Stolen Heart - Willy Wonka x Y/n

Chapter 20

Not knowing what to do, where to go, I ran to the laundry. Easy enough in the darkness of the night. Using the stone wall and a tree outside of Noodles room, I climbed my way up to her window. Clinging to the wall, I knocked, hoping she would let me in.

I've always had a feeling that Noodles may not entirely trust me. She's smart. One shouldn't trust strangers. I'm an exception, of course. To my relief, she saw me outside and opened up the window, allowing me to crawl in.

I quickly explained to her what had happened as I paced back and forth in her room. My thoughts were racing inside of my head. I looked at Noodle, at the young girl who had endured so much for so little.

Then, as I was observing the young girl, my thoughts suddenly halted. And so did I.

In no time, I'm out the window again, sliding down to wall to hit the ground running. No time to explain to Noodle, who called after me from her window.

I'm a good runner. Usually I'm running because someone caught me stealing and is consequently chasing me. Only this time, I was running towards someone instead of away from them. I was running towards Willy.

I can't let him do this. Can't let him leave. I know that he is thinking of the others, that he is paying their debts. But, selfish as I've always been, I still don't want to let him go. We'll find another way to help the others, surely.

It wasn't that far to the docks. I ran as quickly as I could. I had to stop him before he boarded that ship, before he'd disappear from me. The thought of never seeing him again made my heart burn, it hurt worse than most physical pains that I've endured.

I flew down the cobblestone streets, past the buildings. I'm lucky that it was in the middle of the night, otherwise the streets would have never been this empty.

I could finally see the docks from a distance. A smile broke out on my face. But that same smile quickly fell as I realised that a boat had already left the docks. The boat was slowly heading towards the beautiful horizon, away from me.

I clenched my jaw, still moving forward. I'll just tell a lie to whoever works at the docks, that there is a system failure on that boat and that they'll need to call it back in and-

The boat exploded. I stopped dead in my tracks, my heart dropped to my stomach. The boat was lit like a torch in the middle of the night. Reflecting on the surface of the water around it.

I couldn't do other but to stare at it. My own pulse was deafening in my ears. Willy was on that boat. Willy was on the boat that exploded. Which would mean-

I inhaled sharply. My body started shaking. I felt sick. My body reacted before my mind would even consider the possibility. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to control my breathing. Because I was hyperventilating. Then came the tears. I couldn't have stopped them even if I'd tried.

The pain. It felt as if someone had ripped out my heart out of my chest. I wish I actually could do that, because maybe that would stop this pain. This, is why I should have never cared. Why did I allow myself to care about him? I'm so stupid. Stupid, stupid, extremely stupid.

I don't know how long I stood in that exact spot, frozen. The only sounds in the night was my pathetic crying. Until... I heard some footsteps. Normally, I would have ran away. But for once, I didn't feel like running.

I looked up to my right, expecting to see a villager, a worried citizen. But unstead, I stared into those hazel eyes.

Once again, the air was knocked out of my lungs. Only a short distance away, standing like a ghost, was Willy Wonka with a smile that reached ear to ear. His clothes were soaked, as was his hair. But he was smiling. Breathing. Alive.

"Hello darling. Why are you crying?" He asked, as he tilted his head.

I stared at him. I could punch him right now, for worrying me like that. Or yell at him. Or... I ran into his arms and buried my face in his neck. He was cold, but I still wanted to feel him. I thought I had lost him.

"I thought you died." I whispered, barely audible. Willy wrapped his arms around my back, nuzzling his face in my air.

"Oh, I'd never die like that. No fun or excitement at all. You shouldn't have worried." Willy Wonka said reassuringly. Then his smile softened, and he stroked my hair with his cold hand. "Although, I do appreciate that you care."

"Shut up." I said in defence, as I pulled him closer to me. I pulled his face to me and kissed him. I kissed him with every ounce of my emotions, every last corner of my soul that a just short moment ago was grieving him. One could see it as a attempt to warm him up. But really, it was because I didn't know what else to do with all my emotions. Willy answered the kiss with even more passion, cupping my face with his hands. The kiss was cold. The kiss was warm. It was everything.

"You're freezing, we need to get you to a fireplace or something." I quickly said as I pulled away and looked into his eyes. Willy shook his head, never letting our eye contact go.

"That can wait. I've realised something. And if I'm right, Noodles is in great danger."