Charlie ran into Wonka's room, not even bothering to wipe the tears from his eyes. "Charlie!" he heard Wonka frantically calling from down the hall. Charlie buried his face in Wonka's pillow, which smelled exactly like his best friend, making his heart ache even more as he sobbed into it.
The door was thrown open and Charlie heard quick footsteps across the room. He felt Wonka sit down beside him on the bed and a second later, a hand gently stroked his hair. "Charlie, it's okay. It's okay. I'm not mad."
He lifted his head, tears streaming quickly down his cheeks. "You - you aren't?"
"Of course not!" Wonka wrapped him in a tight hug and Charlie melted into his arms.
Looking up at the chocolatier, Charlie said, "I thought that you would be angry at me. I thought..." He trailed off.
"You thought what?" The fear in Wonka's eyes tore at the boy's heart.
"I thought you wouldn't want me to be your heir anymore."
Wonka froze. Charlie panicked, unsure of what Wonka would do. "I don't ever want to hear you say that again, Charlie," Wonka said, his voice firm. "Don't you dare say that again." Tears filled Wonka's eyes and Charlie's heart shattered even more. It was all so heartbreaking, the whole thing, so unbearable, every second of it. Now Charlie had hurt Wonka, which was the last thing he wanted to do.
"I love you."
Wonka shook his head, both of them crying now. "I can't, Charlie. You're too young, and I'm too old."
"Please." Charlie tugged at the collar of Wonka's shirt. "I love you so much. More than anything. I love you." Charlie repeated it like a mantra.
"I can't."
"But do you want to?"
Wonka flushed bright red, completely revealing his answer. "I can't answer that, Charlie."
"You do love me!" Charlie's heart swelled with hope.
"Of course I love you, my dear, but I-"
Charlie kissed him, cutting off his words. Wonka's fingers went up into Charlie's hair, and it felt so incredibly good, Charlie let out a small groan. "Don't ever stop," Charlie whispered into the kiss, and Wonka pulled him closer. The kiss deepened and Charlie squeezed tears out of his eyes. "I love you."
"I love you so much, Charlie." Charlie sobbed in relief and happiness at Wonka's words and buried his face in Wonka's neck. "More than anything."
They spent the rest of that day in bed, Charlie in Wonka's arms. It was a lazy day, without inventing, without even much talking. But they did talk some, and at one point Wonka asked, "How long have you felt like this for me?"
"I'm not sure exactly," Charlie admitted. "I realized it...the other day? But I know I've had these feelings for a while, I just didn't realize up until now. It broke my heart."
"I'm sorry," Wonka said.
Charlie lifted his head to kiss him. "It's not your fault," he whispered against Wonka's lips. Wonka pulled him close, his hand on the back of Charlie's neck. After they broke the kiss, Charlie rested his head on Wonka's chest, listening to the chocolatier's heartbeat. Wonka wrapped his arms around Charlie's waist, kissing his hair, and they lay in silence. Charlie had never felt more peaceful or happy.
And then there was a knock on the door.
Charlie groaned. "Make it go away," he complained, burying his face in Wonka's chest.
Wonka chuckled. "I apologize, Charlie, I've completely forgotten about my appointment."
Charlie kissed him, deeply, savoring it. "What appointment?" he asked when they broke apart?
"Therapy." They shared another kiss, neither wanting to get up.
Another knock. "Willy, I know you're in there. And Charlie, too. I hear voices."
Charlie paled. "Does she...?"
Wona shook his head.
Relieved, Charlie got out of bed and Wonka followed him to the door. The chocolatier opened it. "Yes, yes, I'm coming," he said. "I'll see you in an hour, Charlie?"
Charlie nodded and hugged him. Wonka hugged him back tightly, and then followed his therapist down the hall and into a room, the door closing behind them.
Charlie headed towards the Winter Room, bored, in the mood to ice skate if he couldn't be with Wonka. He'd left his skates on a bench by the skating rink, so he laced them up and went out onto the ice.
It was harder skating without Wonka. Charlie had had little experience ice skating, and he held onto the wall for support. He tried letting go of the wall and skating by himself, because he'd done it yesterday and made Wonka proud. He felt more and more confident as he skated, and then he started going faster.
And then he fell. Last time he'd fallen, Wonka had caught him, but said chocolatier wasn't here to catch him now. Charlie landed hard and he felt a sharp stab of pain in his ankle.
It's funny sometimes, how even though you're not a doctor, you know you've broken something. It's like that gut instinct. That's what Charlie had then, along with a rush of panic. He was alone in the ice rink. No Wonka, no Oompa-Loompas. And he was far from the exit.
He tried to crawl forward, but he felt another wave of pain that brought tears to his eyes. "Help!" he shouted, praying someone, anyone was around to hear him. "Please, somebody help me!"
Stranded on the ice, he could do nothing but try to slowly move forward. And when he did, it sent waves of agony through him. Adrenaline made its way through his veins, along with more pain as he inched forward across the ice, calling for help.
Finally, after what seemed like hours but was maybe twenty minutes, an Oompa-Loompa came rushing in. "Oh, thank goodness!" Charlie sobbed, tears flowing down his cheeks.
The Oompa Loompa said it would be right back and went to get a few more Oompa-Loompas to help Charlie. When they returned, they helped Charlie off the ice. They set him on a couch in the hallway and propped his foot up, then went to get Wonka.
"Charlie!" The same door that Wonka had disappeared through was thrown open not long after the small group of Oompa-Loompas had gone in. Wonka rushed over to him, his therapist following behind him. "What happened?!" Charlie explained how he had gone skating, then fallen on the ice and hurt his ankle. "Oh, I'm so glad you aren't hurt worse." Wonka hugged him and Charlie wept into his chest. Wonka's therapist was gone when Charlie finally lifted his head
"It hurts, Mr. Wonka."
"Okay, let's get you to your family, kiddo." Wonka lifted the boy in his arms and carried him down the hall. "You should have known better than to go skating by yourself. Mrs. Bucket's going to strangle me when she sees you."
Charlie hung his head in misery. "I'm sorry."
"I just don't want you to get hurt." Tears filled Wonka's eyes and Charlie ached to kiss him.
"Wait, stop for a minute."
Wonka paused in the hallway. "What-" he started, but was interrupted with a kiss. They kissed for a few seconds before Charlie felt Wonka smiling against his mouth.
"We have to get you to your p-p-parents, 'kay?"
Charlie smiled. Wonka was able to say that word more often now. He was so proud of the chocolatier.
Mr. and Mrs. Bucket's eyes immediately widened when Wonka carried Charlie in the doorway of their house. "Charlie!" Mrs. Bucket exclaimed. "What happened?!"
Charlie sighed and retold the story, not eager to relive the painful experience. "Oh, that's so dangerous!" his mother said. "You went out on the ice by yourself?"
"I'm sorry, Mother."
"And you should very well be. You could have hurt yourself a lot worse," his father said.
"We need to take you to the doctor," said Mrs. Bucket.
"I want Mr. Wonka to come," Charlie said, holding on tighter to Wonka's neck.
"If he doesn't want to leave the factory, he-" Mrs. Bucket started.
"I'll come," said Wonka. "'Course I'll come."
Charlie looked up at Wonka, shocked. He could have kissed the man right there, except his whole family was watching. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Wonka's neck instead, burying his face in the chocolatier's warm jacket. "I love you," he mumbled.
"I love you, too, my dear."
"How adorable!" Grandma Georgina said.
Mrs. Bucket smiled. "All right, then, let's go."
The doctor took one look at Charlie's ankle and declared it was a sprain. "Sprains hurt worse than a break," the doctor said, reading his mind as Charlie thought breaks were worse than sprains. Then he left to go get the materials for Charlie's cast that he would be wearing for the next four to six weeks.
"Great," Charlie muttered.
Wonka kept his arm tightly around the boy. "I'll take care of you."
Mrs. Bucket watched them, amazed. "You two really are just the sweetest thing ever." Wonka and Charlie flushed matching shades of red. "I'm glad Charlie has you, Willy. He really loves you."
"I do," Charlie said, looking up at Wonka with eyes full of obvious love. They hugged as the doctor came back in and started to wrap Charlie's foot in a cast. It felt weird having a cast on, and after the material had settled on his broken foot, Charlie wobbled around the doctors' office with his crutches, Wonka close enough behind him to catch the boy he loved if he fell - again.
When they left, Charlie still hadn't gotten the hang of using his crutches, so Wonka carried him home. Charlie slept with Wonka again that night, completely happy in his arms. He fell asleep instantly after his long day with his chocolatier still stroking his hair.
AN: Hope you liked it! Review please? Updates soon