AN: Sorry about the numerous grammar mistakes in the last chapter…I figured out the problem; my "s" key has the tendency to stick, so the "s" doesn't always type out…Also, for Hatter's accent I try to do it phonetically; so, when he says "me" instead if "my", it's because that's how it sounds when he says it…Anyway, I hope this one is better…

They went inside hesitantly, sneaking as if thousands of suits were on their tail. Alice felt the need to close the door as quietly as possible behind her. It was just her mom, after all, but she was entering the lioness' den. Her mother was judgmental and opinionated, especially when it came to Alice's guys. Her mother thought that she dropped guys too quickly and now thought she picked them up too quickly.

"Mom?" Alice questioned into the empty foyer. "Mom?"

"Alice?" Carol answered, emerging from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a ratty dishrag. "Oh, David," she added in feigned hospitality.

"Mom, I thought Hatter might be able to eat dinner with us tonight, since he never got to. Then you can get to know him, like you should have before," she said, ashamed.

"I don't have anything special prepared, Alice," she said sharply.

"Maybe we should go out then," Alice suggested.

"I don't know," she complained.

"Please, Mom, please," Alice begged. "Hatter's a good guy."

"Alright, for you," she decided. Then, she plumped the waves in her hair and tossed the rag onto the arm of the couch, opting to ignore Hatter entirely. "Let's just go down the street to the little place on the corner," she offered.

They walked out the door, Carol Hamilton first and then Hatter and Alice side by side behind her. Their knuckles kept bumping and their fingers brushed past each other, until Hatter finally took her hand in his. She looked at him, a little hesitant, she wasn't sure why, but it felt different. Only days ago, she kissed Jack on the mats at work, calling him "Honey" and flirting, but, with Hatter, everything meant something more. They'd come all this way. They used to be total strangers who didn't share a shred of trust. Suddenly, they became something she didn't even understand. She told Hatter, in Wonderland, that she liked Jack more than any guy before him, but Hatter had taught her that the feelings that she had for Jack were nothing compared to what she could feel. She had known Jack for six weeks, but, in all that time, she had never felt the way she did with Hatter.

She hung on Hatter's every word and every action; when he told her to leave Wonderland, her heart broke in a way that she never knew it could. Jack had betrayed her, her father had forgotten her, then remembered, and then died, but none of that felt remotely close.

"Alice? You okay?" Hatter asked, letting go of her hand, trying not to push his luck.

"What?" she asked, dazed. "Yeah, I'm great."

She tried to fake a smile.

"Come on, Alice. I know you," he said, which earned him a disgruntled look that Carol let slip. "We held the Heart's Casino at gunpoint together," he whispered.

"Shh, you make me sound like a criminal."

"You shot at suits, held a room full of people at gun point, and threatened to have a woman's finger cut off; I don't think it's me fault you sound like a criminal," he reminded her.

He tossed his arm around her shoulder and planted a kiss on her hair. She laughed and smiled and blushed.

Carol groaned.

"Where are we going?" Hatter whispered to Alice.

"Sandwich shop. It's where she meets with notaries and the landlord. You get your sandwich, eat, and leave. She wants this to be quick," Alice explained.

"And here I thought I was making some progress," he sighed.

"I'm not sure how much progress you'll make with her. This isn't how it usually goes. Usually, she tells me how ridiculous I am for letting a perfectly good guy go. I'm not sure how she's going to react to me holding on to a guy that she doesn't trust."

"Hey-" Hatter began, only to be cut off by Carol.

"Here we are," she announced, keeping her back to them.

She walked in the front door of the restaurant to the tune of the little gold bell on the hinge.

They all sat down at a booth: Hatter and Alice on one side of the table, and Carol on the other. They ate quietly. Hatter never said a word, because halfway through it Carol would cut him off. Eventually, he just stopped trying. Carol talked about all of Alice's ex-boyfriends ad nauseum. She talked about how handsome they were, the types of families that they came from, their style, and their fancy jobs.

Alice became furious.

"Mom! Stop!" Alice shouted. "I can't believe you'd be like this. If you're not going to have an open mind, then there isn't any use in trying to please you."

Alice walked out, her stubbornness lighting a fire in her.

There was so much about Wonderland that was exactly like home. At home there were people who were just like the Wonderlanders, the kind of folks that just couldn't see beyond the superficial things and the kind of folks that sat deadlocked in their prejudgment.

Hatter got up behind her and chased after her.

"Alice!" he called out. "Alice, hey, it's okay."

He followed beside her as she charged forward.

"It's not okay, Hatter," she said, as she turned around. "It's not okay. I knew that she was going to be upset, but this is ridiculous! It would be acceptable if she just ignored you or cut you off or even interrogated you. But, to go and talk like that! She's treating you so terribly! She can't do that to you," Alice ranted.

"Hey, it doesn't matter. When it comes down to it, what your mom says and thinks isn't what's important to me anyway. She could say anything to me. So, only be mad if it's because it matters to you, only be mad if what she says hurts you, because being mad for me is a waste of time," he said as he held onto her shoulders.

"I hurts me."

"Alright, you want me to do something about it?"

"No, let's just go."

"You want to come to my flat? Jack gave me the keys and I'm still trying to figure out what everything does," he proposed.

She silently nodded her head.

"Come on then," he laughed. They walked down the street, his arm across her shoulders and her arm around his back.