on my mom"
"What are you going to do?" he asked.
"I'm going to be an english major so I can become a good writer"
"That's wonderful," he said softly. "You'll do it. You're stubborn enough." She smiled and looked out the window at the rain. It was still coming down hard, and chances were he didn't want to drive through it, so they had plenty of time to talk.
"Remember what we talked about last night?" she asked. He nodded. "What I told you about how I feel, it won't change anything between us, will it"
"Not if you don't want it to," he answered. She nodded.
"Alright," she said softly. His arms slowly let her go, and he fell back in the water a little ways. She laughed as he slowly kicked away from her, still facing her and swam after him, not caring about her hair now. When she caught up to him, he sprung on her, knocking her backwards into the water and laughed as she came up, sputtering, and wiping her eyes. There came a loud crack of thunder, and they both looked up. He swam to the ladder and climbed out, Reya following and walking over with him. He grabbed his towel, which was large and wrapped it around her.
"Wait one minute, please," he said, and walked into a dressing room nearby. The minute he stepped in, he stepped back out, fully clothed, hair dry, and adjusting his top hat. Reya had to blink a few times, but smiled. "The storm's about to get interesting," he said, pointing up to the window. "Come with me I want to show you something." She followed him, and he led her up the stairs and to a door she had thought was to a linnen closet. When he opened it there were stairs, and she walked up them with him, his arm over her shoulders. They stepped into a room where the ceiling was a large dome and the whole thing was a large glass window.
"Wow!" she gasped. The floor was wooden, except for a large circle in the center which was about two feet deep and there was padding on the sides and on the bottom. It was like a large round maroon pillow. They walked over to it and sat in it, leaning against the sides and watching the storm. She rested her head on his shoulder and he kept his arm around her. "This is so awesome," she said, watching a bolt of lightning strike.
"You should watch a sunrise or sunset in here," he said, smiling. He watched her eyes as they watched the storm with eagerness and excitement. There came a loud crack of thunder and she jumped. He laughed with her and she turned red, smiling. "Jumpy, are we?" he chuckled. She shoved him playfully, and went back to watching the storm.
"My dad and I used to do this, watch storms. One time we saw a tree get struck by lightning. It was so loud I jumped almost a mile high"
"You weren't too far from it just now," chuckled Wonka and she smirked.
"Haha. So funny." She reached to shove him again, but he caught her by the wrist to stop her. He wagged his finger at her and shook his head, and she giggled. He was about to let go, but stopped, glancing at her arm. Some of her scars were very visible, even in the poor lighting, and he traced one with his finger. It ran down from the bend of her arm to her wrist, and looked deep. He hadn't realized she had actually attempted suicide.
"When did you do this?" he asked, looking at her. She pulled her arm away and shook her head.
"The night of my dad's funeral, after I had told you to go away and leave me alone." He looked at her, his face changing to sadness. "I knew I had made a big mistake, and I didn't know if I could take it back. I was so scared and angry and I just wanted to die"
"What stopped you?" he asked softly.
"I thought about how it would effect everyone, what it would put them through. I couldn't do that to my mom, even though I thought I hated her." She had to run her fingers under her lashes. "I thought of you, knowing it'd have been a big, 'In-your-face!' if I went and did that"
He kissed her cheek gently, then pulled away after a few seconds and looked at her. "My world would have come crashing down if you had," he said softly. "I wasn't a cutter, but seeing the pain you were in hit a lot closer to home than you may think." Neither of them could find any words to say and he turned his gaze back up to the glass ceiling. She stared at him for a moment, and rested her head on his shoulder. He glanced at her and smiled a little, looking back at the storm.
-