Chapter 3

Wonderland awoke to a light knocking sound. She sat up blearily, looking at the door where she assumed the noise had come from. There was another knock, and this time she swivelled her towards the window.

Sitting on the windowsill was Alfred. She gasped in surprise, clutching the sheets around her tighter. She switched on a lamp beside her and stood up, still holding the sheets around her slim body. She cautiously walked to window, careful to make as little noise as possible. She didn't know if Norway was a light sleeper or not.

She winced at the creak the window made when she opened it, beckoning quickly for Alfred to come inside. He grinned and did as she asked. As he stumbled inside, Wonderland looked out the window to see if anyone was there. She thought she saw someone in the darkness, but the rain made it too hard to see. It was pouring heavily now, and she could hear cracks of lightning and thunder off in the distance. She smiled. She had always loved thunder storms.

She closed the window quickly and turned to look at Alfred. He was soaked to the skin, shivering a bit from the cold. She sighed in bemusement and grabbed him a towel from the bathroom. He took it gratefully and proceeded to dry himself. She went into the closet to see if anything of Denmark's would fit Alfred; it didn't have to be perfect, just comfortable enough for him until his clothes dried.

Eventually she found a pair of Denmark's larger pyjama pants and an old hoodie of Sweden's that Denmark had stolen from him. She threw them into the bedroom and waited until his arms wrapped around her to turn around.

"I missed you." He murmured, holding her close to him. She sighed. And England said he wasn't romantic.

"I missed you too, Alfy. But that's no excuse to come barging in here in the middle of the night. What on earth were you thinking?" She demanded, looking up at him.

Alfred blushed. "I, uh, wanted to see you. And, you know, break you out of here. How can you stand it? There's so little to do here. And Norway's mean. Come on, we don't have much time. Someone'll wa-" "What on earth are you talking about?" Wonderland asked him, puzzled. Break her out of here? Just how much caffeine had he had today?

"Yeah, break you out of here. They're keeping you here right? So as the hero, it's my duty to save you. Not to mention you're my friend. Come on. We gotta go."

Wonderland shook her head. "Alfred, you git, I'm here on my free will. You know I never get to see Denmark anymore. Besides, he's always been the one to help me during a crisis. I'm not going to change that just for your ego."

Alfred's eyebrows pulled together in confusion. "What? You- you want to stay here? And what's this about a crisis? Don't you want to come with me?" Wonderland took a moment to sort through his questions. "Yes, I want to stay here. No, I don't want to go with you- not much anyway. I'll email you the details. Now, why don't we just spend time hanging out? I haven't seen you in months. And before you say that's more reason to come with you, I haven't seen Denmark or Iceland in years. I want to see them. Besides, Den would be so sad if I left." Alfred's brow raised. "Den? So you have a nickname for him?" She let out an exasperated sigh. "Yes, Alfred. Gosh, why is everyone so hung up on nickname's? First Denmark gets prissy 'cause I called you Alfy, then you get suspicious that I'm calling Denmark Den, Norway's pissed that I have a nickname for his boyfriend and little brother, and everyone's surprised that I have a nickname for England. Why can't we just accept the fact that I have nicknamed people I give a shit about and move on? It doesn't mean I've had romantic endeavours with them!" She would have shouted, but she feared being heard, so she kept it down to a whisper-yell.

Alfred suppressed a laugh. "Sorry. I was just curious. I won't speak of it again. OK?"

Wonderland sighed. "OK. But I'm still staying."

He pouted. "Not fair. That means I'll have to sneak in every night!"

She laughed. "Or, you know, stay home like normal people do. No need to go all stalker on me. Hey, speaking of stalking, has Canada gotten rid of Sea-kun yet?"

Alfred stifled another laugh, his body shaking with the effort. "No, not yet. Actually, Sealand has gone as far as to lock Canada in a closet, steal his clothes and Kumajirou, and take his place. Only me and that Prussia-guy knew. Though why Prussia confronted the kid but didn't make him give Mattie his clothes back is beyond me."

Wonderland laughed out loud before covering her face with a pillow. She couldn't contain herself. It was just too funny. "You are so oblivious, Alfy. So, so oblivious."

He tilted his head in confusion. "How so? I just can't see why Prussia would ask Sealand where Matt was but not make him give his clothes back. Or why he would into the closet without any clothes for tha-" Suddenly, due to what he was saying and Wonderland's barely concealed guffaws, the light bulb blinked above his head. "EWWW! You dirty woman! How could you think such perverted thoughts!" He paused for a second. "You are just making this up right? You're joking?"

Wonderland shook her head, still laughing. Alfred's face paled and he blanched, running to the bathroom. He thought he was going to be sick.

A few minutes later, Alfred came out, still a little pale. Wonderland had stopped laughing, but she still had the telltale grin on her face. Alfred glowered at her. "That wasn't funny. Now you've made me have to go beat up that Prussia-dude. He can't touch Matthew." Wonderland raised an arched eyebrow, and smirked. "Ooh, is someone jealous?" Alfred blushed. "N-no. Not at all. This is just brotherly protection. That's all. Shut up. I'm going out with Japan right now, dammit!"

She smirked wider. "I knew you two would get together one day. It was just a matter of time. Though I wouldn't be surprised if you really were jealous of Prussia. Becoming one with your border nation would probably be quite something. Sadly, I don't have that. Though I'm perfectly content with what I do have." She raised her eyebrows suggestively. Alfred shook his head in disbelief. "You sound like Russia. How can you have such a dirty mind? Or a partner, for that matter."

She grinned. "I don't. And I lived with England, remember? You know about his and France's thing. France, against my will might I add, taught me some very... naughty things. And I still hold that knowledge today. That, and the times I walked in on the two of them. Not a pleasant sight to see your dad bound and gagged by a very horny France..."

Alfred paled again, and bashed his head against his fist, trying to get the mental picture she'd created out of his head. She almost laughed again, before she heard a door open in the house. She looked over at her own to see if she had been caught talking to Alfred. Thankfully, she realized that it was the bathroom. From the grumbling noises, she figured it was Denmark.

Alfred and Wonderland shared a look of relief. Once she found it safe to talk again, she said, "You've gotta go. If you really want, you can come here once a week unless I specify otherwise. I'll send you emails or something. They'll have to be from Denmark though, because I don't have one myself, obviously. We don't have stuff like that down in Wonderland. How about we make it for every Tuesday night? That way we won't have to worry about anyone wanting to go out on the weekend. And we can do real visits during the day sometimes. Maybe." Alfred beamed. "Sounds good to me. See you in six days then. I need to get home soon anyways. Gotta check on Matthew." He caught Wonderland's look at him. "To make sure that he fed Kumajirou and kept Tonny and him from fighting! And- you know what, I'm just making this worse. You go think whatever perverted thought you are right now. Just don't tell me what they are. Me and Mattie are brothers, nothing else. So bye." And with his last statement, Alfred opened the window, closed it, and jumped off the sill. Wonderland sighed in contentment and re-opened the window. She could see Alfred running off in the distance, trying to cover his head from the rain. She looked up into the sky, watching the lightning for a few moments. Then she closed the window and climbed into the bed, drifting back off to content sleep.