When Alice woke up in a hospital bed, she couldn't help the overwhelming sense of sadness rip through her. The minute her eyes opened, she had to fight the overwhelming want to go back, the hope that coming back to her home was all a dream and she was still in Wonderland, about to wake up any moment to Hatter telling her they had to keep going or trying to stop her from going to the Hearts' Casino. She looked around for her mother and saw through the closed blinds of the window to the hallway that her mother was talking to someone. She contemplated calling out for her until she heard a familiar voice, her heart leaping erratically in her chest as a small burst of hope filled her.
"I'm glad she's alright. I was worried that something could have been wrong when I found her" the voice said.
"Well, I thank you for finding her….?" her mother asked.
"David, Mrs. Hamilton" the voice said again.
"Please, call me Carol" her mother said, Alice could tell she was smiling a little, hear the slight strain in her voice. She didn't know wither to trust the man that found her daughter or to think that he was some crazy man.
"May I….may I go see her?" she heard David ask.
Carol was silent for a moment, but when she heard the footsteps approaching the door, she quickly closed her eyes and heard the sound of two sets of footsteps, one stopping near the doorway, the door closing behind them, and the other stepping slightly hesitantly toward her bed. She felt a hand rest on top of hers and squeeze gently, "Alice" she heard him mumble, and she knew that it was him.
She wanted so much to open her eyes at that point, to tell him she was awake, but thought better of it. "Oh, that's a beautiful coat" she heard her mother say as she heard the slight movement of fabric.
"Yeah, I found it near her and thought it had been hers" David said, resting the coat next to her.
Alice slightly moved her pinky, trying to make it slightly impossible to notice, and felt the fabric. Her eyes snapped open and she turned to see the coat, "You brought the coat back" she said, her voice a little hoarse but a smile spread across her face.
"Alice, sweetheart, you're awake" her mother said happily.
Alice ignored her mother, the voice only seeming in the back of her head, "You followed me" she whispered, still smiling.
Hatter reached up and cupped her cheek, his thumb brushing over the skin, a light blush creeping up where his thumb touched, "Of course I did" he whispered.
Alice reached up to place her hand on top of his, "What about your tea shop, Charlie, the resistance? Didn't you want to help?" she asked with an uncertain expression on her face.
"All of it was very little compared to you" he told her, smiling widely.
Alice leaned into his hand, closing her eyes and feeling a sense of contentment go through her. She felt as if, for once in a long time, that she was home. She was about to tell him how much she missed him when her mother cleared her throat, "I'm sorry, David, but I would like to talk to my daughter please" she asked.
David looked over at her, "Yeah, of course. Sorry" he said, a slight blush creeping up to his cheeks.
Alice frowned, "Can't he stay?" she asked, pouting slightly.
Carol shook her head, "No, I need to talk to you alone, alright?" she asked.
Alice sighed, about to argue when Hatter interrupted, "No, it's fine, Alice." he told her, reaching down to kiss her forehead, "I'll be back tomorrow morning" he whispered in her ear, causing her to smile, before he walked back out of the room.
"Well, that was interesting" Carol said, walking over to the chair at the side of Alice's bed, her eyes landing on the coat. She reached over to take it off the bed, but Alice beat her to it, sitting up slightly and putting it on, wrapping it closely to her, a defensive look in her eyes. "How do you know him, Alice?" she asked.
Alice thought for a moment, trying to come up with a story before she began to speak, "You remember that trip I made to England last year when I was looking for Dad?" she asked. When her mother nodded, she continued, "I met David while I was there and we became friends very quickly. I talked to him just last week and he told me he was coming down for a visit."
Carol nodded, seeming to accept that, before her eyes lit up in remembrance, "By the way, I tried to call Jack and tell him you were in the hospital, but he didn't answer" she told her.
"Jack and I broke up" Alice told her, shrugging as her thumb and forefinger brushed over the material of the jacket.
"Why?" Carol asked, raising an eyebrow, "You said he was different, honey. What changed?"
"David did" Alice said honestly, smiling slightly, heat rising to her face as a tell-tale sign that she was blushing.
Carol frowned slightly, "Ok, see, now that's the part I don't understand" she started, "David told me that you two hadn't met at all, that he was just a construction worker that randomly found you."
"He didn't know if you knew about him coming down or not" Alice blurted out.
Carol nodded before her phone rang out, "Oh, it's Nancy" she told Alice, sighing, "I forgot we were going out today. You know, heading out for a movie, dinner" she explained.
"Go ahead, Mom. I'll be fine" Alice promised here, "Go have fun."
Carol thought for a moment and then nodded, standing up and kissing her forehead, "I'll come back tomorrow, alright?" she asked. Alice nodded before her Mom walked out. Alice turned on her side to face the window the coat still wrapped tightly around her and the blanket around her waist. She closed her eyes, burying her head in the pillow, before she quickly fell asleep.
She woke up when she felt someone's hand on hers, squeezing it tightly.
"Hmmm?" she asked, her eyes cracking open a little, looking for the person that stood there.
"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you up. You're cute when you fall asleep" she heard a voice tell her.
"Hatter?" she asked, still half asleep.
"Yeah, it's me" he told her, reaching forward and kissing her forehead.
"What time is it?" she asked, her vision clearing up and finally able to make him out where he stood in front of the windows, the night sky behind him.
"Around midnight" he told her sheepishly.
Alice sighed as she turned more on her side to look at him, "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"What, do you not want me to be here?" he asked, hurt flashing in his eyes before a cold look appeared, his walls of defense immediately going up.
Alice reached over and placed her hand on his cheek, seeing the expression in his eyes soften, "Of course I want you here. I meant more like what you're doing here at midnight?" she asked, laughing slightly.
"Oh, that's easier. I wanted to see you again without your mother around. She makes me sort of nervous" Hatter explained to her.
Alice laughed again, smiling widely, "She's harmless once you get to know her. She's mostly just wondering who you are."
Hatter nodded before they slipped into silence. He thought she had fallen asleep until she finally asked, "Hatter, why did you follow me? Wonderland was your home, all your friends and your life was there. Why would you leave all of that?"
Hatter smiled, placing his hand on top of where hers still rested on his cheek, "Because, I was faced with living my life in Wonderland without you or following you to a world where I could be with you, in any way you wished, and I immediately chose you" he explained to her, looking completely honest.
Alice's smile turned gentle, "You didn't have to leave everything just for me" she told him.
"Alice, I would gladly leave everything for you in a heartbeat" he swore to her.
Her smile widened before moving over on the bed to make room before patting the room, "Come one" she told him when he gave her a questioning look.
Hatter smiled before placing his hat on the table and took his shoes off before crawling on the bed next to her, his arm going around her shoulder and kissing the top of her head. "I missed you" he whispered to her.
Alice looked up at him for a moment, a silent conversation passing through them with their eyes, before she reached up and gently kissed him, "I missed you too" she whispered, laying her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes again, "Don't leave me, please?" she asked.
"Never" he swore to her, "Never ever ever."
They both fell asleep with smiles on their faces.
When Carol walked in later that morning, she couldn't help the smile on her face when she saw her daughter and the man who had found her. They were wrapped in each other's arms, both smiling contentedly as they slept. She sighed, knowing that all her previous fears of this man, the man her daughter clearly cared about, would be just like all the others slipped from her mind. Carol could tell even while they slept that they cared from the way when Alice would move just the tiniest bit in her sleep, David would wrap his arms tighter around her, never once loosening, and move as well. Like the two of them were magnets. In that moment, she knew that this man, unlike all the others, was finally different.