A/N: Hey guys! This is my first fanfic…. Ever…. So hopefully it isn't too bad…. I may take a while updating because school stars this week D: but I'll do my best!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or any of the characters. If I did... well... Some things would be changed... *cough* cielxsebastian *cough* ^-^But I do own Nora!

Chapter One

Once upon a time... Well... More like; once upon a nightmare, there was a demon. She lived in the depths of Hell waiting for the opportunity to create a contract with a human. She waited there for many years, watching the flames of Hell consume the dwellers, watching them squirm in agony in meager amusement. This particular demon went by the name of Nora. She searched for one soul and one soul only. That of Ciel Phantomhive. However, due to some... minor complications, it was impossible to consume his soul. For now. Nora had been planning very carefully and smiled. The time was very near for her to make her move, and to take Ciel Phantomhive's soul for her own.

Elizabeth burst into the Phantomhive estate, pigtails bouncing with every giant leap. "Oh, CIEEEELLLL!" Elizabeth was as ecstatic as ever to see her fiancée and crashed into him with a crushing hug.

"Elizabeth! When will you learn to stop barging into my estate whenever you feel fit?" Ciel was working, or had been working, on the ever growing pile of paperwork on his desk. "There is too much work to be done! I do not have time for this!"

Elizabeth's face grew sober and she looked at him with her huge, sad eyes. "B-but Ciel, I planned the most pleasant surprise for you! Actually, Paula helped plan most of it," The girl said side tracking herself, "She was the one who brought up the idea in the first place, now that I think of it... But then again I-"

"Elizabeth!" Ciel cut her off sharply. His entire face practically screamed annoyance and he rubbed his temple trying to dull the oncoming headache. "I already told you, I don't have time for such nonsense. Now get to the point or leave." Ciel was having a hard enough day as it was, and this was definitely not going to help matters at all. All the while, Sebastian stood at the wall, a small smirk present on his face. He wouldn't admit it, but he always did find Elizabeth's antics amusing. His young master could get so worked up over the tiniest trifle, and he could tell that, whether the young master knew it or not, Elizabeth was good for him. She stretched his limits, forcing him to learn restraint and patience.

Elizabeth, known to be highly influenced by emotion, started to gather tears at the edges of her eyes. "I just wanted to invite you to go on a picnic date with me... But," she sniffled and focused her eyes at her hands, folded at her waist, "If you're too busy, I understand..." She glanced up at him, looking for any small glimmer of hope that he would go with her.

Ciel didn't even make eye contact with her, just continued working at the slowly declining pile of paperwork. "Elizabeth, we've been over this! I don't have time to go on any silly dates. I am already behind schedule by fifteen minutes."

Elizabeth still carried on persistently. "Fifteen minutes? Is that all? Surely you could make a little time for your fiancé, Ciel! It doesn't even have to be today! I can wait until tomorrow, or maybe even the day after if it works bet-"

Before Elizabeth could finish her sentence, Ciel stood up abruptly, making his chair fall to the floor with a loud bang. He hit his fists onto the desk, making Elizabeth jump. "ENOUGH, ELIZABETH! I refuse to go on any silly 'picnic' with you, so just LEAVE!" He looked her dead in the eyes with his one stunning blue eye filled with a look Elizabeth hadn't seen from Ciel before. Elizabeth was too startled to move as Ciel glared at her. After a long beat of dead silence, Ciel closed his eye and took a deep breath. Re-opening his eyes, he looked towards Sebastian who stood unmoving from his place near the wall. If he was shocked at Ciel's display of anger, but of course, he didn't show it. "Sebastian, kindly show Lady Elizabeth out." Ciel dipped his pen back in ink and continued writing.

Sebastian bowed. "Yes, milord." He walked over to the now nearly crying Elizabeth and escorted her out of the room. "You will have to forgive my masters rudeness, my lady. You see, the young lord has been under quite the amount of stress lately and come off as a bit strict. I assure you; he doesn't mean to disrespect or hurt your feelings in any way, this is just how the master tends to act after a long day of work." Elizabeth nodded, only half listening to him. When they reached the main doors of the estate she burst into full out tears. Sebastian turned to Elizabeth and if she hadn't been crying so hard, she could've seen a hint of pity in his eyes. "With your permission, I can speak to the master about this matter. Perhaps I can change his mind on the idea of a picnic."

Elizabeth gave Sebastian a forced, half-grin and shook her head. Taking a broken breath, Elizabeth forced herself to speak in an unsteady voice. "Thank you, Sebastian, but I don't think that will be necessary. He spoke his mind clear enough. Besides, I wouldn't want to distract him from his work. It's quite important to him."

Sebastian nodded. "Very well. Have a safe trip home, Lady Elizabeth." Sebastian escorted her to the carriage and Elizabeth hugged him. Sebastian, not one for comforting people, just stood there and let her hug him silently.

"Thank you, Sebastian." Not knowing what he did to help the situation at all, Sebastian merely nodded and helped the lady into the carriage. As the carriage disappeared from sight, Sebastian turned and headed back upstairs to try to convince his young master to take the broken hearted girl on a picnic.

Upon opening the door to his master's study, Sebastian saw his master at work, even more furious than before. "Young master, that was not a very professional approach towards things..." Sebastian walked over to Ciel's table where the boy had paused from his writing a moment to glare at his butler.

"You dare question my way of handling that situation, Sebastian?" Ciel gave Sebastian a look that said it all.

"Actually, with all due respect milord, yes I would. Lady Elizabeth is your fiancée. Don't you think you should be a little more considerate towards her? After all, she just wanted to spend an afternoon with you. I believe it would prove to be useful, if nothing else, to learn more about Lady Elizabeth's approach to matters. Forgive me for speaking my mind, but you did ask."

Ciel stared at his butler in mild shock but kept his face strict in anger. "I don't recall ever giving you permission to speak your mind. Now, I do believe it is time for my afternoon tea and snack. Go make yourself useful." With a bow and a 'yes, my lord', Sebastian took his leave. Ciel didn't start working again right away. Why was Sebastian so set on this picnic, anyway? He would know better than anyone else how busy he was. It's not that he would mind going with Elizabeth, he simply didn't have the time. Well he did mind a little bit... Elizabeth could be so infuriating sometimes. She refused to understand that he had changed. He wasn't the same boy she used to play with when they were kids.

Shaking his head of these pestering thoughts, Ciel picked his pen back up. He had work to do.

When Elizabeth arrived home, Elizabeth went straight up to her room. Not bothering with her clothes, she flung herself onto her bed and wept. She had hadn't seen Ciel that angry since she broke his family ring. Why did he hate her so much? It didn't used to be like this... Ciel and Elizabeth used to be the best of friends... They would do everything together. But ever since the fire, Ciel was so distant and much more sophisticated. What could have happened to make him like that? Not able to process any information at that point, Elizabeth cried herself into a fitful sleep.

About an hour later, a knock on the door awoke Elizabeth from her nap. "Excuse me, my lady, but you have received a letter." It was Paula. Hardly in any better mood, Elizabeth let her in, though she tried to put on a friendlier front for Paula's sake.

"Yes, Paula? Who is the letter from?" Elizabeth was quite curious about this letter. It was a rare occasion indeed when she received them.

"It is from Lord Druitt, my lady. He stopped by today, wishing to speak with you, but I informed him that you were sleeping and could not be bothered. When he left, he asked me to give this letter to you. I imagine it's an invitation." Elizabeth took the letter from Paula and read it out loud.

"Dear Lady Elizabeth Middleford,

It is my great honor to invite you to my Midsummer Ball. It will be held at my manor starting at noon sharp lasting thought the night on July 2nd. Food and refreshments will be provided. I was going to personally ask you if you would be willing to attend this ball at my side as my date, but seeing how you we're asleep when I meant to ask you, I gave this letter to your maid for you. You are more than welcome to send a letter back with your answer to my invitation to be my date. If all goes well, I will pick you up by carriage at eleven tomorrow. I am looking forward to spending this wonderful afternoon at the ball. I am sure you will look magnificent as always.

All in best wishes,

Lord Druitt"

Elizabeth looked over the letter once more before turning to Paula. "Paula, can you go retrieve the carriage? I would like to go shopping for a new dress for the ball. Meanwhile, I will write a letter in reply to lord Druitt's offer. Hopefully he will receive it before he arrives tomorrow."

Paula smiled. She was glad that her Lady was staring to come out of her depressed state. "Of course, my lady! Will you be attending with lord Druitt then?" Elizabeth just nodded, now searching for some paper and a pen. "Very well then, I shall go inform the driver to get ready." Paula walked to the door, but turned at the entrance. "Oh, and the paper and pens are in the second drawer down." Smiling, Paula left to go talk to the carriage driver and left Elizabeth to write her reply. She had noticed that her lady had been in a bad mood when she had arrived home, so she assumed that the meeting with her fiancée hadn't gone well. Lady Elizabeth needed something to take her mind off of her engagement for now, and Paula believed that a ball with lord Druitt could be the perfect solution, seeing as lord Druitt didn't get too comfortable with her.

It didn't take long and the carriage was all set and Elizabeth and Paula were on their way into the nearby town. "I want a really cute dress this time, Paula! With lots of ruffles and ribbons and oooo! Perhaps they'll have a pink one!" Elizabeth talked all the way to the store and talked even more when she was finding a dress to buy. After about two hours of searching, she had finally decreased her choices to two. One was a light blue dress with darker blue ruffles, while the other one was practically the same style, only in a pink.

"Oh, Paula! What one do I choose? They're both so cute!" Elizabeth looked frantically between the two, unable to come to a decision. "Pink is my favorite color, but the blue would go with my shoes better... Oh, I know! I can just buy both of them and wear one tomorrow tonight, and the other one another time!" Elizabeth giggled as she rushed up to the cashier, but dresses in hand. "Come, Paula! Ring the bells!"

With a smile, Paula grabbed her bells and jingled them happily. "Jingle jingle!" With that, the two rushed back to the manor to get everything ready for the next day's ball.

A/N: well here's the first chapter... Don't worry if the first part doesn't make sense... It's not supposed to and probably won't till the second or third chapter. I hope it wasn't too occ... Please, please review! If you find any errors, just let me know!