A/N: So, here's another installment. Hope you like it! As always, there's a longer note at the end.

I disclaim.

"I was beginning to think you weren't coming back."

He leans back a little, and then forward, casts his eyes down, and says, "You still don't trust me?" He ties to pass the question off nonchalantly, but she knows him well enough by now to know when he's playing a con. She wonders what he's hiding.

Alice is taken aback. "No! I was just..." She looks down, and half-turns away, unwilling (or unable?) to tell him the truth, to say the one word that would change their relationship completely: worried.

He gently takes her chin in one of his hands, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Just what, Alice?" She says nothing, and he doesn't push, just waits, not letting her look away.

"Worried! All right? I was worried about you." It comes out more harshly than she means it to, the embarrassment making her hostile. She wrenches her face out of his hand, and turns away, crossing her arms across her chest.

And she waits for a response, most likely one she won't want to hear: look, Alice, we haven't known each other for very long, this might be a little fast, or You're a great friend, let's leave it at that, yeah? She'd heard it often enough, to the point where she stopped letting her emotions show. To the point where she was the one pushing people away—like with Jack.

But the dreaded response never comes. She waits, and waits, and when she's sure he must have walked away (somehow infinitely worse than the cutting words she was expecting), she turns and readies herself to trudge back down the hill. She prepares in her head what she's going to say to Hatter when she sees him. There is a lot of damage control to be done.

She lifts her head, and there he stands, looking dumbstruck, but most definitely still there. Well that's something.

She sighs. "Look, Hatter-"

"You were worried about me? About my welfare, or that I might just up and leave you with Sir Insane down there?"

Reddening, she just nods.

"...both?"

She nods again, unable to meet his eyes.

Something flares in his eyes, something surprisingly like hope, then suddenly he's swooping down on her, cupping her face gently in his hands. And he kisses her, tentatively at first, giving her plenty of time to pull away, if she wants to.

But she doesn't, much as she thinks she should. It feels...right. She realizes that this kiss was something she had wanted for some time, but didn't know until that moment. And so she gives herself over to it, running her nails lightly over his scalp. His hat falls off and sits, forgotten, on the ground. Her fingers finally come to rest, tangled in the messy hair at the nape of his neck.

She feels him smile at her reaction, and he gathers her into his arms. They break away, both breathing a little heavily. She lays her head against his chest, and they stand that way for some time, knowing they will have to talk later, but for right now they can just feel. There's time.

Or is there?

"Alice?"

Her head pops up. Jack?

A/N 2: So, I'll leave it to you to decide whether or not she still goes with Jack. I'm actually pretty curious what you guys come up with...

I'm really, really nervous about the kiss. I don't usually write kisses. Seriously, not at all. I hope this one came out well—I did a ridiculous amount of editing on it.

Also, I'm giving myself a project: I'm going to try to update this story every Sunday, starting this week, until I run out of ideas, at which time I will update when the plot bunnies come a-hopping again in my head.

Hope you enjoyed! Till next time,

HeadPhones