Rising Dawn (Willy Wonka X OC)

Exploring the Beach

He nods and pulls me closer by wrapping his arms around my shoulders. I tuck my head under his chin and feel the deep vibrations from Will's chest as he hums, pondering his words.

"Like I said before, he's not dead. But I guess I should start at the beginning. I honestly wasn't planning on doing anything that night. Of course I wanted to do something, but I would have talked to you about it. Thing is...I had a bad dream about you getting hurt again." He squeezes me tighter and I nuzzle into him. "I just couldn't fall back asleep and got up to take a walk. I was feeling..."

"Squirrelly?" I fill in for him.

He smiles down at me. "Precisely. I couldn't rest knowing that kind of evil existed in the world. So I went out to smite my nemesis and be able to rest easy knowing you were safe."

"Slow your roll, tall, dark, and sixteenth-century. Nemesis?"

"Hey, I was half asleep and angry, good old fashion revenge smiting seemed reasonable at the time." He shrugs as if it's the most logical thing in the world. "So I sent out my feelers, and within minutes, I had a location."

"And?" He needs to finish.

"And I went to him and beat him around a little. Maybe broke a bone or two. Maybe ripped his junk off. Maybe-"

"Best pillow talk ever," I interrupt. I don't doubt that Will wanted to do those things, but I do doubt that he actually did them. Will laughs and I smile, pulling away to grab my coffee.

"Well, then I issued a stern warning against stepping out of line, making sure to tell him I had constant eyes on him. And then I left him...on the other side of town. Naked. In the middle of a public square. Right before rush hour."

I gasp and turn to look Will in the eyes to see if he's telling the truth. The proud glimmer of mischief in his eyes tells me he wasn't kidding about that part. My surprise turns into delight and I giggle.

"And then I rushed home to you, my love," Will finishes before kissing my head. "Now, will you eat your breakfast before it gets cold?"

"One more thing." His next answer might destroy my appetite for good, but I need to know. "Where is my father right now?"

Will chokes on his sip of coffee and coughs before setting it aside and wrapping his arms around me again, careful not to make me spill my own cup.

"I'd rather not talk about what happened that night," he says, looking up and towards the balcony.

"Just tell me this much. Did you...did you kill him?"

Will winces and then finally looks back at me. "No."

I close my eyes for a second and nod. As with Nigel, I don't doubt that Will would kill for me, I just shudder to think that he has.

"Alright. We're good now," I say with a smile as I pick up my plate and begin eating.

>< >< >< >< ><

"So what'll it be, my moon princess? A walk on the beach, inevitably turned water fight, or rock climbing to the top of those cliffs?" Will asks, hands rubbing up and down my shoulders.

We're standing on the balcony of the upstairs master bedroom of the beautiful beach house that overlooks the ocean. The sound of waves crashing on the shore is almost louder than our voices, but I definitely heard his question.

I take one look at the sharp rocks under the steep cliffs on either side of the house. This morning, I had seen more of the environment around the house from the windows. There's a V shape formed with cliffs on top of which I assume is some sort of elevated plateau. As pleasant as I assume being up there to see the ocean would be, the journey there is less than desireable and definitely more dangerous than it's worth. I look down at where the rocks of the cliff meet the water on our right and see that it'd be no trouble to climb over those rocks. On our left, there's a well-supported tunnel in the huge rocks paved with sand that leads to more beach.