Author's note: The next installation of the four-part self-explanatory chapters! Naturally, Alice's chapter is going to be almost completely different compared to the "Echo" chapter due to various differences between the two characters themselves including their relationship with Oz. I'm sorry if I seem annoying with all the song inserts. I'll leave it out for this chapter since it'll come out again in the last chapter (of the main story) and in the "Gil" chapter. Alright then, let's start!

Disclaimer: I'm sure you know this by now. Not mine except Mirella (though I'd steal Leo and Elliot (package deal!) any day if I could ;D )

Chapter 19: Alice

Oz's POV

A few days passed after my confrontation with Echo allowing things to seem a tiny bit less awkward now.

Okay. I lied. She's still avoiding my eyes and Sharon is glaring daggers at me now. Ada also keeps looking at me like I've done something I shouldn't have. I still have to talk to Alice too (who is the only one acting like her usual self around me), so hopefully nothing happens to me afterwards (though Queen mode Sharon doesn't sound too bad).

In addition to the invisible daggers being shot at me, Vincent has been keeping Gil away from me in much more obvious ways to the point that it is really getting on my last nerve. If I had everything taken care of, I would've started planning what to do about Vincent being in the way of me getting to see Gil, but Alice isn't the easiest person to deal with especially since we're childhood friends meaning that her parents will be after me if I mess this up. Either way though, I decided that today is the day when I will talk to her, so hopefully I can convince her to meet with me in private. She was on her "day off" from band practice anyway (according to Glen who found out about it from Lacie), so she would either be roped into one of Sharon's plans or off starting at steakhouses. Unfortunately for me, it appears that she was in the middle of doing the former.

"Hello Oz-sama. Is there something I can help you with?" Sharon questioned politely with her dark, regal smile.

Suddenly feeling nervous, I resorted to being polite in turn to somehow convince her to let me borrow a little while. Much to my misfortune, Sharon knew me very well and was probably worried that I might make the same mistake I made with her, so she decided to act as an unneeded obstacle when I'm already short on time since I put this off up until the last minute. It's true that there isn't much of a chance of this ending smoothly especially since this is partially my fault for keeping her hopes up, but there really is nothing I can do if I don't have a chance to make things right.

"Well, since you are here, do you mind accompanying us while we go shopping?"

Breaking out of my flurry of thoughts, I noticed that Sharon was not actually "asking" me to join them. It was extremely clear that she was testing me with this command, so there was only one option for me to take. With a confident smile, I agreed to accompany them despite knowing that I would just end up carrying their bags which is something I'm not used to at all since neither Alice, Gil, nor I were heavy shoppers. In short, this is going to be a long day.

Alice-chan, this would look wonderful on you! Oh, but this would look good on you too!

Yeah... Okay... Sharon-onee-sama...

Alright! We'll take all of these.

It felt as if she was purposely trying to run down my patience as the bags grew along with the amount of walking we did. When we finally ended up stopping for food, I felt my legs collapse under me as I passed out on the table of a restaurant that has connections to the Rainsworth family. Although I was completely exhausted, I had enough energy to pay attention to my surroundings and realize that this is the place where we had our first and last date. Even from the corner of my eye I could see Sharon reminding me with that piercing gaze of hers: [Don't make the same mistake you made back then.]

I know all too well that there is so much at stake here. Alice is my light. She is sunshine to me unlike Gil who shares the same darkness. And yet, despite all that, he takes on all of my shadows and does whatever it takes to let me bathe in her sun. He is the reason why I haven't been swallowed while by my father's bitter words and cold treatment towards me. With Sharon, it was more along the lines of admiration than love. I know that now. And because I've learned my lesson, I need her to let me end this before I lose her trust.

Sharon and I spent lunch not meeting each other's eyes while Alice noisily ate her food resulting in her being scolded by Sharon. After we had finished eating the appetizer, Sharon finally decided to give me a single chance, along with a threatening look, under the guise of excusing herself briefly before the entrée was to arrive. Alice took this chance to bite my cheek a bit, much to the surprise of the other people in the area, and comment on how I looked down and should cheer up. It was a bit unusual to see her act the same as always, especially after her actions when I talked to her after Bloody B-Rabbit's first concert, making me all the more worried about what to say first. I also made the mistake of not giving her a proper response back then too even though she wasn't being very straightforward about saying how she felt about me.

But at the very least, I need to apologize.

"I'm sorry, Alice. I'm sorry for making you unhappy."

With an unfaltering gaze, she stared straight into my eyes as she reached out and pulled my cheeks while insisting that there was no need for apologies since I didn't do anything wrong. She urged me to simply tell her outright whether or not I wanted this relationship to be more than friends instead of being uncharacteristically serious like this. Like many other people I know, Alice can be incredibly stubborn meaning she probably won't let this go until I give her a "Yes" or "No". To add to this, she even made a few other confessions of her own such as the fact that she tried to use unpleasant means to try to win me over (though she refused to give me details like the name of the other party).

"You are everything to me. You are like the sun to me, but..."

No. That's not exactly what I wanted to say.

"Alice. You are very important to me. I promise that I would never lie to you. Alice, I love you..."

"Isn't that a lie? The one that is on your mind is seaweed head, isn't it?" she guessed with a childish pout that quickly changed into a forced smile. "Oz. I'm not mad. You said so yourself. We're best friends. And as your best friend, I demand that you smile and stop worrying so much!"

"Alice, I-"

"And as your best friend, I command you to go tell him right this minute, so that we can go to the amusement park again after the Battle of the Bands!"

The moment the server arrived with our food was the minute Alice decided to push me out of the restaurant to go find Gil after giving me a quick bite on the cheek. Sharon conveniently appeared shortly afterwards based on what I could see through the glass doors. Although it's highly likely that she could tell what happened between us, Alice still went to the trouble of smiling even though I knew in the back of my mind that she wanted to cry. Alice did this for me. She did this for me despite everything, so I can't put her efforts to waste by running away from the one thing I should've done a long time ago.

Oz? a familiar voice called out from within my troubled thoughts.

I broke away from my muddled mind upon hearing the voice to see that my legs had taken me to the Nightray mansion and Vincent was patiently waiting by the door for my arrival.

"It's a pleasure to see you this fine day, Oz-sama," he commented sarcastically almost in the form of a hiss. "Do you have any business here?"

It is time for the moment of truth.

"Vincent, let me speak to Gil."

I'm so tired... But at least I'm done. It's time for a showdown! Writing the shopping scene was a bit difficult since I'm usually on the side that just wants the shopping to end, so I almost ended up writing a long section filled with complaints. My interpretation of Alice should be pretty clear in this one, but if it's not, tell me and I'll explain. With that said, I'm going to sleep, so I'll see you guys in the next chapter.

-5 days left-