(I wanted to make this fluffier, but let's face it... Zero has personal space and Alice is shy. It's hard to write. 'Daw well.)

Ding-dong~

Zero get up from his couch and answered the door to find Alice there once again, staring at the ground. He didn't greet her; he simply stared at her until she decided to talk.

"Um... could I come in? Please?"

Unable to say no to Alice, Zero opened the door and stepped out of her way. She timidly came back into the familiar room and kept walking forward until Zero shut and locked the door.

She hugged herself before mumbling. "I... I know what's been keeping you up at night."

Zero became tense. Neither of them faced each other, but his lack of a response sent fear down her spine. The brief silence pressured her to continue.

"I don't know if you'll believe me but Queen Zukin showed me your dream."

He gritted his teeth, angry at that so-called queen. But he calmed himself down shortly afterward. "If she was spying on my dream, why didn't she fix it?"

Alice turned around to look at the back of his head. "Because she said that you had been having it a lot and it probably came from somewhere else. Zero... did something happen? At the hospital?"

He crossed his arms and looked straight into her eyes; a serious expression covered his face. "I killed that woman."

His intimidation shot through her and she looked at the floor. Then she shook her head. "I don't believe you."

Zero raised an eyebrow.

"I-I... saw you in the dream. You had no intention of letting that person die. You didn't kill anyone... it was an accident."

Zero sighed. "A death is a death," he argued, then continued hesitantly, "and by not being able to save her I-"

"It's not your fault," she interrupted. She gulped and found the courage to look at his face. He continued to stare her down; she saw his surprise from her sudden confidence, yet he was willing to hear her out.

"Everyone was just as shocked as you were in your dream. They wanted to blame you out of anger, but they were wrong. I don't know how it happened, but I think," she paused, finding the next part hard to say while looking at him, "I think you cared about her life. So please don't blame yourself."

She watched as he walked past her and sat back down on his couch, staring at the television without paying attention to its content. "That's easier said than done." As if he had a headache, he put his forehead in his hand, letting his silver hair gently cover his face.

Alice sat down next to him.

"So um... will you be okay?" she asked. Her hand rested on his shoulder.

The touch caught his attention. "I will," he replied casually, looking up to her face. Her azure eyes were so kind that he was drawn more and more to them, almost unaware that he was moving his head closer to hers for about a second...

Alice flinched and pulled her hand back. "Th-then I guess we'll see you on Friday, right?"

"... yeah." He was disappointed, but tried not to show it.

She hopped out of her seat. "All right." She bowed. "Goodbye," she said quickly and politely before skipping out the door.

"Alice," Zero called before she left. The sunlight from outside glowed on the side of her face as she waited for what he had to say.

"... thank you," he said, sort of embarrassed.

"You're welcome," she said sweetly before taking her leave.

(I do not want to break Zero, though I'm sure he's way out of character anyway. xP Guess there will be another epilogue-ish chapter.)