Jealousy

Heart no kuni no Alice

Elliot x OC

Word count: 725

"Elliot, are you feeling okay? You've been awfully quiet since you got back."

The March Hare slumped into a cushy armchair adjacent to the worried young lady. He rubbed his temples, ears drooped.

"What were you doing? More territory negotiations?" She asked softly, met by silence. It wasn't odd for Elliot and Annette to argue, especially about the rabbit-like nature of his "very long ears". But it was never like this. They would shout, yell, Annette would try to throw things at the hare, but with no avail. Then things were all good and jolly and neither was angry anymore. But this was different; Elliot never shut her out like this.

"Elliot, please…" Annette urged softly. If she had learned anything in the past weeks, it was that with the Hatter men you needed to coax, never force.

"Ace got lost again." Elliot let out a long sigh.

"I'm not supposed to fight him anymore, you know, Blood said so. I was leading him back to the castle." Elliot grimaced.

"He was talking about his camping trips; he does that when he gets lost overnight. And he was talking about how he was camping with Alice the night before."

"So that's what this is about, Alice. It's always Alice. Isn't it?" Annette cursed under her breath. She never admitted it out-loud, but she knew it to be true: Alice had a strangle-hold on her dear bunny-friend's metaphorical heartstrings. And, boy, did it bother Annette.

"She lets him listen to her heart whenever they go camping." Elliot stated bluntly.

"And you're jealous." Annette spat it out harsher than she meant to. She sounded bitter, but so what? Annette was jealous too, of Alice. Of the way Elliot talked about her, idolized her, while Annette was stuck in the friend-zone.

For once, the oblivious rabbit noticed Annette's tone. He looked up at her from behind his bangs; a dark plotting look dominated his typically joyful features. In a flash, he leapt from his seat onto Annette, pinning her firmly.

"You're right, I am jealous. Ace gets to listen to Alice's heart, and he doesn't even care for Alice nearly as much as I care for you. And Alice lets him! But Alice doesn't love him, not like I you love me. Yet here we are. Alone. But I've never even heard it... Why should Ace get to hear it, and I don't?" Elliot's tone softened as he finished. His eyes changed from aggressive to pleading. Elliot forced his head down into Annette's chest, inwardly praying she would let him. Stunned, she did.

Then he heard it. It was loud, frantic, but slowly calming itself. It regained its normal tempo. A confident, relaxed bu-dum, bu-dum, bu-dum. Her heart. The thing that made her so special in Wonderland. Elliot was nearest what made Annette who she was, her life force, the thing that allowed her to breathe, to walk, to run, to even exist and love. And it loved him, for some odd reason.

They laid in silence. Elliot concentrated of the repeating beat. Annette processed what all of this meant. Did Elliot love her? Or did he only care about her heart? How did he know she loved him? Was she really that transparent?

"I do love you, Annette. But I shouldn't force this on you. If you don't love me… just say so. I jumped to conclusions, maybe it was wishful thinking, or maybe I'm just projecting my own desires onto you. Please, Annette, if you don't love me say so, I don't want to be like Peter." He stared up at her; his "very long ears" drooped with a pout. She smiled at his repulsion to being anything like Peter.

"I do love you, Elliot." Annette's face grew red, her pulse quickened. Elliot jumped excitedly.

"I heard that! Did I do that?" He grinned like a child on Christmas.

"Yes, you did." She admitted, embarrassed, she wasn't in any place to try lying. He'd hear it.

Content, Elliot laid his head back down, but was disrupted as Annette began to wiggle. She sat up and rearranged the pillows supporting her back at this odd angle. She stroked his hair.

"Can I?" The rabbit looked up expectantly.

"…fine. But I get to snuggle your ears later."

"Then it's a deal." Elliot smiled broadly. Sometimes, jealousy pays off.