From the Heart
GrellxCiel

Grell sat impatiently outside the steps of the Shinigami Library with his chainsaw hanging from his hands. He knew Will would be pissed, for this was the fifth time he'd need it replaced. The blade was dented, and the engine was smoking, causing a rough growl to sound from it.

"Why me?" he asked, his long red hair drooping in his face. He had not bothered to fix it after it had been soaked by the rain. In fact, the poor shinigami had been stuck in the rain for hours. Perhaps that's why his scythe didn't work anymore.

"Grell. It is past eleven." The redhead turned to meet the stern eyes of William, the head shinigami.

"W-Will..."
"Go home, Grell."

Grell stood to face the black haired handsome knight of a man he had always admired, a tear mixing with the rain down his cheeks. "I am sorry, Will. I need a new scythe. Mine broke..."

Will shook his head, pushing his glasses up with his scythe. "Oh, Grell, what have you done now?"

Grell hung his head and handed the chainsaw to the disappointed Shinigami before him.

"For the top of the class in school, Grell, I expected more from you."
"I am sorry to disappoint you, Will."

The head Shinigami saw the look in the man's eyes and sighed. "Do you have a place to stay?"
Grell shrugged his shoulders. "Sebas-chan could take me in for the night.."
"Very well. Then go there. Goodnight, Sutcliffe."

Grell turned towards the direction of the Phantomhive Manor and began walking. The rain was getting worse, and William had shut the door and closed the blinds to prevent disturbance. Also reminding the crimson shinigami that he would never let him inside. Grell's red jacket hung heavily from his slender arms and his glasses slipped slowly down the tip of his nose.

It had been raining for hours. Grell was fully determined to find shelter in the Manner tonight. Even if the Bocchan did not let him in, he could soften Sebastian's heart enough for one cozy night.

The shinigami finally reached the door and knocked on it carefully, as to not disturb anyone.

"I hate you, Shieruuuuuu! Baka, Baka!"
A blonde girl the age of Bocchan stormed out the door and almost slammed right into Grell. His eyes widened as he recognized her as the Earl's fiancée, Elizabeth. A scream and a crash of glass against a wall was heard from inside, and the blonde ran into a carriage, the horse galloping away at full speed.

"Grell?" Sebastian's voice snapped the shinigami's attention back to the open door, where the demon was standing there with concern in his eyes.

"Bassy~! You look so handsome with your hair tousled like that!" Grell smiled and reached up to touch the ebony perfection, but a white glove stopped him.

"Now is not the time, Grell. Bocchan has had a huge fight with Lady Elizabeth. They've broken up."

Sebastian's voice was full of remorse, and behind him Grell could see the young boy doubled over on the staircase.

"Is there anything I can do to help, Sebas-chan?"
The demon shot a look at the shinigami, but he was being completely serious. Grell had an appreciation for the bocchan, and did not like to see him hurt.

Sebastian released him and moved aside so he could see the Earl in all his sobbing glory. Grell walked over to him slowly and crouched down.

"Bocchan?"
Ciel's head shot up and a groan escaped his throat.
"What the hell is he doing here!"
His fist reached up to hit the shinigami in the face, but Grell caught his hand and held it gingerly.

"I'm here to help, Young Ciel. I know how you feel."

Ciel looked from Grell to Sebastian and back again. His butler nodded, telling him that the shinigami was serious. He sat up and pushed his hair out of his eyes.

"Fine. But you have ten minutes to convince me not to throw you out into the rain."

Grell smiled and stood, holding out his hand to help the boy up. He may be the head of the Funtom toy industry, but when it came to love and Lizzie, his heart was softened to the naive little boy he was supposed to be.

"Take me to your room where we can talk privately, Bocchan. I shall convince you of more than just not to kick me out."

Ciel frowned, but he promised the shinigami 10 minutes. After that, he could kick him out and go about his sorrowful life. They approached his room, and Grell sat on his bed, immediately making the boy very uncomfortable.

"Now now, Bocchan. Come here and let me tell you how I got over my first heartbreak."

Ciel shook his head, backing away from the redhead with wide eyes. Grell's face softened and he reached out a soft hand. "I promise...I'm not just some perverted homosexual. I do have a purpose for trying to cheer you up."

"Sex. That's what you always want with Sebastian."
Grell smiled, his sharp teeth like daggers against ruby red lips.
"Come on, Bocchan. I just tease him is all. I want to cheer you up."

He reached out his hand again but the boy refused.

"I feel fine. I don't need you."

Grell frowned. "You promised me ten minutes..."
Ciel turned back and walked over to the shinigami, allowing him to be pulled into his lap like a little boy.

"Fine. Only nine left."

Grell smiled again and cuddled the small boy. His pale white skin and his blue black hair was perfect and made him look like a porcelain doll. Grell was surprised at how strong Sebastian was to be able to control himself around the boy. He closed his eyes and began to play with the boy's hair.

"Why don't you start by telling me what happened? I'd love to hear why Lizzie stormed out on you."
"She didn't storm out for no reason. I kicked her out."
"Why?"
"She was insistent on courting tonight."

Grell choked and Ciel sat up with concern is his eyes. He patted the shinigami on the back until the choke turned into a laugh. His face fell. "You don't have to laugh...I know it was stupid of me to turn her down. But I'm just...I'm confused about a lot of things right now.. I don't have time to be thinking about love."
Ciel emerged and went to stand by the window.

"What do you mean by that, Bocchan?" Grell stood up and began exploring the room, trying not to hover over the porcelain boy. His green eyes scaled over several pictures of the blonde maiden, and his heart sank for the poor boy. He picked up one of the pictures to examine it further.

"Grell, how did you know you were gay?"

The shinigami's eyes bulged out of his head, and he dropped the picture with a thud. He stood in shocked silence for a moment, then whispered in a rather deep tone: "I'm bi. Not gay."

"Whatever. Just, how did you know?"

Ciel was now standing right behind him. Grell couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was...Bocchan...?

"Well, It's been ten minutes. Looks like I failed. I'll go kick myself out now-"
"Wait!"

Ciel's small hand grabbed ahold of Grell's wrist, keeping him from leaving the dark room. His voice was childish and filled with panic. Grell's skin tingled with goosebumps of guilt.

After moments of silent begging, Ciel looked the shinigami in the eye and whispered "Please...tell me."

Grell sighed. Ciel's darling eyes were filled with tears, and everything about the way he asked the question made it apparent to him that this was what was on the Bocchan's mind. He walked back over to the bed and pulled the frightened boy into his lap again.

"There there, Bocchan... If it's what you want, then I will tell you the story."
Ciel nodded, and his big blue eye stared up at the suddenly kind and wise shinigami.

"It was back when I was still in school at the Shinigami Dispatch Society. I was pretty smart, and I still had my red hair, so it was kind of a problem for me to fit in. Then one day, I was walking home and it was raining, much like it is now."

"Then what happened?" Ciel sat up on Grell's lap at full attention, clinging onto his every word. It melted the shinigami's heart a little, and he smiled.

"Well, I was walking home and my books were getting soaked. I tried covering them, but in this type of rain it didn't work. It was cold, too, and I was still so far away from my house. I was about to give up hope, when I heard a voice behind me."

"Who was it?" The boy clung onto Grell's sleeve and waited for him to catch his breath.

"It was William, of course. The most attractive guy in the entire academy. At least, that's what a lot of people said. Anyway, he helped me out that night. He carried my books and walked me home under his umbrella. He said that we could become friends and that if I needed anything, to just tell him."

"I didn't know Will had a heart..." The earl's voice seemed confused, but he kept listening anyway.

"I guess something changed with him as he aged. But that night, I knew that I was in love with this man...I guess it's hard to explain how I discovered such an odd thing like that, but as I watched him walk away I knew."

Ciel turned to face the crimson reaper and looked into his teary green eyes. This wasn't what he wanted to hear. He had to know how Grell knew he was in love. But the shinigami looked a little sad as he smiled at the small boy.

Grell's heart sank as he thought of Will. He was so much sweeter back then. What had happened? The young Will was not the same as the Will who slammed the door on Grell's face tonight. It couldn't have been..

"Grell, I want to know how you knew. What made you know that you liked him? What made you know that you were gay?"
"Bisexual."
"Whatever. You like men, right? Then tell me how you knew."

Grell sighed and brought the boy closer. His skin was so perfect, and his hair was so black, every strand in place so delicately. How was this boy so perfectly, beautifully made? How did Sebastian get so lucky as to make a contract with such a delicate little boy? Ciel was just barely thirteen, yet he looked as if he were chiseled out of the finest porcelain..

"Grell?" The boy's voice brought him back to the conversation.

"Oh, right. Well, that's a little hard to explain, Bocchan. I knew because from that night on, every time I saw him, my heart wanted to leap from my chest. And every time I heard his name, my skin covered itself in cold chills. The good kind of course."

Ciel nodded.

"I wanted to be as close as possible to him. I wanted him to hold me and kiss me, and tell me all the sweet things about me. My tummy made little knots whenever he walked by me... It was childish love, of course. As you get older and things inside your body start to change, you'll start to have... well, other feelings on top of these."

"Is that like how you feel about Sebastian? You want sex from him?"

Grell chuckled slightly and tapped Bocchan on the nose. "Sweet child, the games Sebastian and I play together are just that. Little games and poking fun."

Ciel stood and walked over to the window again. He sighed and Grell noticed his little hands were tightly clenched into fists, giving the appearance that he was in pain.

"Bocchan, are you alright?"

Silence. Grell stood to comfort the boy, but as he got closer he heard little tiny sobs as Ciel's chest hiccuped up and down. "B...Bocchan?"

"Grell, what if I felt these feelings about someone? What if my heart fluttered as well?"

Grell's spine shivered as he heard the boy speak. The perfect porcelain doll boy looked so painfully confused, it almost made him look more perfect. He gulped and carefully laid a hand on his slender shoulder.

"Then you should be happy, Bocchan. That means you're in love. You should tell the lucky one how you feel."

"But what if it's a boy? What then? What if I like a boy like you liked Will?" The young master's voice was filled with panic. His sobs grew more and more close together.

"Bocchan...Is that what this is about?"

Ciel quieted his sobs and nodded slowly. Grell smiled warmly and turned the boy so they were facing each other, then, without warning, he pulled the boy into his arms and hugged him tightly. Ciel struggled a little, but finally let himself fall into the warm man's embrace.

"Bocchan, it's okay. It's all okay..."
Grell ran his fingers through Ciel's hair, trying to comfort the boy. Ciel looked up at him with a teary eye.

"It is?" Grell nodded. "Then I do. I do like a boy..."

Grell couldn't hold himself back from grinning. "You should tell Sebby-chan! I'm sure he feels the sa-"

"What are you talking about, Grell? I don't like Sebastian like that..." his voice trailed off and the shinigami looked at him with confused green eyes.

"Then who is it? Finny? Bard?...Will?"
Ciel shook his head and looked down at the floor. Grell suddenly understood, and lifted the boy's chin up so their eyes met again.

"Bocchan, if you like someone, the best way to tell that person is to kiss them. Show them how you feel, not tell them." He tried to sound as gentle as possible, but he could see the boy get tighter with fear.

"G...Grell..."

Grell looked down at the boy for a while, and finally fell to his knees to be on his level. "Yes, Bocchan?"

Without a single word, Ciel stepped up to the crimson shinigami and placed his lips on his. Grell was shocked for a moment, but he let the boy kiss him. His lips were warm, and surprisingly soft. Grell fought himself not to kiss back, to let the boy work out his feelings upon his lips. Ciel's body shook, and Grell could tell he didn't know what to do.

"Bocchan," he whispered sweetly, "let me teach you, okay?"

Ciel hesitated, then nodded and allowed the shinigami to place him on the bed and pull him into his warm arms. He didn't understand why Grell was so warm, but he didn't care. He secretly longed for Grell to wrap him in these arms. Grell smiled at the boy and tried to calm his fear. He gently pulled the boy to him and kissed his perfect hairline. Ciel whimpered.

"Grell...show me what it's like. Show me...how it is to like boys."

Grell's heart fluttered, and the good kind of chill bumps danced across his skin. The boy was pure perfection.. absolutely innocent.

"I don't know, Bocchan..."

"Please?"

Grell sighed and leaned down to take Ciel's lips in his. The boy gasped, but didn't fight back at all. His lips pressed against the redhead's and followed his lead. Grell wrapped his arms around the boy's slender hips and pulled him closer, making the boy gasp as their tender areas touched for the first time. Grell's long tongue pressed against the boy's lips, and he smiled as he felt the pushing sensation of Ciel's growing passion.

"Bocchan..." he whispered, and pushed against his sweet lips again.
"Nnnng." Ciel finally let the shinigami into his mouth and his spine quivered as his tongue met long warm one of the Shinigami's.

Ciel picked up the techniques quickly, and finally his instincts take over. He grabbed Grell's hips and drove them into his, making the shinigami cry out.

"Nnng! Bocchan!I

Ciel smiled and kissed him again. "Grell, is that supposed to happen?"

The out of breath redhead looked to where Ciel was pointing, and blushed a shade of red to match his hair. He was pointing to the bulge in the shinigami's pants, which showed up after that alarming stunt the boy pulled.

"Yes..that's a sign that you did something right."

Ciel smiled and gazed down at his hips, his cheeks filling with a pink hue. "Mine's doing it too..."

Grell chuckled and pulled the boy close. "Bocchan, you're not ready for that yet. Maybe soon, but not now."

Ciel sighed and looked up at Grell's green eyes.

"When, Grell? When will I be?"

"When you're much older, Bocchan. You're so cute with your inncence, I don't want to ruin it."
He smiled, "Besides, we have to have something to look forward to."

Ciel smiled gently and nodded, snuggling into Grell's strong shoulder.

"So it's me, huh?" Ciel nodded again.
"I don't know why...But I'm in love with you, Grell."

Grell's heart lept. "What, Bocchan?"
Ciel sat up and looked at him. "I. am. in love. with. you." When he said you, he bopped Grell on the nose and giggled like a child. Grell smiled wide and hugged the boy tightly.

"I love you too, Bocchan!" He shouted, kissing the boy on his head. Ciel smiled and yawned, stretching his arms above his head. The shinigami smiled.

"Alright, time for bed. Goodnight, Bocchan."
"Dress me for bed?"

Grell smiled and stood up, reaching for Ciel's hand. Ciel took it and stood with arms out and eyes locked on the handsome shinigami. Grell gingerly reached for the delicate boy's eyepatch, untying it and revealing the purple contract mark on his right eye.

"Your eyes are really something..." Grell smiled gently. Ciel blushed and looked down. "You're just saying that..."

The crimson shinigami smiled and unbuttoned the boy's shirt and pants, slipping them off. He then grabbed the nightshirt hanging on the bedpost and slipped his arms into the soft sleeves. The boy's porcelain skin shivered at the touch of the cool satin.

"There you are, Bocchan. Now goodnight. Sleep well."

He laid the boy down and kissed him on the forehead, walking towards the door.

"Grell."

"Yes, Bocchan?"

The boy reached a pale hand out to the man. "Stay with me?"

Grell smiled, flashing his sharp teeth and his green eyes closed in delight. "I thought you'd never ask, Bocchan!"

He climbed in the bed with the boy, who cuddled into his chest and wrapped the sheet around them.

"I love you Grell," mumbled the sleepy child.

"I love you too, Ciel."

Then Ciel fell asleep, his tiny chest rising and falling against Grell's. Grell smiled and cuddled the boy in his arms, playing with his black hair. He couldn't believe that he had the chance to hold this porcelain doll so perfectly sleeping in his arms.

His heart fluttered, and his skin was tickled with tiny chill bumps. His eyes filled with happy tears as he gazed at the sleeping boy's angelic face.

"I'm in love with you, Bocchan.."

The door opened slightly, and a pair of red eyes peered in.

"Oh, Grell. Master Ciel hasn't kicked you out yet?"

Grell chuckled and kissed the boy's head. "Oh, Sebas-chan, you have much to learn still about this young Phantomhive boy."

Sebastian chuckled. "I see. Well, I need to prepare the master for bed then."

"It's already done. He's already asleep."

Sebastian's eyes widened. "Oh, I see. Very well, then. Goodnight, Grell."

"Goodnight, Sebas-chan. Get some beauty sleep."

The butler nodded and shut the door, leaving the shinigami to fall asleep with his beautiful lover lying on his chest. He slunk down onto the mattress and cuddled him into his arms, wrapping his arms and legs around the boy.

"Nnng"

Grell kissed the stirring body gently and smiled. "shh shh, Bocchan. Go back to sleep."

He did so and Grell followed, a single crimson tear of happiness falling down his cheek.