Willy had never been prone to being ill, but the merciless gurgling in his stomach had not relented for nearly three days now – he kept his factory pristine and sterile because of course it was necessary, but because of this, it appeared his immune system found the outside world absolutely toxic, in more ways than one, and this quality rubbed off on the people in it.

In any case, he normally was able to go out for short outings without any consequence, and so he figured this outing was only difference because of its rather unfortunate circumstances, to which he only admitted to being mildly distressed. Every day so far, Charlie had walked in Willy’s quarters trying to pry into why Willy had not brought Alyssa Cabot back, and every day so far, Willy had acted as if the question was a mere gust of wind blowing through his ears.

So, Willy wasn’t surprised when Charlie pushed open the doors this morning.

“If you’re hoping that I’ve been hiding Miss Cabot in a trunk for the past few days, you have my sincerest apologies,” he said with a mildly melancholy grin, still sitting up in bed. “I’m sure you can run the factory for just one more –”

“Someone just left this at the gates, Mr. Wonka,” Charlie said, brandishing an envelope and coming to his mentor’s side. Willy had obviously not been expecting this break from routine, and he took the envelope from Charlie’s hands, looking expectantly up at the boy. “A younger woman left it with me and said it was from her sister.”

Brow furrowed, Willy opened the enveloped to find a folded piece of lined paper, printed in the scrawled of someone who was obviously a child.

Mr. Wonka,

I am sorry if I am bugging you from work. I don’t know whatsa matter with Miss Lyssa. Yesterday at school some bigger boys hit me and bullied me into eating a Calloway bar. I am in Sacred Heart Hospital because my arm’s broke and I’m sick. Something is wrong. Please don’t tell Miss Lyssa what happened.

Kellie

After reading the pleas of the little girl that he had felt such warmth towards, the queasy feeling in Willy’s stomach was replaced by a sense of urgency, and he pushed himself out of bed, looking at Charlie. The concern blazed in his eyes – Calloway was behind all of this, and the wheels in his mind were working to figure out how, even if it was only him doing so. “You can handle things on your own today, Charlie?”

As the boy nodded, Willy prepared to go.

Alyssa sat at Kellie’s bedside in her hospital room – Kellie had been angry at her ever since she returned to find that Alyssa hadn’t told Shay to put things back to how they were, and the little girl refused to speak much to her. So, since Kellie’s parents and sister were unavailable to keep her company, Alyssa merely tended to the little girl in the relative silence.

“Kellie,” Alyssa said, sitting in a chair and holding her hand, speaking almost pleadingly. “You’re gonna be alright, sweetie – but what happened?”

Kellie looked up at Alyssa, blinking tiredly. “You didn’t want to hurt Mister Wonka, right? You’re gonna fix things?”

Alyssa’s expression fell from the smile she’d been trying to keep on – she couldn’t fathom how to possibly explain this situation to a child, that it was as easy to fix as a broken yo-yo. “I wish I didn’t have to,” she said weakly, “But, I just –”

The hinge of the door creaked open, and Alyssa cut herself to look up, only to be met with those crystalline eyes she thought she’d never see again, and she looked down at Kellie, who smiled as much as she could while looking between the two. “Willy?” Alyssa said incredulously.

Willy, however, didn’t grant her more than a glance before moving to sit at the opposite side of bed, taking a firm, comforting grasp on Kellie’s hand. “I got your letter,” he said sweetly, and there was a terrible tug in Alyssa’s stomach when she realized that she was somewhat jealous of the little girl for being the object of that tone. “I brought you something, It might help a bit,” Willy said, pulling a Wonka bar out of his coat pocket and placing it next to Kellie.

The little girl looked crestfallen that Willy had made no effort to talk to Alyssa – she had seen them with her own two eyes just days ago, they loved each other so much. Why were they making it all so difficult?

Willy gave Kellie another smile as he removed his hand from hers and got up to leave. Spurred by something she couldn’t quite name, Alyssa rose from her chair and caught up with Willy just outside of the door to Kellie’s hospital room.

“Willy,” she said slowly, and he internally damned himself for being unable to resist the urge to turn and face her. “You look a little pale – are you alright?”

He could see the concern in Alyssa’s face, and he very much wanted to smile and reassure her that she didn’t need to worry about anything. But judging by her actions, using the line of logic he had been very accustomed to utilizing, she didn’t desire his presence, because she was making it terribly difficult for anything to flourish between them.

“No worse off than yourself,” Willy said vaguely, noting internally that Alyssa looked as though she hadn’t slept at all for days, topped off by the hurt expression that grasped her countenance as he so brusquely pushed her concern aside.

“She wrote you?” Alyssa asked, gesturing back towards Kellie’s room and dead set upon looking as though she felt absolutely no hurt whatsoever. “She won’t tell me what happened.”

Willy recalled the letter and understood – Kellie had requested that he keep the incident with the boys on the playground and the Calloway bar a secret because the little girl had known it would hurt Alyssa. Moreover, Willy was good to his word to the greatest extent that his conscience allowed.

“Perhaps it was something she ate,” he said vaguely, turning on his heel and walking away with a careless ‘good day’ muttered over his shoulder. Alyssa blinked, shaking her head and gritting her teeth – a motion which very quickly gave her the beginnings of a headache – as she walked back into Kellie’s room.

Kellie’s hopeful, tired little grin fell as Alyssa returned to the room alone – she had wanted so very much to see them make things better and take care of her together. Alyssa looked at the smaller girl in the eye, but Kellie looked away, looking incredibly hurt and close to tears. If Alyssa hadn’t felt like she’d lost everyone now, having even Kellie turn away from her must have done the trick.

Alyssa was very close to kneeling at the girl’s bedside and begging her to say a word, but before she could, the door creaked open again. Alyssa spun around to look, hoping to see Willy back again, even if only for Kellie’s sake. Instead, she only found herself face-to-face with a handsome, hollow grin

“Cullen,” Alyssa asked incredulously.

“I heard about your little patron and just had to come,” Cullen said, walking towards Kellie’s bed and placing a hand on her forehead out of artfully feigned affection. Kellie grimaced noticeably, but that expression was nothing compared to the look of displeasure on Cullen’s face when he spotted the colorful bit of wrapping poking out from the folds of the hospital bedsheets.

“Wonka?” he said, dripping with obvious disdain. “Well no wonder the poor dear’s ill.” He reached into his coat and brandished one of his own candybars with an overly exaggerated flourish, and both girls visibly stiffened as they realized that the man was merely a bad imitation of Willy Wonka, loved only for his sickeningly infectious, affected charms. “Here, sweet pea, eat this –”

“No, don’t!” Alyssa said suddenly, making both Kellie and Cullen look up at her; the latter had a cocked eyebrow, wondering why his newest underling had suddenly and so rashly spoken out. Alyssa, of course, realized this all too late, but was resolved to cover up the fact that she now had absolutely no trust for the man. She walked over to the bedside, siding up next to Cullen with a coy grin, her forearm brushing against his.

“Let the poor dear’s stomach rest, Cullen,” she said calmly, and Cullen, the womanizer he was, was incredibly receptive to this new attitude, as he tucked the candy bar back into his pocket, though his eyes defied her to explain. “We’re restricting her to oatmeal and warm milk until we figure out what made her sick.”

“Probably the ruddy stomach flu,” he chortled, gesturing towards the exit. Alyssa glanced at Kellie briefly, then followed Cullen as they started toward the hallway. “You know how children are.”

“Yes. Yes, I do,” she said. Alyssa paused and put on a convincing smile, though the wheels in her head were now turning – she saw something in Cullen when she’d interjected moments earlier. She had seen fear, the sort of fear one shows when they are hiding something. “I know children very well actually,” she continued with the same calm smile, which drew Cullen a step closer to her. He wanted to play cat and mouse – but Alyssa was never one to be compared to a rodent. She cocked one side of her lips into a smirk and looked away offhandedly. “Willy stopped by too, you know. Thinks it could be something she ate.”

“Imagine that,” Cullen said, stiffening slightly, but taking a step closer so as not to be conspicuous, though Alyssa could have sworn she saw the red smeared all over his hands. Interrupting her thoughts, Cullen leaned forward and placed a kiss on her cheek, cocking a charming grin before turning and leaving.

“Yes, do imagine,” Alyssa muttered to herself, turning back and re-entering Kellie’s room. She looked at the girl and gave her a weak smile. “I’m going to make everything better, Kels,” she stated resolutely, walking over to the young little cherub’s bedside and picking up the Wonka bar. She pulled the wrapper open at one end and held it out for Kellie to take. “Eat this. You’ll feel much better,” she said lovingly.

Alyssa gave Kellie one last look, and moved to leave – an idea was now running through her head, one that was burning to her very core. It would take everything she had to follow through, quite literally, and she couldn’t commit to it yet.

She walked all the way back to her own shoppe and as she pushed open the newly painted door, she was greeted by a loud squeal from Shay, followed by the other woman nearly tackling her to the floor in an friendly, excited embrace. Alyssa pulled back and looked at Shay in confusion, only to have a piece of parchment brandished in her face – and she recognized it very well.

“The Candymakers’ Gala?” she said incredulously, snatching it out of Shay’s hands. The words were printed plain as day, and yet Alyssa could not believe that the piece of well-calligraphed pen had been delivered to the right address. She had wanted to receive this invitation since the day the shoppe opened, and now, it arrived, yet under the most disgusting circumstances. “You mean, we were invited this year?”

“Yes!” Shay cried out shrilly, snatching it back and jumping into the air. “Isn’t it fantastic? We’re the most popular ice cream parlour in the area and it’s all thanks to Cullen Calloway –” Shay froze suddenly as she saw the expression on Alyssa’s face become one of only feigned joy. “Lyssa, I’m so –”

“Just forget it,” she said with a stiff smile – this news made the dilemma the meeting with Cullen had presented her with infinitely more difficult to resolve. “I – I need to go for a walk.” Alyssa shook off Shay’s attempts at apologizing and comforting her, then walked out of her shop yet again.

Alyssa pulled her coat around her as she wandered through the suburban streets, allowing the winter wind to whip her all about her. There had been a time, not long ago, when everything about Alyssa had to be crisp and impeccable, but now, she couldn’t bear to feel so restrained.

She found herself realizing that she had wandered a bit farther than she had intended to, in front of avery familiar building.

Bill’s Candy Shoppe.

Old Bill could always be relied upon to cheer up his customers – or rather, his guests. The old shop always seemed so much more like a little home, and maybe, just maybe, it was the only thing that could have made Alyssa smile right now. She walked in, and she was greeted with a smile by the owner, standing faithfully behind the counter as always.

“Do you have any Wonka bars?” Alyssa asked, and she was met by aknowing smile from Bill. “I just miss them, that’s all.”

“Miss them, you say?” he said with a grin, moving to the single box he had, which had obviously hardly been touched. He pulled one out, giving it a bit of a toss and a juggle in the air before handing it to Alyssa. “I’m the only one who still gets regular shipments – it’s a terrible shame,” he said, eyeing Alyssa knowingly, leaning over the counter slightly to speak to her, though her mind seemed elsewhere.

“Can you tell me how Calloway bars became so popular?” she asked suddenly, and Bill pulled back slightly, letting out a breath as though he had been fully expecting the question.

“It’s a strange story,” he began, and with that single statement, Alyssa was enthralled. “Calloway marketed to adults, really – overpriced, underflavored goods. Hardly ever made it off the shelves. Then one day, a shipment came in with new packing, new everything. The adults began to give them a try, and they kept coming back as though they couldn’t help themselves. Their children began coming in for them, and the rest is history.”

Alyssa seemed dazed, her eyes staring off toward oblivion beneath a furrowed brow. “Strange,” she muttered with a nod. “Very strange.”

A/N's

You have my deepest apologies, you guys. I know, I haven't upated in a pretty long while, but I've been so swamped lately. School's been incredibly busy for me lately, and I've just started making plans. I'm getting married this summer - so trying to plan for that, as well a keep up with my classes, has been incredibly busy. I'll try not to take so long for the next chapter, which is actually going to be a bit less plot-driven than this one. Anyhow, I'm a bit pressed for time, because I need to work on a paper tonight, but I'll be updating soon, and I wanted to be sure you all knew that I haven't disappeared from the face of the earth. Thanks everyonefor the reviews, I always appreciate them! Cheers!