I got posessed by the evil Brelice ghost. Yeah... the story's quickened again xD

Chapter 10

Oz had been locked up in his room all freaking day. And it started to annoy Alice. To the point she wanted to drag him out by his collar and put him on a doggy-chain so he had to follow her around and lick the grou- oh no, that was another image.

But, seeing she cared for Oz as her precious friend, she decided on whining outside his room and staying there.

All freaking day.

"Miss, you really should leave him alone for a- SORRY!" the maid ran off when Alice shot her a predatorily glare and bared her teeth for the extra effect. Satisfied with her own personal thriller moment she rolled to her stomach again.

"Ozzz~ Come out or I'll roast a puppy!"

No answer. Gee, how long was this going to continue? Alice was bored. She doesn't even know why the hell he keeps on hiding in that bat-cave of his. All she was aware of that by the time she finally woke up he had been and returned from some kind of mission and he got depressed and that didn't really comfort her.

She shouldn't have stayed up with Break that long in the night. Alice growled unsatisfied. He had been reading for her from some boring book but she found him (his voice) interesting enough to stay awake until he forced her to get some sleep (didn't he need that too?) and she had complied tiredly.

"I might even fry Sharon. She'll taste good, you know!"

Phew, thank god no one other than Oz and her were around to hear that; it would've been humiliating.

"I'm coming in if you don't let me!"

The thought that he might be sleeping never crossed her mind and she huffed angrily, puffing her cheeks out and giving the impression of a child who didn't get the doll she wanted for Christmas.

"DAMN IT OZ GET OUT OF THERE OR I'LL SWEAR I'LL KILL SOMEONE." Alice had enough of it! She'd been trying to pursue him to get out of there for four hours now! Giving up, Alice's ears blew steam as she rapidly walked in circles in front of the large room, before looking up to see Gilbert entering with an annoyed expression.

"What are you doing here?"

"None of your business!" Alice shouted, angrily. His eye twitched at the challenge and he ran a hand through his messy hair.

"Stop disturbing Oz and just go do something useful for once."

"Oh? And what were you going to do? Soothe him back to happiness?! I don't think so!"

"You're the reason he's depressed like that, stupid rabbit!" Gilbert blamed her rather harshly and Alice was rather taken aback. She was? No, she wasn't! Oz long told her she shouldn't think that way!

"If you weren't here than he would be fine! It's your fault that he's hurting and that his life is being sucked away every second!" He took a breath and mustered the deadliest glare he'd given her yet. Alice's eyebrows shot down.

"Oh yeah? Well, if it weren't for me he'd never even get out of the Abyss! I got him out of there, and not you, seaweed! You should be grateful to me because you're too weak yourself to ever get him out and realize you weren't any good for him!"

The moment Gilbert shot forward and clamped both his hands around her throat was the moment Alice realized that those things she said hurt him just as much as he hurt her with his words. And she never wanted to stoop herself to his level. But then again, she wasn't much of a sorry-person.

Oh right, she was somehow human too. Alice's eyebrows knot together when she felt her breathing coming shallower. Darn seaweed!

"Let… go…!" She clawed at his arms with her gloved hands but it didn't do much good and finding a good kick wasn't prepared since he had lifted her in the air pretty well. And he looked serious about it too. More serious than she would've liked him to.

"Ra…ven…" Alice began to panic – she knew that if it really came to business she'd be able to get out (or maybe not?) but this was getting downright difficult. He clutched her too damn tightly! Of course she didn't entirely knew that the panicky feeling was a reaction all humans got, so in Alice's case she began to stress out even more. He shouldn't make her feel this way.

She let out a strangled sound and blinked a few times before the pressure was released. Gilbert's eyes widened and he was practically thrown away from her for a meter, and Alice fell on the ground right on her behind and clutched her throat, dramatically trying to gulp in as many air as she could. Phew, thank you sweet oxygen.

She looked up and saw Gilbert glaring hard at her while coughing and holding his stomach softly, as if it were hurting, before seeing Break's figure in front of him, a cane hold in his hand.

"Raven." He warned and Gilbert snarled, turning halfway around and walking away, limping lightly from the earlier ambush.

Alice, still rather impressed with what seaweed just did to her, remained put and held her hands delicately over her neck, breathing deeply. Break looked at her for a second before walking over to her and crouching before her, reaching out to remove her hands.

"Don't."

"Does it hurt? Let me see." He gently tugged at her glove and she huffed, removing her hands but keeping them ready for any attack possible.

"That's going to bruise, I'm afraid." Break said as his gloved fingertips lightly danced over the skin of her neck and Alice blinked. Bruise? She never had a real bruise. Oh wait! There was that big blue spot on her back after she'd been thrown into a building by a low-class chain. But she never really paid attention to it, seeing she couldn't see it.

Break sighed and rubbed her forehead affectionately. "What to do with you~ You don't seem to handle yourself that well these days~"

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"What were you doing here anyway? Sharon had been waiting for you with lunch."

At that Alice looked away with mixed emotions. It wasn't really nice to let someone wait after all.

"Oz won't come out of his room. It's bothering me." She claimed, nodding her head to the still closed door. Even after that entire ruckus he still didn't come out? They probably drugged him into a coma!

Break smiled. "Master Oz has returned from a rather tiring mission. Let him rest and he'll be fine!"

"Hmpf. Whatever." Alice said, intending she didn't care and pretending she was interested in the way the doll looked today.

"Uwaah she's staring at me!"

"STUPID-"

Break grinned and flicked her forehead softly, before pulling Emily from his shoulder and stuffing her in his pocket. "Let's not quarrel, shall we? You had enough stress as it is today."

He straightened up and Alice quickly scrambled up as well, shaking her head so her hair fell against her neck a little.

"Now, I'm going to have a talk with Raven~"

"Just leave him." Alice said, slumping her shoulders and closing her eyes with a sigh. "He's worried for Oz as well."

"He didn't have the right to attack you like he did." Break said seriously and Alice opened her eyes to see him stare at her intensely. His hand reached out to caress her neck again and she frowned, wondering where he wanted the conversation to go.

"If I hadn't been here I don't think he would've stopped on own accord." Break mumbled his thoughts aloud. "He should know you're just as much a person with feelings as he is."

"What does that mean? You'd consider me as something not human?!" Alice shot back, taking it the wrong way. Break raised his eyebrow in confusion and gave her a rather comical look.

"Tehe, I didn't mean that at all!"

"You did!" Alice said, offended and made to move away from his touch. Break grinned and tightened his hold around her neck playfully to keep her put, but quickly released her when her eyes shot open a little frightened at the pressure.

That did it, though.

"I'm going to Raven now." Break muttered, turning sharply and walking away from her. Alice grunted.

"Idiot. It's only going to turn into a fight and you know that." But then again, since when did she stop liking to argue with someone? Especially seaweed.

"I don't care if it does, Alice. He hurt you and that's enough reason for me to put him into place." Break said, looking at her over his shoulder as she quickly trotted after him.

"So? You hit me repeatedly, when we first met. I don't think he realized that even a chain could feel some pain." At her first sentence Break had already stopped walking and turned to her again, looking rather hurt at the memory.

"What?" Alice asked, staring at him with a minor glare.

"I wouldn't hurt you." He said simply, casting her a serious look and she nodded.

"I know. Where'd it come from?"

He smiled and cocked his head to one side, his hair playfully falling with him. "Just checking~"

"Sure." Alice cocked one eyebrow before smiling to herself and shaking her head. "Can you give me a hug or something?"

The look on the male's face was priceless, and even though it didn't occur to Alice that her question had been rather unexpected she couldn't help but think how stupid he looked right now, and she chuckled amused when he gave a suspicious little smile.

"Forget it," Alice said, shaking her head but happy that she felt his arms encircling her anyways. She buried her face in his chest and took a deep breath as he rest his chin on top of her head softly.

"It was that intimidating, then?"

She didn't answer his question and tried to block earlier activities of the day involving the seaweed out of her head as he released her again and took a step back.

"Would you… I mean…" Alice blushed heavily and took a few steps back, looking away with an angry pout and hugging herself.

"Kiss me?" She immediately regretted it and mentally hit herself multiple times. True, she had been debating whether the moment she would actually want something like that from him should come soon, but she shouldn't spill it out like that. She was such an idiot sometimes. But then again, even when she thought about it she had weighed her hands like a scale and made Oz positive something with the last mission cracked a brain cell.

She'd even try a flower like in those stupid books, twice, and one came out on 'do it' and one on 'don't do it'. How was that supposed to help, then?! Sharon's advice would've massacred her and Oz would get in a coma from only hearing something like that out of her mouth (she was pretty sure that he would disagree with her after the whole fight).

But he looked so… she didn't know. But he looked so something just now. And she wanted him to go to Raven and punch him until he'd see stars, but she'd hurt Oz with that. She wanted Break to make Raven feel the same as Raven did to her.

Hearing no response, she fisted her hands and rested her arms next to her again. Of course this was a stupid idea. She resisted hitting herself physically now – seeing Break was still in the same hall.

"I'm sorry." She eventually said, almost needing to choke it out (she wasn't very used to apologizing either).

"…Why?" Came the question and proven was that he didn't die. Alice shrugged and glared at the ground.

"Stupid question." Oh well, she could brush it off with being sleepy.

"Quite on the contrary." He replied softly, putting a hand on her hair. When did he walk over to her? Or was he already that close…? By this gesture she looked at him briefly, looking elsewhere when she saw he was looking at her, again intensely.

"Then why-"

"I was thinking that perhaps I imagined it." Break said, trying to lighten her mood with a different tune of his voice. She looked up briefly again as he explained further.

"Will you respond?"

What kinda question was that? She asked it first, didn't she? She looked at him again and bit her lip before nodding, knowing it would be thoroughly stupid if she declined that. She wouldn't want to decline it anyway.

"Alice." His hands went to her face and he cradled her, brushing a few locks from her forehead with his long fingers. She smelled the slightly sweet flavour, but that wasn't a surprise.

"Alice." He repeated her name again, softer than the time before. She clutched his arms at response, feeling that if she'd try and say something it'd come out stupidly and he would make fun of her.

He gently pressed his lips against hers after that, and Alice moaned excitedly, relishing in the bubbly warmth spreading in her chest and stomach area. At this, he leaned in further, pushing her backwards until her back bumped against the wall and he pulled away to look at her amused.

"Who'd think I'd have such an effect on you…" Though she knew he wanted to tease her with that, it didn't really work because of the look on his face.

He leaned down again and kissed her, a little rougher this time. He licked her lips and she opened her mouth – she wasn't that naïve. Alice, wondering about what exactly more she had to do, stepped one of her legs between his to get closer to him, and made a sound at the back of her throat as Break himself made a strangled sound. Eventually, he pulled away again, and Alice took a gulp of air with her eyes half-lid, as he brushed his lips against her nose.

It wasn't necessary to mention that the following days; Alice didn't even have to prime her senses to find him anymore. Wherever she would walk to or be and whatever she was doing, he seemed to always be around her periphery. Or just close by.

But of course whenever he tried to catch her eyes she would look away disdainfully, trying to keep up the bravado she didn't care. Until there would be moments when she would be alone with him of course, it was rather hard to ignore that seeing Alice hated being with someone in the room and keeping silent.

And it only took two days before Sharon stealthily pulled and locked Alice in her quarters.

*fail*

XD R&R!