A/N: I know that this story is a Sebastian x Ciel one-shot, but I am putting this in the same one-shot collection as the Claude x Alois one-shots in case there is someone reading this who is following these stories as something like a series since they take place in the same world. Meaning this is sort of like another sequel to Where Cell phones Are Concerned and is telling the event of He Did it Again from Ciel's side of the day. I hope everyone enjoys this and many thanks to Hilaire for beta-ing for me. (Bows)

Disclaimer: If I owned it these would be made into canon OVAs. So, needless to say, nope. Don't own it.

Meanwhile, with Ciel

From the very moment the day started, Ciel knew something was wrong. In waking up, he felt even more tired than usual, like someone had a mastiff sitting on his chest. With a groan, he cracked his eyes open to try and look at the clock. 6 a.m. There's no school because of the remodeling so what am I doing awake? A hard cough answered the unspoken question. No. No, no, no. He was not sick. He was Ciel Phantomhive – he absolutely refused to be sick.

Sadly, his body didn't listen to that line of logic.

Fine. All I have to do is get up, take some medicine and then sleep it off. Ciel thought stubbornly. There was no way on earth he was going to lose to a simple cold. Getting up and the heading downstairs proved to be a challenge, however, and he ended up clinging to the banister like a lifeline so he wouldn't lose his balance. Just before taking the medicine he remembered that you have to eat something first.

"Cereal." It was quick and neatly avoided Ciel's aversion to anything that required cooking. Having someone like Bardroy as a home economics teacher didn't exactly give you a good example.

After getting his head to stop spinning long enough to collect his bearings, the blue-haired boy sloppily put together a small bowl of cereal. He ate quickly and put the bowl in the sink to be washed later. Getting a glass out of the cupboard, he filled it with water and then set it down on the counter as he measured out the right amount of cold syrup. He scowled at the purple liquid, like that would allow him to avoid taking the vile stuff. Best get it over with. Tilting his head back, he swallowed the spoonful of allegedly grape-flavored liquid and hastily downed the water afterwards.

"Ugh." Ciel groaned. Now all that was left was to go back to bed and sleep. Scaling the stairs was all the more difficult than descending them had been, but Ciel's pride refused to let him simply crash on the couch. He didn't think his bed had ever looked better to him than it did right at that moment.

Climbing in under his warm comforter, the boy lay still for a second before rolling over. This isn't right. His stomach was twisting and clenching in ways he simply did not want it to. His breathing was uneven now and he kicked the covers off.

Cold air rushed all around him, making him shiver violently, but also calming his stomach. Wait. I can't stand to be warm... DAMN! Clapping a hand over his mouth, Ciel stumbled into the bathroom that connected to his room and forfeited the contents of his stomach into the toilet.

So much for that 'just a cold' theory.

Once he was down to dry heaves, he sat on the cold floor trembling. Bringing his hands up to run through his hair, he hunched forward slightly. "I can't be throwing up. Not today." He had plans for today. Sebastian was going to be getting off early and he and Ciel had made plans to go somewhere. No, it was not a date. No, he wasn't that eager to spend time with Sebastian, the young Phantomhive tried to tell himself. They had just planned to go somewhere Sebastian was interested in seeing – never mind the fact that Sebastian had yet to tell him where it was they were supposed to go.

Ciel stood up and flushed the toilet before heading over to the sink to rinse the sour taste out of his mouth. Spitting the water back out, he chanced a look at his reflection in the mirror. Pale complexion, sweat beading up on his face, breathing still a bit ragged. All reports were in – he looked like crap.

"Sebastian." He murmured to himself, frowning when he realized what he'd said. He didn't know where the habit came from, but in his worst moments he always ended up saying the older man's name, like he could hear Ciel and was going to come rushing to his rescue. Ridiculous. What am I? Some little princess who needs a black-clad knight to save her like a bad goth romance novel? All the same, he'd have to call the man to cancel their plans for today. Whether Ciel wanted to or not, he couldn't go outside like this.

The blue-haired boy climbed back into bed and grabbed his cell off the nightstand. He punched in Sebastian's phone number from memory before realizing he had it on speed dial. Must be the sickness affecting my head. He thought, embarrassed by the fact that he'd memorized the number to begin with. Ciel hit the 'send' button and held the phone to his ear, anxiously counting the number of rings. Once, twice. Pick up.PickupsoIcangetthisoverwith. His wish was granted mid-way through the third ring.

"Ciel."

Sebastian's voice sounded smooth and calm, and Ciel could hear water running in the background. He must be getting ready for work. "Sebastian – " He quickly put a hand over the mouthpiece as he was cut off by a set of coughs.

"Are you all right? What's going on?" Sebastian's voice now held a note of concern.

"I – " Ciel took a moment to catch his breath. "I'm sick. We'll have to call today's plans off."

"Yes. I suppose we will. Stay in bed; I will be over shortly."

The boy sat up straighter. "Wait Sebast – !"

Silence.

Ciel looked down at the phone in his hands in startled disbelief. Sebastian Michaelis had hung up on him.

For a moment the boy felt insulted that Sebastian would have the nerve to hang up on him like that without so much as telling him first, and that he was going to give the demon a piece of his mind for it when he got here. Then it occurred to him how much that sounded like Alois. He shuddered at that thought – one Alois was already more than the world could take.

Deciding that there was nothing he could do until Sebastian showed up, Ciel snuggled deeper into his bed and tried to get a little more sleep.

Ciel was awoken some time later by cool hands smoothing his hair away from his face. The boy opened his eyes blearily to stare at the tall man he'd spoken to earlier. "Sebastian..." Internally, he winced at the sound of his voice. It sounded like death warmed over, in his opinion.

"Good morning, Young Master." Sebastian said warmly as he placed a wet washcloth on Ciel's forehead. "You seem to have a nasty fever." Like that really needed to be said. The younger male felt like he was sitting too close to a well-stoked fireplace.

Ciel glared weakly at him. "Don't call me that. Just because you talk about me having been an earl in a past life does not mean I believe you." He tried to sit up slowly. "How did you get in here anyway?" Ciel hadn't been sleeping so heavily that he didn't hear the other come in, right?

To the young Phantomhive's momentary surprise, the man laughed. So hewasteasing me with that, after all.

Sebastian placed his hands on Ciel's shoulders and urged the boy to lie back down. "That's my secret." He brought one hand back to press an index finger against his lips in a shushing gesture.

The blue-haired boy fought the urge to roll his eyes. "You're just one hell of a trespasser, aren't you?" He said, mocking the phrase that the crimson-eyed man used when people asked how he was so skilled at one thing or another.

This prompted a laugh from the demon. "Something like that." He coaxed Ciel's mouth open and put the thermometer in it. "Would you like something to eat? Soup perhaps?" He fluffed up the pillows a bit so Ciel would be able to sit up so he could eat.

The boy felt a little pale at the question, remembering how badly his attempt at breakfast had gone. He started to shake his head, suspicious that Sebastian had placed the thermometer in his mouth simply to keep him from giving a complicated answer, when his stomach put its own two cents in.

Sebastian bit back a chuckle and rose from his kneeling by the bed. "I'll take that as a 'yes', then." He started to walk out of the room when Ciel grabbed his sleeve. The look on his ex-master's face made it very clear what it was he intended to say. "You don't have to eat very much and I'll bring a bucket with me." With that, he headed back downstairs to the kitchen.

Ciel leaned back against his pillows and sighed. Today was promising to be both boring and miserable.

Just as he finished this thought, he heard his phone go off. It was some Lady Gaga song that Alois had insisted he put on his phone to set it as the boy's ringer.

As soon as that thought sank in, the sick boy snatched up his cell to check the caller ID. It's Alois, all right. I really don't need this right now. If Alois was calling when Ciel knew for a fact that he was at Claude's house, then Claude must have done something to piss the blond off but wasn't there to suffer the repercussions.

This meant Ciel had two options open to him. He could ignore the call or he could answer it. In truth, there was only one option. If Ciel ignored it, Alois would just keep calling back until the phone was picked up and would be in all the worse mood for it, unless Ciel had a damn good reason.

Well, Ciel did have a good reason. It just wasn't one Alois would take.

Bracing himself for his upset friend, Ciel answered the call. The first words were a warning enough.

"You won't bloody believe this shit."

Oh boy, Hurricane Alois was in full swing this morning. "What?" Ciel hadn't initially planned on his voice sounding quite so irritated but he honestly was.

"You sound like crap. Did Sebastian keep you up all night?"

He could almost hear the smirk in the others' voice at that. "No. I'm sick. And if you don't hurry up and tell me why you called I swear I will find a way to spread germs through a phone conversation."

"CLAUDE TOOK THE FUCK OFF BEFORE I WOKE UP THIS MORNING! AFTER I WARNED HIS SORRY ASS NOT TO PULL THIS SHIT! JUST WHO THE HELL DOES HE THINK HE IS? THE BITCH-QUEEN OF ENGLAND? MAYBE I SHOULD JUST TAKE THAT TIARA AND SHOVE IT UP HIS ASS." Alois' voice was loud enough to make the phone shake ever so slightly.

So they were finally at the heart of the subject. Ciel stared coldly at the phone now sitting in his lap where he'd dropped it the second the blond started screaming. Now, maybe he should defuse the on-going temper tantrum and save himself a headache. "He was probably called in and didn't want to wake you or something. Shouldn't you just let it slide?" Clearly being sick really had messed up his better judgment.

"Are you fucking shitting me? Let it slide? Do I look like some mousy little girlfriend who's going to let him get away with whatever the fuck he feels like?" At least Alois wasn't yelling now, but his voice had gotten almost too calm and quiet.

Ciel briefly entertained the idea of telling Alois that he didn't look like anyone's girlfriend, but quickly dropped the thought when he realized that it would only make things worse. Thankfully for him, Sebastian chose that moment to come back upstairs.

He took the phone from Ciel and held it up to his ear. "Alois." He interjected calmly. "Do you really think you should be asking someone with the flu for their opinion on this?" A sly smile curled up on his lips. "Or maybe you're hoping for an unreliable opinion to reassure you because you don't think Claude loves you enough to be trusted."

"What the hell would you know about it?" Alois spat back. "The only reason you want me to hang up is so you can molest Ciel while you can't catch hell for it."

Ciel took a moment to consider the validity of that thought. Sebastian wouldn't... would he?

The man in question looked thoroughly amused. "Aren't you mistaking me with yourself? Now, if you'll excuse me, Ciel's food is getting cold. Please call again later."

"Hold it you son of a bit – !"

Sebastian: 1. Alois: 0. Ciel thought as he saw Sebastian hang up. Normally he wouldn't keep score of the verbal bouts between the two, but right now it was just about the only entertaining thing he had to do.

He watched Sebastian place the phone back on the nightstand, sincerely hoping that Alois would forget to call back later. Now he turned his attention back to his (on occasion) History teacher and the food he had with him.

Sebastian had kept his promise; there wasn't very much soup in the bowl. It looked like it was just enough to buffer some medicine. Grimacing, Ciel stirred the soup slowly. Well, something hotshouldsettle in my stomach better than cold milk and cereal. 'Should', however, was not an iron-clad guarantee, and the boy still felt hesitant.

The demon waited a few seconds before he spoke up. "Would it be easier if I fed you?" The look he received as an answer was acidic enough to make third degree burns.

"I am not an invalid." Ciel snapped. His pride challenged, he started eating the food in front of him. He had to admit, the taste didn't make this feat all that difficult. Once he had emptied the contents of the bowl, he saw Sebastian hand him white pills and a glass of water. More medicine? Cautiously, Ciel swallowed this too.

Sebastian took the dishes from him and set them down before fluffing Ciel's pillows to make him more comfortable. "Please try to get some sleep." He turned his back to start back down the stairs.

"Wait!"

Sebastian stopped and turned to look back at Ciel, dark red eyes silently compelling the boy to finish his thought.

Ciel glanced away for a split second. "Stay with me... until I fall asleep." He felt his cheeks heat a little and resolutely blamed it on his fever.

Sebastian looked at him for a moment, stunned. Ever so briefly, he could see a place from a time long ago with this boy. A time when those words had been uttered last. Walking over to sit at the edge of the bed, Sebastian dipped the washcloth and wrung it out again before placing it back on the boy's forehead.

Ciel closed his eyes, feeling exhausted. He couldn't quite make out what Sebastian said before he fell asleep, but it sounded something like 'yes, my Lord'.

The sound of rain greeted Ciel when he woke up again. His room was pitch black and the rain outside was so loud it seemed to drown out the sound of his heartbeat. He was still feeling feverish, but not nearly as badly as before. Still, something felt... off. Something was missing.

The young boy was about to start tearing his hair out from frustration when a flash of lightning swiftly illuminating the room exposed to him what was missing. Pupils still dilated from the light change, he sat up in the darkness, the washcloth falling into his lap. Sebastian isn't here. He mentally scolded himself for expecting the man to be there when he woke up. Of course he isn't here. What was I thinking? He isn't going to stay here all day for me. I don't even need him to. I can take care of myself. He didn't miss the man. Not one bit. It didn't hurt at all that Sebastian hadn't even woken him up to say he was going.

Ciel's hands dropped from running through his moist hair into his lap, coming into contact with the washcloth. "It's still... wet?" Confused blue eyes snapped over to the digital clock on his nightstand. It was almost three in the morning. Assuming that the storm hadn't just started, that would mean that the wash cloth would have been dry if it had been changed before Sebastian left. "Sebastian must still be here."

The young Phantomhive hastily pulled the covers back and started to walk out of his room. He wasn't even halfway to the door when it opened, revealing Sebastian.

"You shouldn't be out of bed." He said. "You need your rest."

Ciel stared directly into the demon's glowing red eyes and crossed his arms defiantly. "I'm fine." Yes, he still felt a bit warm and maybe somewhat tired, but he had been in bed all day, and if Sebastian really wanted him to go back into bed then he would have to make him.

And make him he did. "Why, young master," Sebastian began, already teasing the boy. "Do you lack the strength to get back to your bed? Allow me to assist you." In three quick strides, he closed the distance between them and scooped the boy into his arms.

"Didn't I just tell you earlier today not to call me that?" Ciel asked rhetorically as he was being carried back to his bed. "And put me down."

His demand was met with a low chuckle and the boy had half a mind to slap Sebastian, but he was tucked back into bed again before he could follow through on it. "My apologies, but I can't risk your illness getting worse." He pulled the covers up to Ciel's chin and set about wetting the washcloth again.

The young Phantomhive stayed silent until Sebastian's hands were smoothing his blue tresses out of his face and placing the washcloth back on his forehead. "Sebastian, about... about that time between us that you go on about so much..." He took a deep breath and tried to collect his nerve to ask this. It had been on his mind for a while and now was a good time. There was no evading when you had to care for a sick person. "Is this how I died? Getting sick, I mean."

Sebastian looked at him, looking mildly startled. For one thing, Ciel claimed that this past Sebastian spoke of – true or imagined – didn't matter to him because he was alive now and who he is carries more importance than who he was. For another, he couldn't help but notice how delicate Ciel looked just then. His cheeks were still faintly flushed, the lightness getting darker slowly, and he looked directly at him. Piercing, but uncertain.

Composing himself from his momentary astonishment, the older male fluffed the other's pillows."What makes you ask?"

The blue-eyed boy ignored his irritation at his question going unanswered for the moment. "You always get like this if I so much as sneeze. It's not like I'm made out of glass, you know."

"Old habits die hard." Sebastian said in a way that so wasn't so much agreeing with Ciel as it was pretendingthat he did. A thoughtful silence ensued, and for a while Ciel simply bored into him with impossibly blue eyes, wordlessly nagging at him to answer the initial question that had started all of this. "You used to be."

He glanced at the confused expression Ciel wore before choosing to elaborate. "My Young Master had to be careful about being out in the cold and getting wet. His asthma also seemed to act up around cat hair."

"That still doesn't answer my question."The boy finally let some of his irritation show in his voice. "Is that how I died?"

"No." Sebastian replied. "It isn't." In truth, he'd rather not remember how Ciel had died. It was a far cry from an enjoyable memory.

So naturally, it was exactly what Ciel planned to ask next. "Then how – " He was abruptly interrupted by the demon.

"That's a story best left for another night." Sebastian said as he leaned closer to Ciel's face.

There won't be 'another night' and you know it. The young Phantomhive's line of thought was disrupted when he realized how close Sebastian was getting to him. He's going to… Ciel closed his eyes as he felt Sebastian's breath ghost over his lips. Having his eyes open when he kissed Sebastian always felt weird.

The kiss itself was chaste, but also warm and reassuring. As the man pulled back, Ciel almost wished that the kiss had lasted longer, but he said nothing to that effect. "You're going to get sick if you kiss me when I'm like this."

Sebastian chuckled. "I don't think that's likely." He knew very well that a demon catching the flu had yet to happen and Ciel was just trying to hide his embarrassment. "It has gotten rather late..." The raven-haired man said as he started to straighten up.

The blue-haired boy turned his back to the other. "It'll look suspicious if you leave my house when it's nearly three in the morning. Just stay here." He squeezed his eyes shut as he felt the bed dip with Sebastian's weight. If he just went to sleep then Sebastian couldn't say anything about the fact that Ciel had been rather insistent on keeping him close today.

It's just because of the fever. Ciel told himself stubbornly. Never mind the fact that he couldn't really relax until he felt an arm wrap around him.

Never mind the fact that he couldn't fall asleep until soft 'goodnight Ciel' was whispered into his ear.

In the still darkness of the room, Sebastian smiled to himself. While Ciel had meant to say 'goodnight' before he went to sleep he'd actually said something entirely different.

"I love you, Sebastian."

End

A/N: I hope to do another one soon but I have a lot happening in these next couple of weeks and I really don't know what's what yet. I hope this is as good as it should be and that all those who read it aren't let down or offended because it doesn't meet your standards. Again, thank you so much for your time. And in case you're wondering what the heck the tildes are about I can't get this stupid computer to acknowledge a line break.