Who You Share it With (Willy Wonka x reader)

35. Sweet, Sweet Demise

You always hoped you'd go out with a bang.

You always knew that such would not be the case.

You were certain that it would be mundane. Maybe it would've been rotting in jail, your hours ticking down alongside the rats that feasted on your flesh in the night. Perhaps in a car crash, simply walking across the street to get groceries just to find your bones cracked and split in every direction while a pool of red seeped out of your carcass. Or, quite possibly, at the hands of a drunk Mrs. Scrubitt, with a bottle shattered against your head. You would be another flame blown out, just as all the others had; nothing special.

Staring down, you knew your demise would be quick, but you never envisioned drowning—let alone in a frothy sea of chocolate. Yet, here you were—jaw-deep in the hot, sticky, and quite frankly unappetizing confection. In all honesty, you didn't know what to think as the thick liquid death engulfed your being, tinting your vision to a sepia-toned nightmare.

"I'm sorry, Noodle," came a shaky voice from beside you. You turned to Willy, his form dipped in chocolate and drowning in guilt.

"Don't be," Noodle said, "You found my family. A mom who loved me." You turned to the girl, getting one last look at her fluffy black hair, gingersnap skin, and boundless gratitude. "That's all I ever wanted."

"And Y/n," Willy shifted, and you felt his hand on yours beneath the chocolate. "I wanted it to be perfect, but now I don't even have the time to tell you," he sighed.

Your mind had been spiraling. Not in the way that made your heart beat a mile a minute, or the type that made your legs hurt. No, it was as if the last punches life could possibly throw at you were its very worst—ones of regret. Maybe, if you had advocated for yourself earlier, you wouldn't be in this situation. Maybe you could've brought Noodle to her family earlier. Maybe you would've moved on from the laundry and lived your own life. Maybe you could have finally found out what red cake tasted like.

There was no point in mulling over what could have been. If anything, you had the chance to be rid of one of those regrets with a few simple words, "Willy, I..."

"I love you, Y/n," the man said simply.

Life is unfair. It always has been, and it always will be. It's nothing but a game of cat and mouse where everyone endlessly tries to outwit one another. Some are born to live a life full of luxury and ease, and others are tricked into funding those few. A twisted competition where people attempt to subdue their own weaknesses for as long as possible before they die.

And the worst part was that everyone was always just a little bit sad because everyone knew that their fun wouldn't last forever. At some point, every animal, plant, and privileged human being would simply drop dead, whether they liked it or not. Young or old; rich or poor; pure or corrupt; nobody won in the race against death.

You didn't have a legacy to leave behind, you didn't have a face or name that would be remembered by the next generation, and you certainly didn't have a role in history as much more than a partner in a business that never panned out. You doubted ever having contributed anything meaningful to the world. Not to mention your severe lack of money, knowledge, and overall fulfillment. So, you decided, the best part about your life must've been the little things. The smile on Noodle's face when you read one of her favorite books for the first time; the stunning displays you'd create with nothing but a beat-up pencil and some parchment; the way Willy's eyes seemed to radiate passion whenever he made chocolate...

The words you could say without a voice.

You gripped Willy's hand, clutching onto it as if to say, 'I love you too.'

"Deep breath now."

~•~

686 words

"So, here we are. You readers can partake in all of your shenanigans, I'm gonna head out for the night; it's 12:52. See ya next chapter!"

- Coffee