Alice knew the moment she started the day by falling out of bed that it wasn't going to be a good day. When she tried to stand up she somehow managed to simultaneously hit her head on the corner of her desk and step in yesterday's cereal bowl, sending milk and cheerios over her carpet. The bowl, of course, shattered. She sat back down on the ground, somewhat dazed, landed in the milk, and received a glass shard in her thigh. She wondered, vaguely, if it was worth the trouble of getting up. It was one of those days.

She knew that it was not going to be a good day, and she still stubbornly insisted on going to school, perhaps because she had taken the fact that she had not burned herself cooking breakfast as a sign that her bad luck had passed. She was, as usual, woefully and utterly wrong. She realized her mistake when she entered the school and was greeted by a decidedly ticked boy in a rather unfortunate hat. Elliot, as usual, was behind him. At least he didn't look mad.

She wanted to go around Blood, but revised her course when she realized he had no intention of letting her pass. It was already bad enough, and she did not want the added humiliation –and trouble- of being physically restrained. He smiled in a way that would have looked sweet if you hadn't known him. No, Alice decided, this was not her day.

"Care to explain yourself?"

She returned his smiled and tried to keep her eyes from darting here and there like a cornered animal. She'd read somewhere that acting confident could trick the other party into believing you were right. I sounded like something her sister would have told her while studying for her psych final, but it wasn't like things could get worse.

She opened her mouth and channeled the person who had announced once, with a touch of pride, that the house was burning down around his ears. "In no way do I-"

"I accept no responsibility and I would definitely do it again." A voice announced from directly behind her.

Apparently she had channeled Ace too hard.

"You – do you have any idea what you did?" Blood was struggling to keep his voice level.

"I have done nothing that I should have to apologize for." Ace declared with a confidence that would inspire those who didn't know him to follow his lead. Alice thought of the wardrobe and almost argued. But, she rationalized, it's not like it was ever used, so really it wouldn't be missed. And if it was there were only a few drawers that had been broken. Nothing that couldn't be fixed.

"I," Blood paused for dramatic effect, "have to stay and fix the thing that you broke. I have to sacrifice my precious time because of your mistakes. Don't you feel even a little guilty?"

"No." Ace said decidedly.

Alice shrugged. "You should probably use duct tape." She grinned wickedly and added, "You know what they say –it fixes everything."

Elliot looked mildly horrified at her suggestion. "Duct tape? Alice, it's mahogany! You can't –you don't –I don't even know where to start!" He snorted derisively and muttered, "Duct tape."

Blood had half-turned and looked ready to explain to Elliot that no, Alice hadn't really recommended that they use duct tape, and had he ever heard of sarcasm, when Alice decided that his momentary distraction was the perfect opportunity to avoid making the already bad situation worse. She stepped around him and managed two steps in the general direction of her locker when she felt an arm around her.

"That was a close one, wasn't it~. Glad we dodged that bullet, huh?" Ace said, apparently oblivious to her shoving at his arm.

"You know, with you, a little less honesty could go a long way." She gave up on pushing at his arm and settled for an uncomfortably quick walking pace.

"Ehhh? I'm not honest at all, you know~."

Alice made a noncommittal noise and an abrupt turn to her locker. She was almost dragged off her feet when Ace took another step. To her great satisfaction, he removed his arm.

"You know, if you don't start walking you're going to miss your next class." Alice said, removing her books and pointedly avoiding looking at the boy behind her.

"There's still twenty minutes 'till the beginning of class, you know?"

"With your sense of direction it takes a good thirty to get there. Better start running."

"You could just walk me there and save me the trouble of looking."

"No."

"Please?"

Alice chose not the grace this with a reply, and walked into her classroom, closing the door quietly, but firmly, behind her. She was greeted by her classmates –all of her classmates- giving her looks of pity. It was then that she remembered that she had been scheduled to come in early to begin her in-class essay. She almost groaned.

She had to have pissed off some supernatural being yesterday. It was the only explanation. Maybe it had lived in the wardrobe? In that case it probably would have followed Ace instead.

Shockingly, she made it through the rest of school without anything terrible happening to her. She had managed to finish her assigned reading at lunch, and no one –not even Ace- had disturbed her. She thought she was free to go home and avoid company for the rest of the day when she heard the teacher ask her to help carry the newly arrived student commons furniture up to the second floor.

She had begun to walk towards him, forming half-hearted excused that would certainly remain unused, when Ace cheerfully walked up beside her.

"Sorry, Miss, but Alice is already helping me today –we've got a study date. Do you mind asking someone else if they can help? Thanks!" Without waiting for a reply from either of them, he grabbed her hand and was off.

"What was that?" Alice whispered, not entirely happy with this turn of events. An evening carrying boxes was far from ideal, but an evening with Ace was on one of two extremes: cheerfully inoffensive or utterly suicidal.

"I stretched the truth to get you out of carrying boxes two days in a row."

"You didn't stretch the truth, you lied outright. Thank you, by the way." She felt that she ought to thank him, regardless of whether or not she had desired this turn of events.

"Well, we could change that if you want."

"You're going to study?" Alice raised an eyebrow in challenge.

"Well, no. I was thinking we could go on a date, though."

It took her a moment to remember to breathe and another to formulate a passable reply. "Oh." She managed. Maybe today wasn't so bad, after all.

Ace gave her an expectant look.

"I mean, um. Sure. What were you thinking?"

"Meet me at the station at five."

She gave a weak smile. "What'll we be doing?"

He smiled. She knew that that meant nothing good, and she tried asking again.

"At five, remember. Don't wear anything too fancy, it'll get dirty." He gave her another smile, "Oh, this is my train! See you at five~."

"Ace wai-"The train door closed and she saw him giving an enthusiastic wave from the windows. "That's not your train, dumbass."

She was at the station at five. Ace was not. She was still at the station at six. Ace was not. At six thirty, she went looking for him. At seven thirty she gave up. The city was big, he wasn't answering his phone, and it was getting dark. She turned into another alley to try and get back to the station.

There was a brief moment when she was unsure what had happened, and then she was on the ground, looking up into a pair of red eyes.

"Why, hello there Alice~. What on earth are you doing down there?" Ace offered her a hand up, "Ah! I know! You got lost on your way to the station too! Don't be embarrassed, it's quiet difficult to find. But if you take a left and then another left and walk for a few more blocks you should get there fine."

"No, I was out looking for you." She didn't bother to point out that his direction would take you in the exact opposite direction.

"Ah! I'm so sorry for being late. There was this cat, you see, and… would you still like to go?"

"Only if you tell me what we're doing first."

He smiled. "In that case, we're going hiking. I packed food, so you don't need to worry on that account."

"Hiking?" Alice asked suspiciously.

"It's not that difficult to get to –there aren't any roads, but I found a really nice spot by the lake, and if we hurry we'll be able to see the moonrise."

Upon hearing the words 'no roads', Alice immediately resigned herself to an evening of something that toed the line between unsafe and lethal. "It sounds lovely, Ace."

It was, much to her surprise and Ace's satisfaction, lovely.