After another dream about Wonka, Charlie woke up the next morning in his chocolatier's arms. Wonka was still asleep and Charlie smiled as he watched him sleep. He was so beautiful.
Charlie kissed him awake, and Wonka opened an eye and smiled. "Good morning," he said cheerfully. "How's your ankle?"
He'd forgotten about his ankle, and when he told Wonka, his partner chuckled. "Well, it's a good thing you didn't remember and then put a ton of weight on it."
Charlie could definitely agree with that.
"Oh my goodness, I completely forgot to tell you," Wonka said quickly.
"Tell me what?"
"I have a little something planned for us tonight." Wonka smiled, looking very pleased with himself.
"What is it?" Charlie asked, curious.
"It's...well..." Wonka blushed, only making Charlie even more curious. "A date."
"A date?" asked Charlie. His parents had talked about going on dates, but could never afford them. Lately, however, they'd gone out on dates since they now had more money. Charlie didn't know what they were, though. "What's a date?"
"It's when two people who have feelings for each other like we do...couples...go out, like to the cinema, or in this case, stay inside the factory," Wonka explained.
Charlie brightened. "So we're a couple now?" he said, daring to get his hopes up.
"'Course we are, silly. Friends don't kiss. Heh." Wonka ruffled Charlie's hair affectionately.
"What are we going to do on our date?" Charlie asked. "Ice skating?"
Wonka hesitated. "Er..."
Charlie remembered his ankle again and groaned. "Right. Ankle."
"I really don't think you should ice skate either way, Charlie, broken ankle or not."
Charlie pulled away from Wonka's embrace. "Why not?"
"I don't want you to get hurt again."
Charlie felt a twinge of annoyance. "I'm twelve years old. Kids way younger than me probably ice skate."
"Well, maybe they don't have someone who loves them as much as I love you," Wonka pointed out.
Despite the warmth in his heart, Charlie glared. "If you loved me, you'd let me have fun like any other kid."
Wonka's eyes widened. "Charlie, my love for you isn't debatable so don't you dare ever say that again!"
Tears filled Charlie's eyes. Wonka had yelled at him. Wonka never yelled at him. "I...I hate you." The tears slipped down Charlie's cheeks as Wonka stared at him in shock. Charlie got up and left, and this time, Wonka didn't follow him. Furious, Charlie limped off as fast as his crutches would take him.
Charlie sat on the edible grass near his small house, his knees tucked up to his chest and his face buried in his lap. After getting over his anger, he realized how hurt Wonka probably was right now. He'd said he loved Charlie, and Charlie had repaid him by telling Wonka he hated him, which he definitely did not. He'd been upset, but that was no excuse.
He wanted to go find Wonka, but it was hard, especially knowing that he was at fault in this situation. Maybe he'd been annoyed, but that hadn't been an excuse. He felt so horrible for what he'd said that he got up in search of Wonka.
He found the man in his room, where Charlie had left him. When he knocked and opened the door, it was obvious Wonka had been crying. "I'm so sorry," Charlie said, fresh tears streaming down his cheeks as he hurtled himself into Wonka's arms, ignoring the hot pain in his ankle. He hugged Wonka tightly, so tightly he worried he was squishing the man, but half of him didn't care. "I'm so sorry. I love you..."
"I know." Charlie felt lips against his hair and he thought of how Wonka deserved so much better than him. He lifted his head and kissed Wonka, his lips trembling against his partner's. Their kiss was deep and passoinate and Charlie repeated "I love you" over and over again between kisses. "I'm sorry, too," Wonka said after they'd been kissing for a while.
Charlie pulled away, shook his head, and kissed Wonka again. "You did nothing wrong," he said against his lips. "Nothing."
Wonka reached out and gently touched Charlie's cheek with his palm. Charlie leaned into his touch, closing his eyes. A moment later, Charlie felt a pair of warm, soft lips on his. He sighed into the kiss, his face wet with tears.
"I love you." Charlie's throat felt tight and he choked on the words. Wonka hugged him close, both of them relaxing in each other's arms.
After a while of silence, Wonka asked, "Still want to go on that date with me tonight?"
"Of course!" Charlie kissed him. "I can't wait."
"I can't either, my love." Charlie flushed deeply as Wonka kissed him again.
That night, Charlie followed Wonka out of his room for the first time in hours. "Is it really evening already? Time goes by so fast," Charlie said through a yawn as they walked down the hallway holding hands.
"Indeed it does," Wonka agreed, wrapping an arm around Charlie's shoulders and pulling his partner close. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Charlie rested his head on Wonka's arm as they walked together. "Where are we going?"
Wonka laughed. "You'll see." They shared a kiss and Wonka led Charlie up a flight of stairs to a balcony. He opened the sliding glass door - not before running into it, of course, which made Charlie laugh - and said boy gasped.
The chocolatier had arranged pillows and blankets around the balcony, under the canopy of stars. Fire from the candlelight blew slightly in the cool wind. A plate of chocolate covered strawberries lay out for them on the side. "Did you do all of this?" Charlie asked, his hand still in Wonka's.
"Of course I did, silly." Wonka kissed him. "I thought it'd be romantic."
"It is." Charlie assured Wonka, though he didn't have much expertise in romance. They lay down on the blankets together and Wonka held him as they looked up at the stars. "There's so many of them," he said. "The stars. How many do you think there are in the whole universe?"
"Beats me," Wonka said, keeping his arm around Charlie.
"Hey, there's the Big Dipper! And the Little Dipper." Charlie pointed.
"Yep, there they are." Wonka followed his finger as Charlie snuggled closer to him.
"Mr. Wonka," Charlie said. Wonka looked at him only to be brought into a kiss. Wonka's fingers gripped Charlie's hair and he rolled on top of the boy, kissing him deeply. Wonka's tongue found Charlie's and Charlie opened his mouth, letting their tongues twist together. It felt weird but Charlie liked it. Wonka kissed him hard, surprising Charlie because it was so different than their other kisses. A moan escaped from Charlie's lips before he could stop it, and he felt himself blushing.
They broke apart, gasping for breath, Wonka's forehead resting against his own. The chocolatier wrapped his arms around Charlie's waist. "So, I've finished your birthday present."
"What is it?"
"Aw, that's cute, you think I'm gonna tell you," Wonka teased. Charlie rolled his eyes, laughing. Shyly, he reached for Wonka's hand, entwining their fingers. His partner squeezed his hand. "You're gonna love it, though, I promise."
Charlie smiled fondly at him. "I know I will."
They kissed some more and then remembered the chocolate covered strawberries. Charlie reached over to the plate and picked one up, taking a delicious bite of it. "These are amazing," he remarked. "Try some."
He and Wonka split a few strawberries and then it got windy, so they packed up their things and went inside to eat dinner with Charlie's family. Charlie stopped him before they went down the stairs and kissed him deeply. Holding hands, they went to join Charlie's family for dinner.
AN: Updates soon! Review please? :)