Disclaimer: I don't own Alice SyFy nor the characters.

The moment he walked through the door he saw her. She was standing there, in her light blue dress that suited her so well (like it was made especially for her, he noted), with her raspberry tights and dark boots. She looked just like when he saw her for the first time (except this time she wasn't soaking wet). He smiled when he noticed that she was still wearing his coat. It seemed like they were making final preparations before they send her tumbling back through the looking glass and into her own world.

He made a step forward to talk to her but just then she began speaking with Jack. The new king, he thought in disgust. He never really liked him for obvious reasons and now all of Wonderland was his. Great, just great. Alice was giving Jack that beautiful smile of hers and for a moment he wished that was him. Then she hugged him and he knew. He knew that Jack had got not only Wonderland but her as well. Of course. He was the king and this was his happy ending. Their happy ending. He wasn't going to spoil it for them (for her). He cared about her too much to ruin her happiness. She doesn't need me anymore. I shouldn't be here.

The Hatter watched as she activated the looking glass with the stone of Wonderland. That's my queue to leave. He thought bitterly looking at the floor. He turned around to leave the room, to leave her behind forever.

"Hatter!" her voice stopped him at his tracks.

"Alice!" he turned hesitantly but as soon as he saw her he couldn't help smiling. "Hey!" They rushed towards each other.

"I was, um… I was afraid I might've missed you." He lied so she wouldn't think that he didn't want to see her. Because he knew that would hurt her and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Yeah, you almost did." she said smiling at him.

"Yeah, I was, um…" he looked uncomfortably at the ground "I guess I was trying not to think about it—" he cut himself off "Anyways, I just wanted to say goodbye." he said slowly.

That last sentence literally tore his heart in two. The thought of never seeing her again was almost too painful to handle. That's why he decided to leave when he saw her with Jack. He realized how much pain it would cause him to say goodbye to her and how much easier it would be to just avoid it.

"Goodbye?" she said/asked confused. Was that the only thing he wanted to say to her? Wasn't there anything else?

"And… if you, you know, ever fancy coming back…" he stopped unsure how to continue.

"Do you want me to stay?" she asked him hopefully.

"Hell no!" he didn't want her to stay just because of him and be miserable. He realized she must've taken it as an insult when he saw her smile faltering and tried to cover it up quickly. "No, you, I think you should go home" and be with Jack. He added sadly in his head.

"Actually" she looked down for a moment "I've decided to stay here, in Wonderland." she said glancing up at him.

"You—Stay? Really?" he couldn't stop the wild grin that spread across his face.

"Yes. Jack… He asked me to marry him."

He felt how his heart almost came to a stop. Marry… him? Jack? Of course, he should've seen this coming. He should've known that Jack was going to propose to her, he would be and idiot not to. Just like him. He was the idiot for not going after her when he had the chance. Now it was definitely too late. He tried to hide his flabbergasted and impossibly disappointed (and jealous) face but it was so damn hard! Luckily he did so before she could notice the change in his demeanor.

"He proposed to you? That's lovely…" he tried to swallow the lump in his throat. "You'd make a wonderful queen, Alice." he told her forcing a fake smile on his face.

"Yeah, probably…" she said thoughtfully, looking in the distance over his shoulder for a moment. Then her eyes flickered up to his. "… but I said no."

"…what? But why?" He was really confused (but madly happy) right now. Wasn't this what she had wanted all along? Wasn't this what she had gone through all that trouble to find Jack for? So why'd she refuse?

"When he asked me, I realized that I was already in love with someone else." He felt something in his chest that made his heart beat faster. It was hope. "We've been through a lot and…" she paused "He became my best friend. I trust him more than anyone else. I guess I fell without realizing it." She smiled, waiting for him to fit the pieces.

His heart was about to explode. Was it possible that she meant… him? It was almost obvious and yet he just couldn't believe it. Did she really return his feelings? He wanted so bad to just hold her and kiss her until they both couldn't breathe. But he had to be absolutely certain before he did anything.

"And…" he swallowed nervously "Who might that lucky guy be?"

Alice fought the urge to smile widely, seeing his inner fight.

"Well" she pretended to ponder for a second "He's tall and very handsome, with gorgeous brown eyes and messy hair." he smiled widely at the description as she continued.

"And his favorite thing in the whole world is his hat." he smiled even wider at this.

"You're wrong, you know."

She knitted her eyebrows and tilted her head in confusion. "About what?"

He took a little step forward and leaned in closer to her, putting one hand on her waist.

"His favorite thing in the entire world…"

He leaned in so his mouth was right next to her ear.

"…is you." he whispered before capturing her lips with his own.