Chapter 11 and for some reason I like this chapter best so far. Hopefully you will to. Enjoy!

Hatter's hands tangled in Alice's blonde curls as he pulled her closer to him. Arms tangled around one another necks, eyes shut and lips nearly burning with the passion that had been boiling up inside them for so long.

Thoughts, wishes and hopes that Alice had buried deep inside her heart, hidden away by the truth that she could never realized them , resurfaced and she knew that she'd never really gotten over Hatter. Their friendship was always something more, always meant to be more then just two very close friends and she knew it. She always did. And now, he did too.

They could have stayed like that for hours, maybe even days, wrapped up inside their own tiny bubble while the world continued to turn around them. And they would even care, would they? Not if they were like this.

Suddenly, she was walking back. Hatter was pushing her forward, and fast. She felt her feet tripping over one another, desperately latching onto Hatter's neck with hope that he wouldn't notice her nearly falling.

Then, the floor disappeared from under her feet. Hatter's arms were circling her waist, lifting her up and placing her onto her bed, and Alice took a deep heavy breath while the hatter continued to kiss her. Along her jaw, to her cheek and then resting on her neck, his lips never stopped moving along her body. And neither did her heart which was thumping dangerously close to her chest.

She shut her eyes, her body seemed to melted, flowing into his and becoming acutely aware of all his actions. When ever he moved, Alice felt her body move with it and she sighed with happiness. All her troubles melted away like they had in the bath, but one stood alone.

Just one name.

Irisa.

Alice's eyes opened, but she couldn't help but see the images in her mind. Irisa Hightopp. Her best friend, almost her sister. Irisa teaching Alice dance moves. Irisa helping Alice get ready for the party. Irisa telling Alice that she needed to go back, to help her family. Irisa, Irisa, Irisa.

Irisa was Hatter's wife. What would she do if she saw Alice here, with Hatter on top of her? What would she say? What would Nicholas say, or Mirana? She needed to get a grip on this situation, right now.

"Hatter," Alice gasped, her breath was coming up quick and shallow. "Hatter I…Tarrant…"

Alice had almost never called Hatter by his first name. It was always his nickname; he was always Hatter to her, wasn't he? But what he was doing was more then just friendly. Much, much more friendly.

"Tarrant," Alice gasped, trying to pull herself up against his body which was pressing down on her, and not in an unpleasant way, either. "We shouldn't do this…"

"We should, Alice…" Was his muffled response. "We need to do this."

"Hatter no." Alice said, trying to be more confident but her voice wavered. "We have to stop. Think of Irisa."

"I am thinking of Irisa," Hatter replied, looking up and his face was so close to Alice's that she felt as if she could fall into his crystal green eyes. "Imagine how happy she'll be to know that we finally found each other."

"Hatter," Alice said, still uneasy. "I don't want…"

"But you do want, don't you Alice?" Hatter asked. "You know you want this. You've always had. Just let it go, now. Give in to your desires. Your wants. Your needs. Forget about them all. It's just us, Alice."

"Hatter, I-" Alice's refusal was silenced as Hatter crushed his lips against hers, harder this time, throwing his whole body into it. Alice felt her head slam into the back of her bed; wood scraping against her skull, and started to throb but Alice barley felt it.

Alice grabbed the Hatter's shoulders, pushing him away, but her attempts were feeble. He was stronger then she was, and after a few moments Alice gave up and waited for him to finally stop.

Finally he pulled back and straightened, his knees still straddling her waist and gazed down at Alice lazily, and she turned her head away, staring at the wall and reusing to look at him.

"You can't fight it," Hatter's breath grazed her neck and raised goose bumps on her flesh. "You know it's true. No matter how much you think you can fight it, you can't. And you know what? You're going to end up just like her."

Alice turned to look at him slightly and saw he was smiling.

"That's right, my dear." He continued. "You'll end up locked up and mad, in an asylum. Just. Like. Your. Aunt."

"Don't say that," Alice told him, her voice sounded weak even to her own ears. "I'm not like her?"

"Oh sure you are." He chuckled. "Both kindred sprits, both pieces that never belonged to the puzzle? That's why you wanted to leave in the first place isn't it? Because you couldn't fir in and deal out your own problems…"

"Stop it," Alice hissed, turning to face him all the way. "Stop saying that."

'Tell me you don't believe it then." Hatter taunted, moving closer to her face, his nose barley grazing hers. "Tell me you've never wanted to leave your home? That you've always felt like you belonged right there, as much as your sister and your mother. Because your aunt never believed any of that. And now look at her."

Alice shook her head, her eyes growing wet and she felt her breath coming out in shorter breaths. "That's not true…you can't…."

"Oh, hush now….." He whispered, and wiped her tears away with a single finger. "No need for tears. After all you're only dreaming, Alice."

"What?" Alice asked.

"Didn't you know?" He asked in a bit of a taunting manor. "This is all a dream. None of this is real. And you thought it was, didn't you? Well, that just proves it. You really are mad. A mad, foolish woman. And guess what? You will go to that same asylum Imogene is in now."

Alice felt her body go ridged and before she cold speak, Hatter placed a single finger on her lips.

"No, Alice. Not another word." He commanded. "Just listen. You're going to shut your eyes now, and when you open them, I'll be gone and you'll realize you just woke up from a dream. A very, very real dream."

Alice tried to shake her head but Hatter's finger wouldn't let her move her mouth. "Come now, Alice. Just shut your eyes for one second, and this will all be over."

Alice felt her eyes start to burn. She needed to blink, but she knew she couldn't. She wanted to yell at Hatter. She wanted to claw his eyes out and beat him with her fists. She wanted to scream and cry and just make him go away. But instead, she just felt her eyelids get heavier and heavier until she finally blinked.

And then, she fell.

Don't kill me for making it all dream-like. Did you want Hatter to say all those mean things to Alice? Heck, maybe it wasn't even a dream, I-d-k. That's just the way my creative mind works. Go figure. Review?