Ok, I am having a problem writing what I want.  I am in a weird mood, and I really can’t explain it.  It is not happy, and so I guess that is why I can’t write. So I decided to write this one shot in hopes that it will help out.  If not, well then you guys get a surprise chapter. 

Also, Hattie, thanks for the pic.

Song I listened to for this chapter: The Man Who Can’t Be Moved by The Script

Hatter woke up to another day.  He is glad it is not raining, not that it doesn’t matter, he isn’t moving.  His mind flashes to the reason he is here, as it does every day, all day long.

He had no idea where they went wrong.  He remembered when he first came to this world to be with Alice, how happy they both had been.  They enjoyed their time together, exploring this world.

Hatter remembered their first official date, the phone conversation before and the actual date.

“Hatter, we don’t need to date.  It seems like a step back after everything we have been though!”  Alice protested when Hatter called her asking for a date.  She was genuinely shocked by his question. 

“Alice, I just want to give you everything.  I love you and want to do this right.  I never took you on a date!”  Hatter tried to figure out what is wrong with the suggestion of a date.  Isn’t this what people in her world do?

Alice sighed, then told him in a teasing voice, “Well, with all the running we did, it would have been hard to do a traditional date; whatever a traditional date would be in Wonderland.  But, you could argue that our first date was in the Kingdom of Knights.”

Hatter scoffed at that suggestion and answered her, “Yeah with Charlie there, and then ending the night with a fight?  Then, after all that, you left me to go to the Casino even after I told you how dangerous it was?”  Then his voice dropped and he asked her, “Alice, what is wrong?”

Alice replied, “Hatter, I just am leery of dates.  Once I start dating someone, everything seems to end quickly after that.  I don’t want us to end.  I… care about you.  A lot.”

Hatter closed his eyes and asked, “You don’t trust me, Alice?”

The pregnant pause from her seemed to tell him everything and his heart dropped. 

Before he could say anything Alice asked him, “What time are you picking me up?”

Hatter grinned, told her the time and quickly hung up.  He had a lot to do.

He showed up at her apartment with a bouquet of tulips.  Hatter had heard about Jack and his presentation of roses to both of them, but he didn’t want to be compared to the bloody King of Hearts.  He calms himself down by telling himself that he was the one who had Alice. She picked him!

Alice opened the door wearing the purple coat over a black dress.  She smiled in enjoyment over the tulips, she had mentioned to him in the past that they, along with roses, are her favorites.

Hatter couldn’t help himself and he kissed her.  Then he held her to him before he released her to look into her eyes.  Quietly he asked, “Are you ready, luv?”

Alice smiled shyly at him and replied, “Yes.”

They went out to an Italian restaurant and ate while talking.  They joked about how the food here was different from Wonderland.

Hatter had been grinning and commented, “I never thought I would miss borogrove.  Of all the foods to miss!”

Alice had been joking, but at his words, her smile dropped. 

Hatter didn’t miss anything and asked, “Alice, what is wrong?”

Alice looked down and then she looked back up and her face brightened as she told him, “Nothing, just remembered something from work.  So, where else are we going?”

No matter how much Hatter had tried to find out, she never told him.  Not then, nor when they went to see the play, Wicked.

That was the first time Alice had drawn away from him and never told him what was wrong.  Sadly, it was not the last.

There would be innocent conversations and she would either pull away from him, or she would ask him questions about Wonderland.

At first he thought she was regretting that she had turned down Jack.

Later, he thought she regretted that he had come here to her world.

Then one day he had had enough.

He confronted her.

Hatter and Alice had been at her mom and Alice’s place.  They had been watching movies and talking; a normal night for the two of them.  Hatter was in a corner of the couch, with Alice lying against him.  His arm was around her, his hand playing with her hand.

Then Alice asked him, “Who was Carlota St. Delaware?”

Hatter looked down at her and answered, “A girl I dated in Wonderland.  Why?”

Alice shook her head and slid out of his arms. 

When Hatter tried to hold her, she told him, “I will be right back.” She got up and went to the bathroom.

Hatter sat there and watched her leave.  The blue shirt she was wearing reminded him of her dress he first saw her in.  That color remained his favorite on her. 

He sighed and rubbed his face.  Why did she ask these questions and then withdraw from him?  He decided enough was enough.  Eight months of this was more than enough time for her to talk to him.  Now he was going to get some answers from the woman he loved. 

Alice came back in the room.  She was surprised to see Hatter sitting on the edge of the sofa.  He had turned off the movie and was waiting for her.  She looked at him and asked, “Hatter, what is wrong?”

He looked up at her and asked, “Alice, what is wrong?  You keep asking me questions.  I answer them truthfully, but you pull away from me more and more.  It has been eight months.  Eight months that I have been trying to be patient.  But this is too much.  Tell me what is wrong?”

Alice stared at him and she shook her head and told him, “It’s nothing, Hatter.”

Hatter stood up and moved to her quickly.  He looked down at her and told her, “Now that is a bloody lie, Alice.  I love you.  I just want to know what is going on.  How can I fix it, if you don’t trust me enough to tell me?”

Alice glared up at him and finally told him, “I am tired of listening to what you miss from Wonderland.  If you miss it so much, go BACK!  I have tried to be nice.  I have tried to be patient.  But like you said, enough is enough.  Go back to your world, Hatter.”

Hatter took a step back and then scrunched his face in thought.  He asked, with a genuine sound of confusion in his voice, “Alice, where did you get this idea?  The only time we have brought up anything from Wonderland has been your questions.  Or times we are talking about our adventure.  Alice, what is going on?”

Alice just stared at him and told him, “Go home, Hatter.  Leave.”

Hatter watched her, and he asked again, “Alice, trust me.  I am home.”

Alice took a step away from him when he tried to pull her into his arms.  She walked to the door and opened it.  She stood there, not staring at him.

Hatter couldn’t believe it.  Why was she doing this? “Alice?”

She refused to look at him.

Hatter moved slowly to the door.  He tried to reach for her again and she moved away. His hand dropped, his whole body radiated misery and rejection.  He tried one last thing, “Alice, I am not leaving.  You are my home.  I love you.”

Alice finally said something, “Go home to Wonderland, Hatter.  You told me once that Wonderland was your home and you couldn’t leave it.”

Hatter’s shoulders dropped more.  He stared at her but when she refused to move, he turned and walked out the door.

Alice shut the door and slid down it, the tears she had hidden from him poured down her face.

Hatter had stood there, staring at the door, as he heard her crying, and felt helpless to fix her.  After a long while, he finally went home.

Hatter tried for months to get her to understand that he was still in love with her. Nothing worked.  He now was camped in front of the Looking Glass.  He refused to go back to Wonderland.  Plus he knew the Glass wouldn’t work for him, there is no part of him that wanted to go there.  That was the magic of the Glass, it will only allow those who really want to go to Wonderland to come through.  His life, love, they were all here.

Jack had set up Hatter very well in this world; making it where he could do anything he wanted.  The only stipulations?  That he love Alice and buy this site.  He was the Keeper of the Looking Glass.  For this, he never had to work or worry about anything.

He still loved Alice with his whole being and the first purchase he had made was this warehouse.   He had met and complied with every demand on him.  Now he waits and hopes that Alice will wake up one day and come running to the Glass, wanting him.  He is the man who couldn’t be moved.  Not by anything or anyone.

He is waiting for Alice.

Yeah told you I am in a mood.  Maybe I will write a companion piece to this, or something…  Just had to write something.

Thanks for reading. ~Wendy

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