Okay, here's the next chap! Sorry it's a day late, but I can't promise that each chap will be on Saturday. Some will be on Sunday. I love you all, my dear readers!

The Big Decision

Alice yawned and stretched as she got out of bed. She had stayed up very late talking to Hatter after dinner, detailing every minute of her shopping trip before listening to him tell her everything about his day. He talked about what he did most, but he finished with, "…but I spent the whole day missing you." Alice's heart had melted. She had fallen asleep hearing his voice in her head.

Carol's voice jolted Alice out of her thoughts. "Alice, call for you!" Alice walked in and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Alice! Listen, sorry to call you when we just talked last night, but I really need your help. As soon as possible. When do you think you can come over today?" Hatter's voice lifted the fog of sleep from Alice's mind. She wondered what could be so important that she needed to be there. Then she realized that it was an excuse to see Hatter, and she really didn't care what the reasoning was.

"Okay, I can come over now. I need to shower and get dressed and I'll grab breakfast on the way. Sound good?"

"Yes, sure. In fact, I'll make you breakfast. Oh, will your mom be okay?" Alice's smile faltered as she thought of how this would sound to her mother, but she didn't want to tell Hatter that.

"Oh yeah, Mom will be fine! No problem! I'm sure she'll have something to do…anyway; I'll be there in a second. Got to go. Love you," Alice hung up. T'That', she scolded herself mentally, 'was not smooth. Not smooth at all, Alice.' She sighed and went to talk to her mother.

oX8Xo

On the other end of the phone, Hatter sighed too. He knew he shouldn't have brought up Carol! Alice and her mother had a good relationship, but things seemed a bit uncomfortable where he was concerned. Damn! And he had ruined a perfectly good day. 'Ah well,' he thought, 'At least she's still coming over. I'm glad she bought the urgent matter story. Why did I use that on her? I suppose I just wanted to see her. Damn, that was stupid.' Hatter walked into the kitchen to start breakfast, feeling guilty.

oX8Xo

Alice walked into the kitchen apprehensively. She had decided to talk to her mother after she was dressed, as she was fairly sure she would seem more adult if she wasn't in her pajamas. She gulped and hoped she wasn't leading herself to the chopping block. 'Why am I so worried?' She asked herself. 'Maybe it's because Mom's in a good mood and I don't want to ruin it. She was so happy that we went shopping. I don't want to burst her bubble. Well, I guess it's unavoidable.'

"Sweetie," said Carol as Alice reached the threshold, "What do you want for breakfast?" Alice felt so guilty.

"Er, well, ah, Mom, um, I think that I'm going to uh-" Alice was blushing.

"-David's?" Carol cut her off. "Oh, I suppose that's okay. I guess I just thought that you would like having a little break from your boyfriend. I see I was wrong. It's fine. Are you getting breakfast there?" Alice nodded. The guilt was still there, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. Her mom had said yes, if halfheartedly. Alice decided that she might as well just go.

"Yeah, I am. Thank you so much, Mom." Alice went to the door and as she walked out, Carol muttered to herself.

"Alice is acting like a teenager again. How strange."

oX8Xo

Alice knocked tentatively on the door and it swung open. Hatter stood there, grinning. He grabbed her hand and pulled her in. Alice smiled at his goofy attire: low-slung jeans, silvery-gray silk boxers, a top hat, and no shirt. Hatter pulled Alice down on the couch next to him and she turned.

"Where's your shirt?" She giggled. Anyone else would look like an idiot, but Hatter managed to pull off the outrageous look. Hatter grinned like a loony.

"I forgot to put the lid on the blender and it exploded all over me, well, my shirt, anyway. So I took it off." Alice rolled her eyes. Of course Hatter would forget to put the lid on the blender, not that she minded the view. Then she thought of something.

"Is the kitchen a mess?" She glared at her boyfriend. He held up his hands.

"Only some of it," he said defensively.

"Which some of it?"

"The ceiling," Hatter blushed. Alice shook her head in disbelief. Leave it to her silly boyfriend from another world to coat the ceiling in pureed fruit. She stood up to go clean it and Hatter pulled her back down onto his lap.

"Hatter, I have to go clean up your mess! C'mon, you're helping." With that, Alice jumped up, grabbed Hatter's hand, and dragged him into the kitchen. She grabbed a chair and pulled it over to the corner where the mess was. Grabbing some paper towels, she proceeded to wipe up most of the pink goop. She handed the gross paper towels down to Hatter, who took them carefully and threw them in the garbage with a look of disgust on his face. Alice rolled her eyes and got down before turning to Hatter.

"Oh no," he groaned, anticipating her thoughts. She smiled sweetly.

"Your turn," she sing-songed. He groaned again as Alice handed him the paper towels and proceeded to walk away. "I'll be right back," she called as she left the room. "I just need to get something." And with that, Alice disappeared into the other room. She went to her purse and grabbed her camera. She had brought it with the intention of taking some picture of Hatter – normal pictures – but this was too good to pass up. Walking back into the kitchen, Alice grinned. Hatter looked down at her as she crossed the threshold.

"Just what have you got there?" He said suspiciously. Alice tried not to laugh.

"This, Hatter my dear, is a camera. You press this little button and it records a picture of whatever you aim it at. Watch!" And before Hatter could react, Alice pressed the shutter and the camera flashed in his face.

"Augh!" He shrieked. "I'm blinded! What the hell was that, Alice?" Alice tried to answer him, but she was laughing too hard. Sinking to the ground, she clutched her stomach and guffawed. After a few minutes, she got control of herself enough to look at the picture in the camera and she cracked up again. In it, Hatter was standing on the chair holding a yucky paper towel, but his face was the funny bit. His expression was one of total surprise, and one of his hands was just starting to come up and shield his eyes. Alice tried to catch her breath as Hatter jumped off the chair and came to stand over her, glaring.

"That was not funny, Alice. Now what do you say?" He wore a look of disapproving superiority, and Alice was biting back peals of laughter.

"You're right, Hatter," she managed to gasp. "It wasn't funny. It was hilarious!" She collapsed, giggling. Hatter rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help snickering himself. The whole situation was so ridiculous.

"C'mon, get up, you loon," he dragged Alice into the living room and onto the couch, where she slowly recovered her giggle fits. Hatter sat, thinking. "Alice," he said suddenly, "How would you feel about living with me?" That got rid of her giggle fits. Alice sat up abruptly.

"Seriously, Hatter?" He nodded. "Well, um, I don't know. Sure. Why not?" Alice smiled at her boyfriend, who smiled back. Then he jumped up.

"Now come with me, Alice. I need your help with something." He dragged her over to the computer. "Sit," he commanded. "I was online yesterday, trying to find some property, and I had almost no luck. Can you help me? Please?" Alice looked at him, confused.

"Sure, but what do you need property for?" Hatter shook his head firmly.

"Nope, I'm not going to tell you. Just help," Alice rolled her eyes and turned back to the computer. She opened Google.

"Okay, let's see what we can find."

oX8Xo

Alice groaned to herself as she opened the door. She was home late again. Carol was going to be upset. Alice hadn't meant to come home so late; time had gotten away from her. She and Hatter had spent hours researching buildings for sale in the area, and then they watched a movie. Hatter had decided that he loved Jim Carrey after seeing Batman Forever. He had heard about the Batman movies while buying food, apparently, and when they turned on the TV and saw that one was playing on ABC Family, Hatter demanded they watch it. Alice had said okay. She hadn't realized how late that would send her home. She felt so guilty about her mom, but she also enjoyed the freedom of just being with Hatter. He was more than her boyfriend. He was also her brother, her son, and her father, not to mention her friend. Plus, he was her comrade-in-arms, the only other person who had experienced Wonderland with her. What else could she want?

Alice yelped as, lost in her thoughts, she walked into the coffee table. 'Not very graceful, Alice,' she thought. Rubbing her shin, Alice walked into her room and collapsed on the bed. She pulled off her boots and threw them on the floor before exchanging the rest of her clothing for cotton pajamas. Pulling out her earrings, she trudged into the bathroom and hurriedly brushed her teeth. She grabbed an elastic and pulled her hair into a ponytail as, yawning, she tiptoed on a whim to her mother's room. Carol was reading in bed, not asleep as Alice had expected. Alice moved a little ways into the room.

"Goodnight, Mom."

"Alice! So nice of you to drop by!" Carol looked up from her book in mock surprise before dropping the affectation. Alice could see the tiredness in her eyes. "Honey, why are you home so late?" The resignation in Carol's voice was even worse than anger, and Alice felt something break inside her. Why was this so hard?

"I'm sorry, Mom. Time got away from me. It was an accident. I'm sorry." Alice looked at her feet, unable to face her mother.

"You're moving in with him, aren't you?" There was nothing accusatory in Carol's voice, only that bone-numbing acceptance, as if it was a fight and Carol knew she had already lost. Alice felt as though she was pleading guilty in a trail; as though moving in with Hatter was a great evil. "Alice, are you moving in with Hatter?" The question floated in the air for some time, and Alice felt as though the physical force of moving her lips to form a 'yes' was almost too much to bear. It had to be done, though. Alice forced her mouth to move, her tongue to make sound.

"Yes." The word dropped like a stone, and Alice waited for the blade she was sure hung over her neck to fall. She waited for the gavel to land, the sentence to be passed. She held back the urge to slide down the wall and curl up like a small child.

"Well, then. I hope you enjoy the apartment. Please visit sometimes." Alice could almost hear the echo of the gavel banging down, almost feel the whoosh as the blade fell. Sentence passed. Court dismissed. Alice fought tears as she trudged to her bed, tried not to think about her mother's quiet words. "I hope you enjoy the apartment. Please visit sometimes." As though Alice were leaving this minute. Her mother's voice had held no bitterness, no feeling at all. The words were empty of emotion, dull as a corpse. That was what brought the tears to Alice's eyes.

So that's it. I know that the moving in thing isn't very well written, but I want to get on to the main plot. Believe it or not, this is all just setup. I have to go, can't write a longer note. Please review!