Darkness fell over Wonderland, draping it in the neverending midnight blue sky. Never since she had arrived had she seen a starless night. Until now. Alice always had a new habit of heading up to the top of the tower, and staring at the stars. She would always try to count them, even though her attempts ended up in failure. She knew she could never count all the stars in th sky, because there were just far too many. On one of these nights, the one she remembers the best, she had returned from the Hatters, specifically Bloods library. He had made her cry again. That jackass, with his voice that just oozed like honey, and those seducing words that escaped from his manupulative mouth. She loathed him very much, and he was low scum in her eyes. By the time she got home, she had finished crying, and she decided to ignore it by helping Gray and Nightmare with a load of paperwork. As she went up on the spiral stairs, she had thought over what had happened. The words that had been said, the books that were thrown, and the tea that was spilt all over his crimson red couches. She hoped it left a stain, as childish as she was.

'You've been gone far to long. You must be awfully busy pleasuring all the men'

She clenched her teeth, remembering the signature smirk that graced his lips. The one that mocked her with his ice cold words. She was so deep in thought, that she had forgotten she was at the top already. As she peeked her head outside, she noticed something were no stars in the sky, only the loney crescent moon that seemed to hang by a long silver thread. She took a seat in the center of the platform, feeling the cold stone beneath her, just fabric away. The coldness seemed to seep through her dress, sending shivers up her spine. As she laid down, she got used to the cool smooth feel of the stones beneath her, and began to gaze up toward the neverending sky. Neverending? Ha. Like Nightmare said, the only thing at the end of a dream is reality. Cold cold reality. Behind this sky, there was one star, that always shined brightest. She remembered how Boris said she was just like that star, it shines bright amoung the rest and the most beautiful in the sky. She blushed, remembering the compliment.

'Why is your face red?'

A familiar voice echoes from the nearby hall. Her eyes looked away from the blank sky toward the cobalt orbs that seemed to glare down toward her. Julius Monrey stood, hands folded across his broad chest with his usual scowl and cold look. "J-Julius! I-I was just..." she paused, and went silent, lips remained ajar at her speechless-ness. She was surprised she didn't finish. He sighed, mumbling something about how weird I was. "What are you doing out? It's cold, and I thought you were asleep" he scolded. Alice shook her head, looking from his stormy blue eyes up to the sky. "I always come out here at this time" he raised an eyebrow. "How was the Hatters?"

'You're a jackass!'

'And you, young miss are a manipulative slut'

"Fine! I had fun~" she said, with a weak smile. She knew he knew. He could see past her. He knew when she was lying. "What happened?" his voice was sharp and his expression was cold. "N-Nothing happened" she lied, as he took a seat beside her, and grabbed her left arm, which rested on her stomach. "I know your lying. Tell me the truth." he muttered with a voice that seemed to have a hint of poison. Why did he want to know? Why did he care?

"It's personal"

"Personal how? What did the Hatter do now?"

He lied back, head opposite hers, and turned his head so he was facing the side of her head. She was silent for a moment, not wanting to talk about it. She looked back up to the dark clouded sky. Squinting, she could see little stars. She smiled as they became more and more visible as her eyes adjusted to that darkness. "Alice..." His voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Y-Yes?"

"What did he say?"

She swallowed hard. What if Blood found out she told him? What would he do if she told Julius what Blood did? "Just promise to keep it to yourself..." she turned her head toward his, wide teal blue eyes gazing into the indigo midnight pools that were his eyes. He nodded, keeping his gaze on her.

"He took me to his library, and asked me all these questions, called me a... a certain name, and I threw a book at him and left" she explained. A dirty name. A name that he called her over and over. A name that he thought of every outsider, who was loved by all. A slut, a whore, a temptress, someone who shags someone, etc. It was a dirty thing. "What name?" he demanded, almost forcefully grabbing her arm, squeezing it tightly. "H-Hey!" she winced, as his grip tightened around her small arm. "What did he call you?" Why was he so serious about this? What did it mean to him? She sighed. "He called me a slut who goes around pleasuring people" she whispered weakly, and felt his hand leave her arm.

She found herself being pulled up, and engulfed in a bone crushing hug. The blunette wrapped his arms tightly around the foreigners waist, one holding her head to his shoulder, and one gripped her waisr. "J-Juli-" he hushed her with shh. She gasped for breath as his grip tightened, and turned a few shades of deep scarlet. "J-Julius, it hurts!" she coughed out through the fabric of his jacket. There was silence, and he let go after a short period of time, and lied down again.

Head spinning, and cheeks blushing furiously, she looked down to the mortician, whos calmed and relaxed eyes looked nonchalantly to the midnight sky. "Tell me, Alice... How many stars are there in the sky?" she lied back, hiding her face, and looked to the sky. "I see a lot..." she answered honestly, not bothering to count them all. "It's endless" she added, teal eyes gazing toward the stars. The mortician pointed upwards. "The brightest star is there... Do you think it's the way out?" he sounded different then usual. Staring toward the bright star, she thought about what Nightmare said. "Alice, you won't leave... right?"

"I have to leave... I have my own world to get back to there. This is only a dream. I'll have to wake up eventually" she replied, swallowing. Did she want to leave? "If this is a dream, I wouldn't be able to do this" he said as he slowly worked his hand into hers, melding her fingers between his and holding it gently, while stroking the backside of her hand gently with his thumb. He then took his other hand, and grabbed her chin, forcing it to look at him. "If this is a dream, you won't feel this" he said, leaning closer down toward her, and pressing his lips against hers gently. His tongue gently stroked her bottom lip, softening her lips open, and exploring her mouth. His kiss was gentle and warm, but there was hidden passion in it. She could feel his other hand rest against her cheek. Her head began to spin as the clockmaker worked his tongue in her mouth, and pulle away, leaving her breathless on the cold ground.

"Did you feel that?"

The words seemed to echo in her mind, and she nodded, head still spinning wildly. Through her confusion, she saw a white flair in the sky. A shooting star zipped in and out of view. "A shooting star! Make a wish..." she chimed, and the clockmaker held her hand tighter. A whole bunch of fireworks from the amusement park had gone off, as Julius whispered something to himself. "What did you wish for?" he asked curiously. "I can't tell you! It's too embarassing!" Alice said, face flushing as she buried her face in her hands. "I'll tell you what I wished for" he mumbled. She looked up from her hands and listened. "I wished you would remain by my side forever" the foreigner smiled, sat up, and wrapper her thin arms around his neck tightly, resting her chin against his shoulder, and kissing his cheek gently. "You just wasted a good wish, Julius" she smiled, as he turned to face her. "Well what did YOU wish for?" he questioned coldly.

She laughed. "If I tell you, it won't come true... But I'll tell you one thing. We said something along the same lines"