A piercing light shone through the tattered curtains, beaming down right on Alice's eyes. Nose crinkling, the fair blonde covered her eyes with the back of her hand, rubbing the sleep out of them with her knuckles as she slowly sat up. Peeking an eye open, testing to see where the light was, she found that she was all alone in the eclectic room. Frowning slightly, she slid off of the bed and made her way to the door. Hand wrapping around the copper door knob, she pulled the heavy wooden thing open, head slipping out into the dusty hallway, light streaming through more tattered curtains throughout the hall. Sliding the rest of her person out into the hall slowly, she shut the Hatters bedroom door behind her and slunk back to her room. Before she could make it there, her senses were invaded. She could her the clanging of dishes being used and she could smell the sweet aromas of pastries and breakfast meats. Allowing a faint grin to spread across her face, she continued on down the hall to the top of the stairs. Leaning in to the stairwell, she could see Tarrant's mismatched socks shuffling back and forth and doing a little hop, skip and a jig every now and then. Grinning again, Alice finally made up the courage to slowly start taking quiet steps down the stairs.

"Oh, no!" Alice heard. Eyes wide, she looked back in the Hatters direction and there he was, arms wide trying to hide what he was doing in the kitchen, "You were supposed to be in bed m'dear..." He waved a finger at her looking a little deflated.

"Beg your pardon?" She asked, slightly confused as to why her being awake was a problem.

"I was..." Tarrant paused as he turned to reveal a rickety little wooden tray that held a chipped plate of bacon, eggs and a muffin with a cup of tea made just the way he imagined Alice would like and a little glass with a dandelion sticking out, "I was going to bring you breakfast in bed." He admitted with a lopsided grin.

"Oh." Alice giggled softly, "I'm sorry, had I known." She shrugged apologetically.

"Had you known, it wouldn't have been a surprise would it?" He asked with a teasing smile.

"But this is better now, because we can have breakfast together." She smiled at the disheveled man, earning a wide and toothy grin for her statement, "And then we can start planning on getting me home?" She added under her breath as if the strength of her voice made any difference in how striking her comment had been on the man.

Deflating Tarrant stared at his shoeless feet for a moment before eventually nodding.

"I suppose we could do that if it's what you really desire." He replied after a moment.

"R-really?" She asked with wide eyes.

Nodding, the Hatter turned away from the young woman, grabbing their plates and making his way to the round little table in the corner of the kitchen.

Following suit, Alice grabbed their tea and followed the man eagerly, though her eyes were sad. She was eager to go home, but there was a knot in the pit of her stomach that she couldn't explain.

Taking their seats, Tarrant looked up at the girl feeling a moment of courage.

"Just allow me to convince you why you should stay?" The orange haired man asked and before she had a chance to answer, "There are so many wonderful things here. Sure, there are bad things here too, but if you give me the chance to show you, I think I could remind you why you called this place 'Wonderland' when you first came..." He paused, waiting for a response, but his eager half took slight control one last time, "I think Underland really could be wonderful if you were to stay." He admitted, clearing his throat with a squeek.

Grinning at the fuzzy mans outburst, Alice stared at the food he had prepared for her.

"Show me?"

.:.:Writers Corner:.:.

I know it has been far too long since I've last written anything for this story. Recently, an uncle bestowed upon me his old computer and I stumbled over to Fanfiction and remembered how much fun I had writing this story.

So!

In celebration of my having a computer once again, here is a continuing chapter. I will not be able to update as often as I would like, but that's what work does. So, I guess I will see you all in an other couple days. Hope you all like the newest chapter, even if it is short.

Cheers,

Wicked Little Thing