I've been sitting on this idea for quite a while now and I've finally managed to type it out. As always, I don't own any rights to Black Butler/Kuroshitsuij. Enjoy!
Sebastian looked up from the fireplace he had been tending to when he heard a knock on the front door of the manor. He stood and went over to open it without hesitation, knowing exactly who would be on the other side.
"You're beginning to make a habit out of this" Sebastian pointed out, opening the door.
"It's not like you're exactly against it, is it?" Grell replied, laughing softly at the demon. Sebastian sighed but a smile made its way to his lips nonetheless as he let Grell inside and shut the door behind her. His eyes flicked over to the grandfather clock and it read half past midnight. At least she still seemed to have the tact to arrive late at night.
A few months ago, after a particularly bloody fight in which Grell had actually helped rather than hindered Earl Phantomhive and his butler, Grell had been badly wounded and- despite Ciel's protests- Sebastian had taken her into the manor and allowed her to rest for a while. But Ciel insisted that Grell was to be gone by morning. And sure enough, when Ciel awoke she was nowhere in sight. But there were a few things about that night Ciel didn't know and Sebastian would rather like to keep it that way. It hadn't been what either the demon nor the reaper had expected but the fact would forever remain that at some point during Sebastian's oddly frantic dressing of Grell's wounds and Grell's partly delirious rantings about how much she loved Sebastian, they had kissed. Awkwardly silent yet utterly truthful confessions were made with one simple look in each other's eyes and that was how it had all begun. Grell had started appearing more and more frequently at the Phantomhive residence, though it was always under the cover of darkness. Nothing explicit- or 'R-rated', as Grell would put it- ever happened during these visits but oddly enough, they both seemed to find that the most agreeable arrangement.
"You're lucky I'm ahead of schedule. I just finished my preparations for tomorrow morning" Sebastian told Grell as he took her coat and hung it up.
"More time for me then" Grell smirked, closing the distance between their bodies.
"Not here. There's a chance my young master might not be able to sleep and decide to take a stroll around the manor" Sebastian sighed, stepping back a little. He knew that situation was highly improbable, but not quite impossible. He didn't exactly like the idea of having to explain to his master what Grell was doing here at such a late hour (and why he wasn't in the process of trying to either get rid of her or kill her).
"You still haven't told him?" Grell asked in surprise as Sebastian took her hand and began leading her through the familiar corridors.
"He's had no reason to ask, so I've found no need to say anything" Sebastian explained simply.
"So you're lying to him?" Grell questioned teasingly.
"I would only be lying if he directly asked me about you, which he hasn't. Therefore, I'm simply not telling him what he does not need to know"
Grell smiled and shook her head slightly- that was a very 'Sebastian' type response to her question. Well, whatever Ciel didn't know probably wouldn't hurt him. Once they reached Sebastian's room, he opened the door and signalled for Grell to step inside. Ever the gentleman, as always. She stepped inside and sat herself down on his bed. Sebastian shut the door, pulled out the key from his pocket, and locked it.
"Don't want me escaping?" Grell teased.
"You know exactly why I lock this door" Sebastian replied, rolling his eyes and placing the key back in his pocket.
"So your little master doesn't find out about his butler's naughty secret" Grell smirked slyly. But that expression was quickly wiped off her face when Sebastian turned around and smiled at her. Grell often presented herself as a wild, sensual, and downright outrageous creature to the world around her but as soon as Sebastian looked at her like she was the only thing that mattered, she completely melted. All her defences fell away and the only thing she could see was her demon. Slowly, he walked over and sat himself down next to her. But then suddenly, Grell turned herself away from him. He tried to reach his hand out towards her, but she shuffled away from him. Sebastian frowned, knowing something must be very wrong if Grell was avoiding his touch as it was usually something she seemed to almost crave.
"What's wrong?" Sebastian asked in such a soft voice that even he was surprised.
"Let me stay" Grell whispered, still not looking at Sebastian.
"What?" Sebastian tilted his head slightly in confusion.
"Please, just this once. I don't want to leave you tonight" Grell said a little more desperately, finally turning to face Sebastian once more.
"Okay" Sebastian said after a brief pause.
"Really?" Grell asked, shocked that Sebastian would agree to her request so easily.
"I don't want you to leave tonight either" Sebastian admitted, looking down towards his hands. Grell felt her heart clench a little as she watched Sebastian suddenly become so uncharacteristically vulnerable. It was an extremely rare occurrence but, as Grell was starting to discover, demons weren't entirely incapable of emotion. Silently she reached out her hand, placed two fingers under Sebastian's chin, and tilted his upwards to face her again. Slowly she leant her body forwards and kissed him. It was different to the way she usually kissed him; often Grell's kisses were full of vigour and passion. But this kiss was soft and uncertain, yet strangely reassuring.
"What was that for?" Sebastian questioned once Grell pulled away.
"You seemed like you needed it" Grell smirked, relishing in the slightly flushed expression on Sebastian's face. She really should kiss him like that more often if that was the kind of reaction he gave.
"For once, I think you may have actually been correct in your assumptions" Sebastian teased.
"How dare you!" Grell gasped and dramatically threw herself down onto the bed, her hands clutching her chest "You've wounded me, I don't think I'll ever recover"
"I can think of a few 'cures'" Sebastian smirked before leaning down and kissing her softly. Grell smiled against his lips and wrapped an arm around his waist. Slowly, Sebastian began to lean back, only for Grell to wrap her hand around his tie and pull him towards her again. Sebastian wasn't caught off guard often, but this was one of those rare occasions in which he was and he barely had time to put his hands on the mattress either side of Grell's head to prevent himself from crashing straight into her. Eventually, Grell released her grip on his tie and Sebastian took this as permission to sit up- not that he would ever be caught taking orders from a grim reaper, of course. He looked down at Grell for a moment before removing his tail coat and unbuttoning his waistcoat.
"Don't get too excited, I'm just a little warm" Sebastian commented when he caught Grell watching him intensely. Grell raised an eyebrow before propping herself up on her elbows and beginning to softly kiss Sebastian's neck, causing the demon to falter for a moment. Grell smirked against his skin as Sebastian quickly recovered himself and slipped his waistcoat off his shoulders.
"What's wrong? Finding it difficult to concentrate?" Grell whispered teasingly in Sebastian's ear.
"Sometimes I really do despise you" Sebastian huffed but Grell could only smile.
"That's a lie and you know it" Grell pointed out, earning her a half-hearted glare which only made Grell's teasing smile widen.
"There are so many times I could have easily killed you" Sebastian mumbled.
"And yet, you didn't" Grell smiled coyly as she reached up and pulled Sebastian down to kiss her again. Much to both her joy and surprise, Sebastian seemed only too happy to oblige. The two of them quickly became unaware of anything but each other as they kissed and held one another close. Then quite suddenly, a thought occurred to Sebastian and while he didn't really wish their current activity to stop, he knew he had to voice his question.
"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" Sebastian managed to ask. Grell paused for a moment, pouting at him.
"Are you suggesting that I would have more fun at work than with you? Because if you are, you would be sorely mistaken" Grell raised an eyebrow and Sebastian had to resist rolling his eyes. Grell took his silence as an answer. But instead of continuing to kiss him as Sebastian had expected her too, she placed a hand on his chest and gently pushed him over until he was laying on his back next to her. Understanding what she was aiming for, Sebastian tentatively opened his arms. Grell was momentarily taken back at this subtle show of affection. Then she shook herself slightly and lay down next to him, draping an arm over his chest as one of his arms wrapped around her shoulders. They spoke in hushed tones for a while but gradually the two of them fell into silence, content with feeling the closeness between them. After a while, Sebastian went to say something but then he glanced down and saw that Grell was peacefully asleep, her head resting on his shoulder. He considered moving but eventually decided against it. He knew that she would probably sleep throughout the night and all that time he would be lying still with nothing but his thoughts. But, while he would never admit it to anyone, Sebastian was rather content with the idea of having Grell in his arms for all that time. So he staying where he was, listening to Grell's soft breathing as his mind thought of nothing but the growing affection he held for the woman in his arms.
Grell murmured something even she didn't understand before opening her eyes, only to shut them again two seconds later as a bright light hit her eyes. She rolled over to find herself pressed against Sebastian's chest. She frowned to herself, looking up at him.
"It's light outside" Grell mumbled, burying her face in Sebastian's shoulder to shield her eyes from the brightness of day.
"It is" Sebastian smiled a little, finding Grell in her morning daze quite adorable.
"And I'm still here" Grell stated, slightly confused.
"You are" Sebastian whispered gently as Grell smiled and kissed his cheek sleepily.
"So last night wasn't a dream after all" Grell sighed happily, resting her head back on Sebastian's chest.
"No, it was not. Is this something you often dream about?" Sebastian smirked, earning him a light elbow in the stomach. The two of them laid there for a while longer until Sebastian looked over at his clock and saw what the time was.
"I should probably get up" Sebastian said, trying to sit up. But Grell made a point of holding onto him tighter to prevent him from moving. Eventually, Sebastian managed to pry himself from her hold and got out of the bed as Grell let out a soft whine.
"In case you've forgotten, I do have a master I need to tend to. I'm already several minutes late as it is and he is often even more demanding than usual when his day gets off to a late start" Sebastian explained as he put on the clothes he had discarded the night before and straighten himself up. But as he turned to Grell, she was still pouting and reaching her arms out towards him.
"But-" Grell started but Sebastian interrupted her.
"I'll be back" he promised before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him. Grell sighed and flopped back down onto the bed. For the first time, she actually looked at Sebastian's room. It was a rather bland, modest room- as one would expect for a servant, really. As she looked around, Grell found herself smiling at the pointlessness of even giving a demon a bedroom in the first place. But then again, humans did have to sleep and Sebastian was supposed to be blending in with them. It also allowed the two of them a place for privacy, though she doubted that had been anyone's first intentions. Grell smirked proudly to herself. If only Ciel knew what his butler had been up to just hours before waking him. It amused her to no end how careful Sebastian was around Ciel. She had never known a demon to be so disciplined with their prey. But, as Grell was discovering piece by piece, Sebastian wasn't just an average demon. He was far more complex and infinitely more interesting.
The sound of the door opening caused Grell to look up, her body tensing slightly. She breathed a quiet sigh of relief when Sebastian stepped inside. Then she raised an eyebrow quizzically as she noticed the silver tray in his arms.
"Breakfast" Sebastian explained as he set the tray down on the bed next to Grell.
"You do know I don't need to eat, right?" Grell asked, tilting her head.
"Of course, but that doesn't mean you still can't enjoy good food. It also gives you something to do other than stare at the walls" Sebastian stated truthfully and Grell had to nod her head in agreement. She began to eat as Sebastian left the room again to tend to Ciel. And she had to admit, the food was pretty good. She assumed that Sebastian had made it himself. Despite the fact that the Phantomhive Estate did have a chef, he didn't seem particularly competent in the kitchen. It was clear Ciel's servants were more for the purpose of protection than actually being servants. Which in itself, was pretty ironic.
Sebastian returned within the next few minutes to find almost the entire tray of food gone and Grell humming softly to herself. He paused in the doorway for a moment and smiled at the peaceful look on her face.
"Thanks for the food" Grell said once she noticed Sebastian watching her. Sebastian nodded but didn't say anything. He went to sit down on the edge of the bed next to her but she stood before he could do so. Her usual smirk had softened into a gentle smile as she pulled Sebastian towards her and kissed him. She bit softly on his lower lip, relishing in the delightful noise Sebastian made as she did do. She kissed him once more before reluctantly pulling away.
"I guess I'm going to have to leave eventually, aren't I?" Grell sighed. Sebastian didn't say anything but he did seem oddly crestfallen as he went to check to make sure no one would see her leaving. She sorted herself out in the mirror and he quickly returned once everything was clear. Ever the gentlemen, he led her to the door- although, Grell was pretty sure that was mostly to make sure that they wouldn't get caught. He opened it courteously, but neither of them took another step.
"Thank you for letting me stay with you" Grell eventually said to break the silence.
"It was my pleasure" Sebastian bowed graciously and Grell found herself giggling. She managed to take one step out the door before stopping again.
"And thank you for this morning, too" she said. He nodded his head in acknowledgement but still neither of them moved.
"I really should be going" Grell said, knowing Ciel was bound to be growing suspicious of his butler's long absence- something Sebastian seemed to have almost entirely forgotten about, which was quite unlike him.
"Wait!" Sebastian said, holding onto Grell's hand to prevent her from turning away from him. Grell stared at him in confusion for a moment before Sebastian did something very unexpected and completely unlike him- he placed his hands either side of Grell's face, pulled her gently towards him, and kissed her. He had kissed her before- it wasn't often, but it did happen. But never before had he kissed her like this; so full of passion and longing, with something that felt almost akin love. Grell found herself falling forward as Sebastian pulled away. Breathlessly, she opened her eyes to see Sebastian smiling at her. She smiled back and eventually regained her footing. She pushed herself up onto her toes, kissed Sebastian's cheek, then turned and walked away from the manor. But she stopped suddenly when Sebastian called out to her.
"When will you be back?"
Grell didn't turn around but a soft smile graced her lips nonetheless as she replied.
"Soon"