Next chapter! Now I'm doing Silent Moon's JuliusxReader request. Fox Shadow will then be up next with her BorisxTomboy!Reader fic. If anyone else has any requests, please put them in the review!

Annotation Guide

(y/n)-Your name

(h/l)-Hair length

(h/c)-Hair color

(e/c)-Eye color

(f/c)-Favorite color

Hope you enjoy the story!

~~~~~~~~~~Tick Tock~~~~~~~~~

Oh, you're so tired. How could Julius possibly find so much for you to do? All day, you've been running around doing errands for him; help the faceless prepare breakfast, make him coffee, find and bring Ace to him, bring paperwork to Nightmare, make him more coffee, assist Grey in threatening Nightmare, find a certain tool for the clocks, take the coffee cups from his room and then bring him back even more coffee! And, every time you made him coffee, he would judge it… never receiving more than an 87%.

The thing was, you didn't mind helping Julius, just the opposite! You felt that since you're living here, you might as well work for your keep. Plus, it's not like the tasks he gave you were very hard. The problem was that, you were so busy every day running around the tower, that you never really got to see Julius anymore. At first, you brushed it off as a coincidence that he always gave you work that would require almost no contact with him, but after two weeks, you knew he was avoiding you. And it hurt.

You didn't know when your feelings of friendship and admiration turned into something more, but there's no denying that it did. Julius was an anchor in the storm of absolute crazy that was Wonderland. While everyone else was falling and fighting over you, Julius was there with books and good conversation. Huh, you guess it's pretty ironic that the one man who didn't fall for you is the one man you wanted. Ironic and heartbreaking!

Then a thought hit you, and it felt like a knife in your chest. What if Julius somehow found out about your feelings for him, and that's why he's avoiding you? Julius is so awkward, he wouldn't know how to respond to something like that. He's probably doing it for both of your sakes-this way he doesn't have to be in the position to break your heart.

You blink back tears and tighten your hands into fists. Well, if that's the case, you know of one person that can confirm it for you. You've avoided using this option until now, for you considered it an invasion of privacy, but you're done with second guessing yourself.

It's time to talk to Nightmare.

~~~~~~~~~~Tick Tock~~~~~~~~~

You don't bother to knock as you walk into Nightmare's office since he's probably heard your thoughts from the stairs. You walk onto a scene that at one time would have sent you into hysterics. Now, it only makes you giggle softly.

Nightmare is on his knees in front of Grey, clutching the lizard man's shirt tightly, crocodile tears streaming down his face. Grey is lecturing him about the importance of the enormous pile of paperwork behind him. Nightmare, meanwhile, is seemingly begging for a break, complaining that he's too sick to work; the usual! The thing that tops the whole scene off is that Nightmare is currently in baby blue cloud pajamas and wrapped tightly in a sunshine-yellow quilt.

At your giggle, the two men turn to you, though neither are surprised at your presence. Curse Nightmare and Grey for their mind-reading and mad assassin skillz! There's no such thing as a surprise party with these two. You would know, you tried.

"Hello (y/n). I was just attempting to get Nightmare to fill out these very important forms. Care to join me?" Grey says, a small smile in place.

You shake your head regretfully.

"Sorry Grey, I wish I could, but I have to talk with Nightmare…privately, if that's possible."

Nightmare jumps on the idea-anything to prolong paperwork. Grey doesn't seem to be very happy, but whether it's because you excluded him from this conversation or whether he's upset at the deviation from work, you don't know. He nods, and walks out of the room, closing it gently behind him. You wait till you can no longer hear his footsteps, then turn to Nightmare.

"Nightmare, I-", you start off confidently, having practiced what you were going to say, but are quickly interrupted.

"(y/n), you have to realize Julius is not the best when it comes to matters of the heart."

Well, he isn't pulling any punches today, is he? You slump into a chair opposite him.

"So… there's no hope? He really doesn't like me?"

Nightmare smiles, and shakes his head.

"Of course there's hope! I never said there wasn't!"

You narrow your (e/c) eyes at him challengingly.

"You said that he didn't-"

He interrupts you again.

"All I said that was he wasn't good with emotions! I didn't say anything about him not liking you!"

"So does that mean-Nightmare, if you interrupt me one more time I'm locking you in the hospital-does that mean he does like me?"

Nightmare grins impishly, looking every bit the demon he is.

"Define like~"

You begin to rise out of your chair, murder dancing in your eyes. Nightmare puts his hands up in surrender, looking panicked.

"Okay, okay! He really likes you, but doesn't know how to admit it and he knows how much you hate everyone else falling for you and he doesn't wanna make you uncomfortable but he gets distracted all the time when you're around so please don't hurt MEEE- HUURK!"

Nightmare pukes up blood, and you immediately rush to help him.

"For the love of-Nightmare, you need a doctor!"

Nightmare groans and pushes you away weakly.

"Nyoooooo~ I hate doctoooors~ I'm fine!"

You sigh, then smile mischievously.

"Well, if you're fine I guess you can do paperwork~"

You've spoken the magic words. Nightmare looks at you, betrayed, as Grey seemingly pops in out of nowhere. You laugh at Nightmare's scream of horror as you skip out of the room.

"Thanks for your help, Nightmare! Have fun with your paperwork~"

~~~~~~~~~~Tick Tock~~~~~~~~~

You softly knock on the door to Julius's workshop, feeling both nervous and excited. You're about to confess your feelings and all you can hope was that Nightmare was telling you the truth. You decided to pretty yourself up, putting on a (f/c) casual yet nice dress. You even tried to fix up your (h/l), (h/c) hair, which didn't work as well as you would have liked, but oh well. There's no stopping you now, if you do, you'll never get back the courage.

"Come in."

Well that's your cue! You walk in and close the door behind you. Julius looks up from his work, sapphire eyes notably avoiding your own (e/c). He looks in your general direction for a beat, then speaks in a monotone voice.

"(y/n), I need you to please get me a new socket wrench. I will provide you a budget of-"You raise your hand to stop him, taking two steps toward him.

"Julius." You say softly, then pause. It's as if the words you had practiced so many times in your head had evaporated before leaving your tongue. You steel yourself and push forward.

"Julius, why have you been avoiding me?"

Julius meets your eyes for a brief moment, shocked, before turning his gaze away and recomposing himself.

"I am not avoiding you, (y/n), I have just been particularly busy lately. I apologize if that's what it seemed like."

He actually did look guilty, and you doubt yourself for a moment. What if Nightmare lied? You shook the thought off. Nightmare may tease you sometimes, but he always took care of you and would never lead you to heartbreak.

"Julius, I… I love you. You're the only guy in Wonderland who's understood me, who's listened to me. You've been my rock, my anchor, my refuge in the storm of crazy that's been thrown at me since I arrived. I… I'm not sure if you feel the same, but maybe… Maybe if you gave it a shot, in time… you would?" As you speak this, you let your (h/l) hair fall down across your face, obscuring him from your vision.

It's silent for a moment, with only the rapid beating of your heart ringing in your ears. Then you hear his chair scraping across the floor as you hear him get up and make his way over to you. You look up, only to meet his chest as he wraps his arms around you gently. He speaks slowly, quietly into your (h/c) locks.

"(y/n)… I… I don't know why you care for me over everyone else in Wonderland… But you're- It's not because you're a foreigner… It's because you're… you. Nobody in their right mind wouldn't love you… I don't know how to explain it…"

You smile, happy tears welling up in your eyes. You push back a little against his chest so that you can look at his face. He's blushing tomato red…it's so cute. You giggle, and reach up to kiss his cheek softly. He turns his head to capture your lips and one of his hands moves to caress your cheek. He separates just enough to move his lips.

"I'm so happy you love me, (y/n), when you could have anyone else. I just wish… I could say… what I felt about you."

"You don't need to say it, Julius… I already know."

~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~

Ahhh, that was my longest chapter yet. And it took the longest to write. I'm not so good with ze fluff, but my mom liked it, so hopefully Silent Moon will too! (Yes my mom reads my stuff! Don't judge us!) Just another reminder of my request rules before signing off:

No sexy times. Not even if you beg.

No over-specifications. It doesn't help, it restricts my creativity.

Nothing violent. Or rape-y. Or murder-y. In short, nothing that can change this from T to M.

Reviews tell me that you love me, gives me motivation, and helps me think of what to write next. So review! Or else my mom will lecture at you! Hehe that rhymed~