Disclaimer: I only own Mrs. Brooks, and, with the exception of Ruthie, Terrance (they, like Ronnie, are kids Willy goes trick-or-treating with in his flashback) and Ronnie, Willy's classmates.

A/N: Chapter 7 is here! That said, no reviews for the last chapter? Come on, I know you guys can do better! I love reviews, and more importantly, they're what keep me motivated to write! Flames will of course be thrown right in the Chocolate River, but all other reviews are more than welcome! :) Well, I don't really have much else to say about this chapter other than enjoy! :)

"Willy, watch what you're doing!" Charlie exclaimed. "Huh? What?" Willy asked, sounding dazed. "You're about to invent exploding taffy!" Charlie said frantically. He and Willy were in the Inventing Room, working on two different projects at once (which was something they often did). In this case, they were experimenting with a new type of taffy and trying to perfect the Exploding Candy formula. The only problem was, Willy had very nearly poured the taffy mixture into the Exploding Candy formula.

Luckily, Charlie had finally managed to get his attention. "Whoops!" Willy said, blushing crimson as he set down the taffy mixture. Charlie sighed. Ever since Ronnie's visit to the factory, Willy hadn't been himself. His mind seemed to be on another planet. As a result, Charlie was having to correct HIS mistakes rather than the other way around. "Willy, I'm starting to worry about you. You're making mistakes left and right, and your mind just doesn't seem to be on candy making," Charlie said. "I'm fine, Charlie. Stop worrying so much, 'kay? Now, let's get back to work! The candy isn't going to invent itself!" Willy responded, not sounding at all convincing.

Charlie shrugged. He knew it was useless to try to get Willy to tell him what was really on his mind. "I suppose we should check the calendar to see if any holidays are coming up," Charlie said (as they obviously needed to start work on holiday candy several weeks or even months before the holiday, they needed to check the calendar regularly to make sure no holidays were sneaking up on them!). "Good idea!" said Willy as he reached into one of his pockets and took out the planner he always carried with him.

"Now, let's see…its January 18th ..." Willy muttered, mostly to himself, as he flipped through the calendar. "Wait a minute!" thought Charlie. If it was January, that meant the next month was February, and on February 14th was… "Valentine's Day is next month," Charlie informed his mentor. "Valentine's Day? You mean the holiday that's about l-l-l-," Willy stammered. "Love? Yes, Willy," Charlie answered, just barely managing to refrain from rolling his eyes. "Oh," said Willy, suddenly getting a distant look on his face.

Then something occurred to Charlie. "Willy, have you ever celebrated Valentine's Day before?" he asked. Willy didn't answer, instead, he got the blank look on his face that usually meant he was having a flashback…

It was a Wednesday morning in early February, and school had just begun. Mrs. Brooks had just finished taking attendance, and eight-year-old Willy knew that meant only one thing: Share Time. Basically, it was the third-grade equivalent of Show and Tell (or at least Mrs. Brooks' version of it!). Instead of bringing things in to show the class, Mrs. Brooks would ask the class to discuss a certain topic. On Mondays it was what the students did over the weekend. On Fridays it was usually about what the students' weekend plans were . On the other three days, the topics could be anything from where the students would go for vacation if they could pick any place they wanted to upcoming holidays.

While most of his classmates enjoyed Share Time, Willy did not. More often than not, didn't wasn't able to contribute to the discussion since his father was so strict and didn't allow him to do a whole lot. Inwardly, he sighed and prepared for today's discussion topic.

"We have a holiday coming up in a couple of weeks. That holiday, of course, is Valentine's Day. So today's Share Time topic is Valentine's Day," said Mrs. Brooks. Then she continued, "What do you think of when you think of Valentine's Day?"

Several students raised their hands. Mrs. Brooks called on a girl named Ruthie first. "Hearts, love, and chocolate," she said. Mrs. Brooks wrote those three things on the blackboard (why, Willy had no idea). Then she called on a a boy named Henry. "Candy and flowers," he said. After writing those things on the blackboard, Mrs. Brooks called on Ronnie, a girl who, Willy thought, was the nicest kid in the class. The two weren't really friends, as they'd never even spoken (mostly because Willy was too shy to approach her), but Willy liked her because she was pretty much the only kid who never teased him. "Hugs and kisses," she said in answer to Mrs. Brooks' question. "EW! GROSS!!!!" a boy named Terrance exclaimed rather loudly. Several of Willy's classmates thought that was hysterical and started giggling. A few of them laughed so hard they gave themselves the hiccups! "Class, please calm down!" said Mrs. Brooks.

Once the kids had managed to calm down, Mrs. Brooks asked the next discussion question. "Obviously different people celebrate Valentine's Day in different ways. How does your family celebrate the holiday?" she asked. Willy sighed. Once again, he couldn't participate in the discussion. That's because he and his father never did anything to celebrate Valentine's Day.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. Dr. Wonka always closed his practice and took the day off on Valentine's Day. Other than that, all he seemed to want on Valentine's Day was to be left alone. Willy also noticed that his father always seemed quite sad on Valentine's Day. He had tried to ask his father why he behaved so strangely every Valentine's Day, but all Dr. Wonka would say was "It's really none of your business, Willy". The only clue Willy had ever found was a picture his father had dropped one Valentine's Day as he was heading off to his room to be alone.

Willy had been surprised to find that the picture was of a woman who seemed to look an awful lot like him. She had long, flowing brown hair, purple eyes, and a huge smile. As far as Willy could tell, she looked like she was a person who loved life and was fun to be around. Right as he was thinking that, his father walked into the room. Then, to Willy's surprise, he snatched the picture away from him and said in a rather sharp voice, "Mind your own business, Willy!"...

"Willy!" Charlie called, snapping Willy out of the flashback. "I'm sorry, I was having a flashback," the chocolatier said. "So, have you ever celebrated Valentine's day before?" Charlie asked. "No, Charlie, I haven't," Willy said softly. "Well, you never finished giving Ronnie the factory tour," said Charlie. "That's 'cus she ran out on me!" Willy insisted. Charlie sighed. "Willy, I know that! I just meant that maybe you should offer to complete the tour," he told his mentor.

"Hey, yeah!" Willy exclaimed, sounding more enthusiastic than he had since Ronnie's last visit to the factory. "You sound awfully eager to see her again," Charlie teased. Willy blushed. "Well, can I help it if I like showing off my factory?" he retorted. Charlie had to stifle a giggle. That was the silliest excuse he had ever heard! After all, it was no secret that Willy hated letting "outsiders" into his factory. "Maybe you could invite her to come to the factory on Valentine's Day," Charlie teasingly suggested. "Great idea! I can ask her what she thinks of our new Valentine's candies," Willy replied, completely missing the point.

Shortly after that rather awkward (in Willy's opinion, anyway!) exchange in the Inventing Room, Willy and Charlie were sitting down to supper with the Buckets. "So, boys, how's your day been?" Mrs. Bucket asked. Charlie hesitated. He didn't want to embarrass Willy by telling his parents and grandparents that the Chocolatier's mind was basically in the ozone layer. He WAS a little concerned about Willy's sudden absent-mindedness, but he figured he could talk to his mother about it in private later.

So he settled for sharing the news about inviting Ronnie back to the factory. "It's been going pretty good. Willy's going to invite Ronnie back to the Factory," he said. "That's wonderful, Charlie!" said Mrs. Bucket. "So, whens the big day?" Mr. Bucket asked. "Valentine's Day," said Charlie. "Yeah, Valentine's Day!" Willy said, sounding both nervous and eager. "I think Willy's got a crush on her!" Charlie teased. The Chocolatier promptly turned beet red. "I do NOT!" he exclaimed.

Mrs. Bucket decided it was probably best to change the subject a little. "So, what exactly are you planning to do for Ronnie's next visit to the factory?" she asked. "Why, finish showing her the factory, of course!" Willy answered. "I know that, Willy. I just thought that, since it was Valentine's Day, you might want to do something special for her," said Mrs. Bucket.

"Like what?" asked Willy. He didn't want to admit that the real reason he was asking that question was that he had no idea what sort of things one was supposed to do on Valentine's Day (after all, he had never celebrated the holiday before, let alone with a woman!)! "Well, you could have a picnic in the chocolate room," Mrs. Bucket suggested. "Joe usually gives me flowers on Valentine's Day. Maybe Ronnie would like some, too," Grandma Josephine chimed in. "Unfortunately, due to the fact that we were so poor before, I was never able to get anything for Nora for Valentine's Day. However, I always wanted to get her chocolate, because she loves it as much as Charlie does!" spoke up Mr. Bucket.

"Actually, you gave me the best gift of all...yourself!" said Mrs. Bucket. In response, Mr. Bucket leaned over and tenderly kissed his wife. "EWWWWWWW!" exclaimed Charlie. Mr. and Mrs. Bucket laughed gently. Charlie was definitely a 10-year-old boy! "So, why don't we brainstorm some other things Willy could do for Ronnie on Valentine's Day," suggested Charlie, eager to change the subject. "Good idea! Willy, you could sing her a song," said Mr. Bucket. "Or...What were some of her favorite things from last time she was here?" asked Mrs. Bucket.

Willy hadn't been expecting that question. "Well, uh...I think she liked the boat ride on the chocolate river. There was also the glass elevator..." he finally said, trailing off as he remembered just what had happened in the elevator. The memory made him blush, for what felt like the millionth time that day. "Willy, is something wrong?" Mrs. Bucket asked. Willy sighed. Leave it to her to notice that he was blushing! "No, I'm 'kay," he answered.

Mrs. Bucket shrugged. She had the sneaking suspicion that something had happened between Willy and Ronnie in that elevator. If Willy didn't want to talk about it, though, she certainly wasn't going to force him to! Instead she said, "Well, since she liked the boat ride, maybe you could take her on another one". "You could make her a card, too," suggested Charlie. Willy, however, was no longer paying attention. For some reason, he found himself imagining how Ronnie's lips would feel against his own. "Wait a minute! Since when do I want to kiss her?" he suddenly silently asked himself.

The chocolatier tried to shrug off the thought. What was it about Ronnie that kept making him feel so strange? Then, suddenly, Willy remembered Charlie's words: "I think he has a crush on her!" Was it possible, he wondered, that he really WAS in love with Ronnie?

Chapter 8 Preview: Ronnie manages to get herself in trouble at work....and she recieves an invitation from a certain chocolatier!