In front of him was an incredibly awkward, long, spread of tables connected by one, tattered white cloth that seemed to have a few spills here and there on it. Behind it was a rather cute, small house with doors for windows and windows for doors. Other than that, there was nothing else in this clearing of the woods. Despite how large the table was, there were only three people sitting at it. There were two men on either side of the table, that seemed to still be laughing at some joke. One of them had shoulder length blonde hair and rabbit ears to match, but these were nothing like Alfred's. Alfred's stuck straight up, these drooped onto his shoulders, almost looking like part of his hair. The man across from him had short, chocolate brown hair as well as huge, round ears fit for a mouse. Like Gilbert, they both wore suits, but didn't seem to mind getting relaxed in them. Both of them had very tattered tea cups before them filled with untouched tea as well as what looked like charcoal on their plates.

The person at the head of the table, the furthest from Matthew, actually didn't have animal ears, as much that Matthew could see, which was a relief. Not everyone here was crazy. He was relaxed in his own chair, which almost resembled a throne, much more opulent than the rest of the chairs around him. He had ragged blonde hair mostly hidden underneath a top hat assorted with playing cards and random assortments of cloth. They barely covered what Matthew could safely assume were massive eyebrows that almost nearly covered his emerald green eyes. His suit was very well put together, he obviously had a lot of pride, considering all the care he obviously put into making it look more than presentable.

The man at the end of the table was glaring at the other two until he noticed Matthew and perked up slightly with a smile. He seemed…oddly familiar, but Matthew easily shook off that feeling.

"Ah, Matthew!" the man with the hat stood up and Matthew noticed that Gilbert had disappeared yet again, but he found the cat appearing next to the mouse with his own cackling laugh. He obviously knew these people. "Oi! Gits! We have a guest! Behave!" he snapped at the three.

"What're you gonna do?" Gilbert laughed. "Make us eat your scones?"

The man in the hat's face grew red and his scowl deepened. "That is no way to talk in front of a guest."

"Ah, do not mind them," the rabbit man rushed over to Matthew's side, delicately taking hold of his arm and leading him to the table. He seemed to almost purr as he spoke. "Sit down and have some tea with us. It is a party, after all."

"A party for what?" Matthew asked curiously. Normally, he wouldn't have the courage to even talk to people like this, but this was just a dream, no harm could really be done to him here. If it was his dream, too, he was in charge, so they couldn't do anything to him if he asked a simple question.

"For you!" the mouse chimed as Matthew was all but forced into his seat.

"For me?" Matthew asked. He already felt the blush rise to his face. No one spent that much effort on him usually. Parties that his parents threw were usually for the sake of business, even if it was under the guise of being for him or Alfred. This rang certain bells in his head and he was trying to remember, but it was just barely out of his reach.

"Of course, lad," the man in the hat smiled brightly at him. "Despite the idiots here, this party's always been exclusively for you!" The rabbit man started pouring Matthew some tea. Nothing came out of the pot, but his cup still filled, oddly enough. Matthew stared in awe.

"He's got some kind of spell on it," the mouse shrugged. "It'll only pour the drink you like the most!" Matthew stared in awe at it.

"Ah, yes, I almost forgot, my name is Francis," the rabbit smiled at him and gave a suggestive wink that made Matthew's face go even more red. "And before you ask, no I am not a filthy rabbit like the one running around like an idiot. I am a hare."

"You know Alfred?" Matthew's interest piqued. That was his whole point here, to find Alfred. Not like he really needed him for confidence anymore now that Matthew really figured out this dream thing. He just felt like he needed his brother now…He didn't get why, though.

"And my name is Antonio!" the mouse chimed, the others at the table basically ignoring Matthew's question. "And you've met the cat."

"I'm not just any cat," Gilbert scoffed proudly before disappearing and re-appearing pointedly between Matthew and Francis, who Matthew had just noticed was trying to snake his arm around Matthew's shoulder. "Remember that deal we made, Franny?"

"Oh, yes, of course, Matthew is all yours," Francis laughed and Matthew blushed, turning to his drink. He wondered if it was really the drink he liked most. It was a rare kind of tea that his mother brought back whenever she went to England, but Matthew always sweetened it with a ton of maple syrup. Matthew took a tentative sip and his eyes widened. It was better than he usually prepared it for himself. "He is just so adorable, I could not stop myself."

"Do you like it?" the man in the hat inquired and Matthew placed the cup down with a small smile.

"Yes, thank you," Matthew looked to him.

"Right, where are my manners?" the man in the hat sighed. "My name is Arthur. You can stay as long as you would like, Matthew, you're always welcome at your own party."

"Why is this a party for me?" Matthew asked. Everyone at the table was quiet and looked at him.

And then they all spoke together. "You're the most important person here." Matthew's blush immediately grew worse as Arthur started an argument at how people shouldn't steal his words before he says them. Matthew stared at his tea in silent awe. He wasn't that important. He couldn't be. He was just…Matthew. Nothing special about him, no way.

"Oi, Birdie," Gilbert's close voice broke Matthew out of his reverie and he jumped when he saw that the cat was directly in front of him, hovering over the table, their faces impossibly close.

"No cats on the table!" Arthur shouted at him.

"Of course you're important," Gilbert winked and disappeared once again to go back to Antonio's side.

"Ah, he is even cuter when he's flustered!" Francis laughed as Matthew bit his lip. He glanced around and noticed that the sun was already setting around them. How long had he been there for? The sun was high in the sky when he arrived…this didn't make sense. Was he just wasting time now? He didn't even remember why he was there. In fact…he couldn't remember. He just knew he was at this party especially for him…

"Is something wrong, lad?" Arthur asked and Matthew jumped slightly.

"Oh, everything's fine, don't worry," Matthew mumbled and took another drink from his tea. What was he forgetting now? It all felt so important…All he knew was that his goal was to get to Alfred in this crazy world. But…how did he know it was crazy? He couldn't even remember where he came from. He couldn't remember much. Was it the tea? No, it couldn't be. These people were nice, they only wanted Matthew to be happy.

"Wow, it's getting dark quick," Antonio laughed and Matthew noticed that now the sun was mostly set, leaving them in near darkness. How long had he spaced out for? Why did no one bring him back to reality or…whatever this was?

No, Matthew remembered, this was a dream. He took a deep breath to steady himself. That was why this was all so weird, it was just a silly dream.

"Oh, don't worry," Arthur said easily. Just as the last of the sun's rays disappeared from sight, various floating balls of light appeared around the table, lighting it up like streetlamps would a street. It was still a friendly atmosphere, but it looked like everything had changed from the bright colors of the day.

"He's a witch," Gilbert snickered and Arthur glared at him.

"You are the one that constantly teleports all around Wonderland!" Arthur snapped at him.

"I do it with good reason," Gilbert said happily.

"Dude, this is a wicked party." Matthew froze. That was Alfred's voice. He looked to his side, where he heard it, and saw Alfred, rabbit ears and all, kneeling right beside him, looking at all of the set up. "But you don't look like you're enjoying it. What the hell's up with that?"

"Alfred?" Matthew asked and the table was quiet immediately. Alfred chuckled awkwardly at all of the attention around him before darting off into the forest. "Wait! Alfred!" Matthew didn't even hesitate before running off after him, into the dark forest.

"Matthew!" Arthur snapped from the party, but it was too late, Matthew was far into the forest, trying to chase after his brother, who he could still barely see.

"Birdie!" Gilbert groaned, but Matthew was sure it'd be hard to find him now.

Matthew winced as pain shot up his arm as he scraped against a bush and he cried out slightly. That was…odd. This was a dream, he shouldn't be able to feel pain so real. He ran some more, various other parts of his body receiving scratches and Matthew had to stop. The moon shone bright ahead of him, but it was blocked by the trees. Form what he could vaguely tell, these bushes were far different than the rest. They were huge and black, with massive thorns covering them. They completely blocked Matthew's path in every direction. Matthew looked at his arm and shivered when he saw that he was bleeding, quite a lot actually. It was a really deep cut. He could only assume how bad everything else was.

"Yeah, the forest changes with the time of day," Gilbert sighed in front of him and Matthew reeled back, into a few more thorns to create mores pace between them. "You'd have been safer if you stayed at the party." Gilbert was acting…weird. He was serious. He looked genuinely concerned for Matthew, from what he could see on his face. He quickly gripped onto Matthew's arm to look at it closer. "You're the safest at day and least safe at night, isn't that something even your world knows?"

"We don't have forests that change," Matthew muttered and winced when Gilbert ran a thumb over his wound. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to help," Gilbert stared him in the eyes and Matthew nearly felt his knees go weak. This was drastically different from the smirking, cackling Gilbert during the day. He was serious, he was protective. He looked like he could honestly kill anyone that tried to hurt Matthew when he was in this state. Gilbert sighed as he retracted his hand and, curiously enough, he licked it. Then, he brought his hand back to Matthew and placed it right over the wound on his arm.

It stung slightly and Matthew winced, but Gilbert stayed focused. He retracted his hand to lick it again and Matthew was shocked to see that his wound was mostly healed. Gilbert put his hand over it again and it stung less this time. When he moved his hand away, the wound and all of the blood were completely gone.

"How are you doing that?" Matthew asked in awe.

"I just can," Gilbert muttered and moved to another wound on the same arm. "You're a lot of trouble, Birdie."

"Sorry," Matthew muttered. "I just…saw my brother."

"Why are you chasing him?" Gilbert asked, moving to his other arm.

"I don't really know," Matthew admitted. What was the harm of telling this to a person in his dream? Despite how real it felt, maybe he just thought it felt real and that was why it hurt. That was the best explanation he could come up with. But Gilbert couldn't really hurt him, this was just a dream. There was no harm in having no idea what he was doing.

"Better find yourself a reason or you're going to get lost," Gilbert said, moving down to Matthew's legs. There were cuts all over his suit, Matthew noticed and groaned slightly. "It's just a suit, Birdie. Don't worry about it."

"What did you mean by I'll get lost?" Matthew asked curiously as Gilbert finished and stood up.

"Wonderland's a special place," Gilbert smirked once again. "When you get here, you know exactly what you have to do, but Wonderland wants you to stay. So it distracts you for as long as it can. You lose your goal. Without that goal, you can never leave. Wonderland will keep you prisoner."

"Is that what happened to all of you?" Matthew asked carefully.

"Oh, God, no," Gilbert laughed. "We're just your distractions! We all want you to stay."

"Do you want me to stay?" Matthew asked. He knew Gilbert obviously felt something for him. Did that mean he wanted Matthew to stay more than anyone? Why would he be telling him all of this in that case?

"More than anything," Gilbert smiled, carefully tracing the hand he didn't lick over Matthew's face. "But I can't allow you to stay here. I need you to remember your goal."

"I don't understand," Matthew shook his head.

Gilbert leaned close to Matthew, his lips dangerously close to Matthew's ears when he spoke again. "You won't understand until you wake up." There was a long pause while Matthew's heart pounded quickly and blood rushed to his face. "And I need you to wake up."

"Why?" Matthew barely managed to get out.

"You have better things to do than get stuck here," Gilbert sighed, resting his chin on Matthew's shoulder for a while. "Good luck."

And then the cat disappeared. Matthew was left standing alone and he soon found that his legs couldn't support him anymore. He dropped to the ground, which felt coarse and rough, far different from the smooth grass from before. Gilbert was…interesting. Matthew could give him that. But he didn't know what Gilbert was talking about with goals. Wasn't his goal to find Alfred?

But that didn't seem like all of it.

Find Alfred and…

And…

And…

Go home.

The last, like, 800 words came as a surprise to me. Didn't expect that to happen, but it did and I enjoyed it! Hope you guys did, too! I enjoy the Hatter the most out of all Alice in Wonderland characters, no matter how he's portrayed, I always love him! And I love Arthur, so they can go happily together forever!

Anyway, next chapter we get to meet…Queen of Hearts, Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, and my added character of the King of Hearts (not dead)!

Please review!