Hi, so here is another chapter. This might be the last update before i go on holiday for two weeks so please keep that in mind. Also with the publishing of this chapter i can confirm that there are only going to be three chapters left. I may try and get another chapter done before i go away but that might be a bit unlikely.

Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.

Please Read and Review and let me know what you think. Again all backstories are based on my own imaginings.

If You Really Love Someone

Chapter 7-Cyrus-Love Will Tear Us Apart

Events-Cyrus tries to contemplate what has just taken place and his relationship with Alice as he tries to figure out how to convince her to use her three wishes.

For a moment, for a pure, blissful moment everything was perfectly aligned with each other. Alice was pressed up against him, her mouth on his, her hands in his hair and when she had pulled on the dark strands Cyrus's eyes had rolled back in his head and he had let out a filthy groan pressing his hand on the small of her back and then wondering if he could perhaps get away with lowering it to her backside so he could lift her up and feel her alongside every inch.

For one moment it was glorious, the two of them, his mouth on her neck and he could have taken it so much further…he was inches away from doing just that. From lying Alice down on the floor and letting her hands roam over more than his neck and face when a thought crossed his mind.

"This is better than any wish I could have made"

And that was when his traitorous brain reminded him of what he was doing.

And with that he had to stop. He had to stop kissing her, he had to stop touching her and he had to stop the hardness growing in his pants before it became noticeable and ruined everything. Because if she saw it and she reacted in any way like this kiss had been then he would be powerless to stop her.

So he had pulled away and stopped this from going further and Alice had asked for her minute alone so here he was five minutes away from where he left her shaking like a leaf with a combination of pain and arousal so strong he feared he might have to take himself in hand.

Which right now was both the very best and the very worst idea that he had ever had.

He had collapsed near the roots of the tree breathing in heavily trying to stop his hands shaking. Alice was some kind of drug it seemed. Cyrus had never partaken in any kind of drugs-both of his older brothers had dabbled in opium more than once but after a vomiting and singing incident at night Cyrus decided to not indulge-Alice was like what he had imagined opium to be like-addicting and looking at his hands, withdrawals from the very essence that was Alice were going to be a nightmare.

That was exactly why he had to stay away from her. Alice had to use her wishes at some point, even if she did pretend that she didn't want anything to do with them. Nine times out of ten everyone wished him away at some point and he found for the first time since he had met her that he wanted her to use her wishes. There was no point to dragging this out other than heartbreak for him that he knew would take a long time to get over. He had to let Alice go. There was no life for him if she stayed living some half kind of life while he pretended that he wasn't in love with her and each day he would wake up and wonder if today was the day that she was going to use her wishes and leave him in the cold aching for her touch.

Cyrus might be a masochist and he might deserve his punishment for his stupidity with that damn water but even he at his worst had a line that he did not think he had to cross and quite frankly that was it. He had earned his punishment-but he had not earnt that kind of torture. Best to rip of the bandage now and ensure that even though he imagined he would spend the rest of his days grieving Alice-he wouldn't spend his life in fear of her leaving him.

And she would he suspected move on. Even if she thought she had feelings for him now she was young and she deserved more than a genie who would never age tied to a bottle and constantly a target. Both of them would be, the memories of his last master before he came to Wonderland vivid in his mind. Someone was always going to be on the lookout for him and he knew that it was only going to get more worse.

So how to convince Alice to use her wishes? That…well…that was a problem he supposed for tomorrow. There had already been enough heartache today and he was sure his heart couldn't take another blow before it failed completely. He paused wondering what on earth he was going to say whenever Alice decided to join his company. As long as she held those wishes there was very little that he could but follow her. Magic being the pesky little thing it was but he could at least apologise for his actions. While that kiss might have involved the two of them there was the simple fact that he knew better and he should have stopped it the second it began and not taken his time to explore and lose himself in everything that was his travelling companion.

There was a rustling in the bushes and he turned to stand up brushing his hands on his pants relieved that any signs via his body, that he was still affected by the kiss had gone.

(Mentally and emotionally Cyrus knew that was another story)

Alice came through the trees. The only tell tale sign of emotion on her face were the red rims around her eyes-a tell tale sign that she had been crying and Cyrus felt like he had been kicked in the knees. He felt like sinking to the ground and begging for her forgiveness, but he supposed clutching onto her like that had been what had gotten him into this mess in the first place.

There was a pause where they stood looking at each other and then Cyrus looked away swallowed once and then forced himself to look at Alice whose gaze had never wavered from his.

"Cyrus I want to apologise for my behaviour" she said in a tone so formal it was like ice had slipped down his spine and into his belly. He had to swallow again harshly. "I shouldn't have taken liberties with you and I hope it doesn't ruin this friendship that has sprung up between us. I promise you that it will never happen again"

It was the finality of the way she said it that made Cyrus pause. He took a deep breathe and tried to keep his emotions in check. He found for some reason himself close to tears though he did not know why. Everything was ruined because of one moment of weakness. And either way Alice was going to leave him and he found that he couldn't bear with that despair.

This was more than some childish infatuation of that he was sure. He bit his lip and then nodded. If she wanted to keep him at arms length then that was better than he deserved. Stupid he thought to himself, he had lost the one bright spark in his day since…a long time ago and now all he wanted to do was curl up in a ball and let the whatever Gods still listening to him take him. But he couldn't let her think that this was her fault. All of the fault was on him. "Alice you don't have to apologise. I knew it wasn't a good idea and I instigated the kiss. Look, let's just…let's pretend…let's just…I'm sorry" he said helplessly.

Alice nodded once.

"Cyrus I want to go and see this Towering Tum-Tum Tree you spoke about yesterday" she said finally. "Can we go and see it tomorrow? I'm rather tired now and I think a good night's sleep will do us both a world of good"

Cyrus nodded. All he wanted to do if he was being honest with himself was just lie down and curl himself around the yellow blanket with the gold tassels that reminded him of the jacket that his father had once worn for special customs and occasions and pretend that the last five minutes had not taken place.

He could not regret the kiss. He would not regret the kiss.

"Alice" he said as Alice moved to unplug the bottle. "I…have you ever considered what you might want to do with your wishes?"

"Are you asking me to leave you?" Alice asked without so much as a pause in un-tugging the knot and looking up at him with a terribly bland expression.

"No" Cyrus said before he could stop himself. "Your wishes are your choice Alice. A genie cannot force someone to make a wish and I wouldn't want to do it anyway. I just…I just don't want you to have any regrets about using them."

"Because once the wishes are all gone you move on to another owner" Alice supplied.

"It's a lonely experience and I wouldn't wish it on anyone" Cyrus said quietly. Alice looked at him with a pointed expression. This was the closest he could get to telling her the reasons why they couldn't be together.

"Nobody chooses my life but me Cyrus. Not my father, not the rules in the society that I come from, not even you. You don't have to be unhappy forever. But…but I think we should draw the line under this if that's what you want. But I don't plan on going away anytime soon so whatever reason is stopping you from being happy I recommend that you try and find a way to move past it"

And with that she opened the top of the bottle popped a bit of mushroom she still had in her side pocket and then she slid into the bottle. Cyrus stared at her for a second. There was nothing to stop him from finding a safe hollow ground to hide the bottle and then slipping in with her as they had done so many times before. However there was also nothing stopping him from sleeping out in the open (other than the fact that it was a slightly chilly evening).

Cyrus considered the options. The Mellow-Marsh was probably one of the safest area's in Wonderland and there was already a nice little hollow under the tree that nobody would come across once covered in moss and twigs. He arranged it then took his own piece of mushroom and slid back into his bottle leaving the top open so they could slip back out again in the morning. Alice was already tucked in one corner of the bed having kicked off her boots and her stockings and now he could tell her shirt.

That was strange to say the least. But it did give Cyrus the perfect view of the creamy skin that he could have been so close to touching only hours ago if he had just allowed himself a split second of happiness.

Alice was braiding her hair. She turned to look at him with a rather pensive expression for a long time and she smiled once a brittle, hollow smile that didn't reach her eyes which were filled with a confusion and in the dark (unless Cyrus was reading it wrong and in all honesty he supposed he could considering the way his heart was still racing) longing.

"Good night Cyrus. In the morning I want to see you smile again" And then she turned over and laid her head down on his pillow smoothing her cheek against it to get comfortable. Cyrus nodded even though it was to himself (if all she wanted was a smile then he could give her that with ease even if he would have to pretend that his heart was not breaking) " Good night Alice" he said stripping off his boots and shirt.

He turned to stare at the hangings over head and wondered how he had managed to ruin this. That kiss…he still shivered at the thought of it, his lips numb and tingling and he remembered the way her hands in his hair had felt. He bit his lip again and turned over blinking back tears at the life he could have had with the woman he loved had he not been cursed to this fucking bottle.

If fate had been any kinder then the Guardian of the Well of Wonders would have just killed him there and then rather than let this love tear him apart, tear them apart.

Because Cyrus knew enough to know that this was not some silly crush, the way he was feeling was not that of a lovesick boy barely out of the school room. Alice from London, England (or whatever that realm was called) was his true love, the woman the fates had told him he was to end up with, the only woman that had ever made him feel like this and the only woman who he imagined ever would.

And he couldn't have her because of his curse.

Yes, fate would have just been kinder to kill him.

And again the events from the next chapter will be from Alice's point of view.

Let me know what you think and i will try and update as soon as i can get back to a more relaxed updating time.