16. Kiss the Girl

Was this the end, or just the beginning? Julius couldn't tell as Ace led the small group through the bustling crowd in the Magic Kingdom, climbing the vast stairs to the train station on Main Street USA. Dusk had begun to fall, and a purple horizon was spread across the not-so-cloudy sky. They squeezed between vacationers in Town Square, making their way to the thin green gate by the railroad station. Peter recognized the area at once, recalling the moment he'd caught Alice on the street below on one of their earlier encounters.

"This better work this time, Ace, or so help me…" Julius warned through gritted teeth, huddled beside his friend in front of the gate. Ace laughed.

"It will, it will~." He waved off his friend's concern, glancing over towards his younger sister. Alice stood close to Peter, the white-haired man exclaiming excitedly about something Alice found interesting.

"Are you sure it's alright to be leaving those two alone?" Boris asked, sneaking up beside Ace with a raised eyebrow.

"They're fine, they're fine." The red-eyed man assured, though he was not precisely assured himself. It was then he noticed they were missing one of their tag-alongs. "Actually, go look for Pierce."

"Why?"

"So he distracts her." Ace replied, pointing to his sister. Boris gave a quick salute, his pink hair bobbing as he rushed back down the stairs. Turning to Julius, Ace continued, "Now here's the plan…"

The sun was lowering considerably, a pinkish-gold glow settling over the Magic Kingdom briefly before a dark blue threatened to overlap it. The fireworks would be starting when the sun chose to settle beyond the horizon.

"It looks like the fireworks are going to start soon." Alice noticed, leaning on the green rails.

Peter looked up at the sky, nodding. "In a few minutes."

The young brunette glanced over at her brother and friend to inform them, but stopped, tilting her head at the huddling dup. "What are they doing?" Peter followed her gaze, raising an annoyed eyebrow at the two.

"They're gay." He replied bluntly. Alice looked up at him, baffled.

"What?"

Peter gestured toward the men, answering as though it'd been obvious. "Can't you see the way those two are huddled together? They're gay and too ashamed to admit it."

Alice laughed. "That's ridiculous! Julius is not..." But she caught herself, peeking over at the two again. They were acting rather strange, and her brother was always a little too close to the blunette. Could it be…? "…Is he?"

"It appears so." The white haired man insisted, returning his attention to the oncoming fireworks display. Alice gazed at the men a little longer, but eventually looked onto Cinderella Castle.

Audio played loudly over the Magic Kingdom, informing the night's guests of the display to come. A wild, white light whirled up into the sky, marking the beginning of the show. Alice watched in wonder beside Peter, her eyes lighting up at the bright colors.

"It's beautiful." She whispered to herself. She felt an arm wrap around her shoulders and quickly looked up, surprised to see Peter gently pulling her against his side.

"Not nearly as beautiful as you." He replied with a smile.

"Peter…"

"Ack, your chance is slipping by here." Ace whispered to Julius.

"Well what do I do?" Julius whispered back eyes on the female brunette. She and Peter's lips were moving closer. His chance was slipping away.

"Go get her, bro!" Ace sang, pushing the blunette rather roughly into Alice.

"Gah!" Julius wobbled forward unexpectedly, falling into Alice.

To her company's dismay, Alice snapped out of it and turned towards Julius in worry, gripping his arms tightly to hold him steady. "Julius! Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"Ace…" he begun to growl, slowly lifting himself to his feet with his friend's help.

"Is there something you wanted?" Peter asked sharply, his crimson eyes narrowing into slits at the intruder.

"Ah, erm, yes. I wanted to speak with Alice." He said, his gaze never wavering from hers.

"Mhm?" she tilted her head, looking up at him with wide teal eyes. This only increased his already nervous body.

"Ah, well, this isn't the best time or place," he started, talking too fast. "But I have to tell you…" He sucked in a deep, uneven breath. "Alice, I lo—"

"ALIIIIICEEEEE!" A loud cry interrupted Monrey, two small arms winding around the brunette in a clingy hug. A small red haired boy sobbed in her back, his voice whining. "Boris keeps bullying meee!"

A bob of pink hair popped up behind him. The punk boy shrugged. "It's not bullying. We were just playing a friendly game of tag. Right, boys?"

Dee and Dum trotted up behind him, their little heads nodding. "Right! We were only having fun!"

"You three are monsters." Alice mumbled under her breath, patting Pierce's head gently. Peter glared. "Stop bullying this poor boy! He hasn't done anything to you."

"But it's so much fun." The trio replied in unison. Pierce let out a small whimper.

"Peta! Save me!" he cried, startling the man by jumping into his arms.

"What? Save yourself! And stop touching me! You'll infest me with your germs!" Peter shouted, dropping the young boy.

"But Petaaa!" Pierce whined.

Alice giggled at the scene. They can be so cute… "Oh!" She turned quickly. "I'm sorry! You wanted to say something Juli-?" She stopped, confused. Julius and Ace were gone and out of sight. "Julius…"

I wonder what he wanted to tell me.

"I had a lot of fun today." Alice said with a large grin. She and Peter sat in the empty monorail together, watching the lake beside them glisten in the moonlight. The park had closed, and Boris was preoccupied chasing poor Pierce. She never did figure out where Ace and Julius had gone.

Gay… The word rang through her ears. Could Peter's deduction be true? It seemed to make sense. They've been clinging to each other the whole trip… And they've been acting really weird. They've run off by themselves more than once, and just a little bit ago Julius wanted to talk to me… Did he want to ask me if he could date Ace? She thought to herself. The idea was shocking, but convincing.

"Alice?"

"Huh?" the brunette snapped her head up quickly, her eyes meeting Peter's. "S-Sorry. My mind kind of ran off… Did you say something?"

"It's alright, my sweet." He smiled. "I said I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. I had a lot of fun, too."

Alice grinned, turning her head to stare out the window. Nighttime overwhelmed the sky, and she could just make out the color-changing castle in the distance. There was a long silence between the two, until Peter finally spoke up.

"You know Alice, I'm having a lot of fun with you." Peter confessed. There was something about the look he gave that had a blush forming on her cheeks. "I haven't had this much fun in a long time. I'm glad I met you."

"I'm happy I met you too, Peter." Alice replied quietly.

It came fast. She wasn't expecting it. One moment Peter was in front of her, and the next his lips were pressing against hers, his tongue prodding against her lip until they parted, giving him access to kiss her fully. Alice wasn't sure what to do in all of this. Her head spun, her eyes remained wide open in shock.

Peter pulled away slowly, and there was nothing Alice could do but stare.

"Welcome to the Contemporary resort." The monorail audio said loudly, its large white doors swooshing.

The couple stared at each other for a moment before Alice hurriedly walked out, Peter right behind her.

"I'll… I'll see you later." Though she didn't look up, Peter could see Alice's bright red face.

"Are you alright?" he asked in concern. "Did I did it wrong?"

Her face flushed deeper, her cheeks a bright red in embarrassment. Her voice screeched at a high, mousey pitch. "No! You did fine! I'm just tired, night!"

"Alice!" Peter reached out for her, but Alice was already running back to her room.

Julius paced uneasily back and forth in the hotel room, his head low in shame.

"Aww, don't be so beat up over it, Julie~" Ace sang from his bed, running a hand through his messy brown locks. "We'll get her tomorrow. We still have a while here."

"That's the point." He sighed, plopping down on his own bed. "I should've told her before all this."

"Don't be so angsty, Julius. We'll ust put another plan in motion. It's not the end of the world." Ace assured, standing up. He made his way over to the dresser, pulling out some swimtrunks.

"Where are you going?"

"The pool." Ace tossed a towel over his shoulder. "I'll be back later."

"Don't drown." Julius deadpanned, looking away at his friend crudely changed in front of him Ace laughed.

"I'll try not to." He replied, stepping out into the hallway.

Julius sighed, prepared to rest his eyes when the sound of the hotel room door clicked open. Assuming it was Ace, he sarcastically said, "What'd you forget now? Your kiss goodbye?"

"What?" a shrill voice replied.

Julius shot upright in bed, quickly noticing his mistake. "Alice! I'm sorry, I thought you were Ace…"

"It's fine." Alice replied quietly, trying to hide her beat red face under her hair. She scurried to the dresser, pulling out her nightdress and undergarments. "I'm going to take a shower real quick."

"Are you alright?" Julius asked, noticing her bright red face.

"Of course!" she answered, too quickly. "Everything's fine, don't worry about me! HAHA! …I'll be right back." Before Julius had a chance to object, she was already in the bathroom with the shower running.

"Are you feeling better now?" Julius asked, glancing up from the TV. Alice, now in her nightdress, ran a towel through her long hair, sitting beside him on the bed.

"A little." She mumbled, running a brush through her hair.

"What happened after I left earlier?"

Alice nearly choked. "Wh-What makes you think something happened?"

"That." He answered. Alice stared at her lap. "Alice?"

"…kissedme." She mumbled.

"I can't hear you." Julius frowned.

"He kissed me!" she cried. Julius felt his heart drop.

"He… kissed…?" Words didn't form in his dry mouth. She nodded. Clearing his throat, he asked, "Did you like it?"

"Kind of…" she replied, exhausted. "I don't know! I don't know how to feel about it. It felt good… but I barely know him! We just met last week! This is going really fast."

She's doubting. Julius thought. Ace has done nothing but screw up my chance. Maybe now I can…

"Alice… There's something I need to talk to you about." He said slowly. His heart was hammering loudly in his chest; his stomach dropping, hands clammy and throat dry. He was a nervous mess.

"I'm all ears." Alice replied, relieved. Anything to get off the kissing topic.

"There's someone I like." He continued talking incredibly slow, allowing the words to sink in. "There's something I'm in love with. This person is… wonderful. And I—"

"I think I know what you're getting at." Alice interrupted.

"You do?"

Alice smiled softly. "I do. And I think this person loves you, too."

Was his heart skipping beats? He couldn't tell. He felt inflated. "T-They do?" Alice grinned, nodding. Julius took a sigh of relief, immediately pulling her tightly into his arms. "You don't know what this means to me…"

"So when are you going to tell him?" she asked, head propped up against his shoulder. "Or does he already know?"

"Huh?" He?

"Ace. Did you tell him yet?" she questioned curiously.

…

…

…

"Ace?" he cried, jaw dropping in shock. What on Earth made her think he loved Ace?

Alice laughed. "You don't have to hide it! I see the way you two look at each other. It's so cute. And really romantic." She grinned. "I'm sure he loves you, too."

"N-No, Alice, you're completely missing the point—" Julius argued, but she cut him off.

"Oh! You didn't tell him yet, did you?" the brunette exclaimed, covering her mouth in surprise. "Don't worry! I'll keep it a secret. In fact, I'll help hook you up with him!"

"WHAT? Alice, that's not-!"

"You wait here, I'm going to go think up a plan!" Alice grinned excitedly, rushing out from the room. Julius just stared after her, his arm outstretched, jaw dropped, eyes practically bulging from his sockets.

What the hell did I just get myself into…?

Haha… hi guys. Update. After… over a year… wow. Oops. Haha. OTL Sorry to keep you all waiting. Hopefully this extra long fanservicey chapter will change your mind? Maybe? No? Oh well. I tried. Haven't been in the mood to write fanfic in a long while. Kind of getting back into HnKnA again though, so I figured I'd update for a change.