A/N: Hi, y'all. If any of you are fans of SebastianxMaylene… This isn't the fanfic for you. Sorry. If you're fans of BardxMaylene, you've reached the right page. On another note, this fanfic compresses two of my earlier fanfics: His Butler: A Confession, and His Butler: Moonlighting, into one fanfic. In fact, this fanfiction combines several fanfictions that I have written in the past. So, you know. Enjoy the culmination of my past work.

Chapter One: His Butler: Brutal

Maylene stood before Sebastian, twiddling her thumbs nervously, taking deep breaths, fearing that if she did not slow down and speak soon, she would hyperventilate. It had been four months since Ciel and Sebastian had returned from doing she didn't know what.

Sebastian and Ciel both seemed somewhat relieved that they hadn't destroyed the house, and although the butler's and master's relationship seemed somewhat more distant and even strained, now, none of the servants questioned it for fear of drawing Sebastian's ire…

For indeed, the jet black butler seemed irritated, even on edge these days. Although he had not yet yelled at them for their typical mistakes (although admittedly, they were making fewer and fewer such errors, even Finny, who habitually destroyed the gardens before) Maylene still occasionally dropped plates, shattered glasses, and damaged property.

Bard, who though he was quickly now learning to cook with the ovens and the stove rather than a flamethrower still occasionally burned things. Several times, Sebastian seemed on the edge of snapping at her, and losing his cool. However, every time, he clenched his eyes shut in that oh so elegant fashion, and sighed and told her to take the rest of the day off.

She didn't know why she felt that now was the time for her to confess to him… But it was. It was now or never. If she didn't do it, she would never have the courage.

"Sebastian…" She stuttered nervously, pressing her fingers together still, wringing her hands. He looked down at her rather condescendingly with that cold look that he always seemed to have these days.

"I am quite busy. If you have nothing to say to me, please return to the work that you habitually use to turn the house into a disaster area." Sebastian said, his comment slightly unfair, given that now, Maylene had gotten a new set of glasses to replace her broken ones that helped with her extreme hyperopia.

"I do have something to say! Sebastian! I love you, and I want you to know that, I do…"

"That is what you took ten minutes to tell me?" Sebastian sneered, causing Maylene to gasp in shock at his cold, cruel tone. "That is what caused you to waste ten minutes of my time? You silly little girl!" Sebastian snapped, seeming distinctly less dignified at the moment.

Maylene was far too shaken to notice that, though. She only realized that Sebastian was mocking her feelings in the same breath as he was rejecting her. It wouldn't have been so bad if he had rejected her. But this was really just beyond cruel.

"But… B-but…" Maylene sputtered, now mortified that Sebastian was reacting so coldly to her heartfelt confession.

"I cannot stand humans…" Sebastian muttered under his breath, turning his back on Maylene, and ignoring her standing there, now shaking from head to toe, unable to say a word. She stood there for about half an hour, stock still, frozen in humiliation and defeat, unable to move a muscle, white as a sheet and occasionally racked with sobs.

Finally, she strode off furiously, passing Bard and Finny in the hallway, not even noticing them there, and made a beeline for the kitchen, where she sat down at the counter, and took out a glass, and a bottle of very expensive wine.

It was typically reserved for when Ciel had company, and she dug the cork out, and poured herself a large helping of it, downing it in one miserable gulp before pouring herself another glass. Normally, she would have held back from taking her master's expensive wine, knowing that even he did not have limitless funds. But right now, she couldn't bring herself to care.

Bard and Finny watched as she drank, removing her glasses to rub the tears from her eyes, and not bothering to put them back on. The two men wondered at how a woman of such small stature could drink so heavily.

She knocked back each drink as though it was nothing, and when, after an hour, she finished the bottle of Everclear (Wikipedia it if you don't know what it is), which was definitely cheaper than the wine, but probably worse for her to drink, she popped it open without a care, and poured herself a huge amount, chugging it down like nobody's business.

"Finny, stay there and keep a lookout for the Young Master or Mr. One Hell of a Butler. I'm gonna try and stop her from killing herself."

"Good luck… Bard…"

"Yeah, Finny."

"It hurts to see Maylene like this, doesn't it?" Finny asked, showing uncommon insight for himself.

"I uh… D-don't know what you're talking about…" Bard said embarrassedly, blushing slightly. The truth was that he had been in love with Maylene ever since they met, but he knew that she was in love with Sebastian, and that compared to an amazing person like Mr. One Hell of a Butler, that an average guy like him didn't stand a chance.

As jealous as he was of Sebastian, though, he never wanted Maylene to be hurt by him like this. He had really ripped her heart from her chest and burned it in front of her… God, what a morbid metaphor.

"Maylene…" Bard said, moving toward her slowly and gently taking the bottle of Everclear away from her, along with the glass. She had been drinking heavily for the better part of three hours, and the only reason he hadn't stopped her sooner was because he sometimes drank rather heavily himself.

It wasn't like he wasn't used to seeing people drinking their troubles away. Sometimes it helped. But Maylene wasn't a happy drunk. She was a miserable drunk, and with her small body, she seemed to have gotten seriously fucked up.

"Give it back, cocksucker…" She growled angrily, glaring at him with bleary, bloodshot eyes that were red and puffy from crying so much. Bard was taken aback at the foul language she was using. He wasn't even aware that she knew such words, let alone that she would ever use them.

"No. You've had enough, Maylene. You're even drunker than I was after I lost my first major battle… And I didn't think that was possible."

"Shut the fuck up, motherfucker, and give me my goddamn alcohol!" She said, louder this time, and she aimed a heavy punch at Bard's nether regions, but missed pathetically, and threw herself off balance, causing Bard to abandon the bottle and the glass, both of which shattered on the floor in favor of catching the poor, drunk maid.

"Get your dirty fucking hands off of me, pervert!" She snapped loudly. After a moment, though, she stopped trying to escape his grip, and threw her arms around him, bursting once more into tears.

"Stupid Sebastian! He could've just fucking said no! Why did he have to say all that to me!? Is it so fucking wrong that I wanted him to love me!?" Maylene asked, more to herself than anyone else. At this, Bard blanched.

"It's never wrong to love someone. That dipshit would've been one hell of a lucky guy to have you. But he couldn't see that. I love you Maylene… And in my own humble opinion, I think I'd be a far sight better for your soul than Mr. One Hell of a Bastard…"

Hearing this, Maylene giggled weakly, causing Bard to realize that he had just confessed to Maylene, causing him to blush.

"Sorry… Never mind. You'll probably have forgotten by tomorrow, anyway."

With that, Bard picked Maylene up, and carried her to her room. He passed Sebastian on the way, and instead of telling him that she was piss drunk, he made up an excuse, though he was sure that anyone with a nose would be able to smell the alcohol on her.

"Sorry, boss…" Bard said with as much contempt as he could muster, not sure why they should be apologizing to him, when he was the one who broke Maylene's heart.

"Maylene isn't feeling well."

Sebastian sighed. "Very well, just put her to bed and let her sleep it off." With that, he walked off, not indicating in the least that he was concerned about her. Bard was going to have a talk with Sebastian. Not immediately, because he had to put Maylene to bed… Suddenly, her drunkenness was driven back to him, when she threw up all over his head.

"Shrry…" Maylene groaned. Bard sighed, and shook his head, making sure not to spray vomit back on Maylene. It was a little bit annoying, but not the worst thing that had ever happened to him. More than once, he had been covered from head to toe in blood, mud, sweat, grime, and other less pleasant things. Vomit, on that note, was fairly easy to wash out. He would just head to the servants' showers.

"Hey, Maylene-chan. Just rest, now, and come back when you're feeling better…" Bard whispered kindly. Hearing this, Maylene opened her eyes, looking at Bard as if she had never truly seen him before, and she smiled wanly.

"Th…ank you."

"Don't thank me. I couldn't even protect the woman I love from having her heart broken."

"I… Won't forget…" She said, referring to his confession.

"Say that when you're awake and sober again…" Bard said, then rushed from the room, straight to the showers before she could say another word.

When Maylene awoke, she heard arguing in the hallway outside her room. One of the voices was the calm, silky smooth, but ice cold voice of Sebastian, and the other was the rough, pressured, but somehow kind and warm voice of Bard. They were so different, and yet…

Why did she feel so moved by Bard's voice when just the day before, she had been working up the courage to confess to Sebastian? Wait. She did confess… And she was rejected… Brutally. She drunk herself stupid, and was cared for by… Bard, who was now giving Sebastian a piece of his mind from what she could hear, and who then confessed to her… That had been a shock for her, even in her inebriated state.

"What is wrong with you!?" Bard demanded. She crept out of her bed and peeked out the door, and she could see that irritating superior smirk on Sebastian's elegant features.

"What could you possibly mean?" Sebastian asked.

"She poured her heart out to you, and you rip it the fuck to shreds! Don't you feel any shame as a man!?" Bard asked. Maylene blushed, and put a hand over her heart as she listened to the two talking, well, Sebastian was talking, Bard was yelling.

"Oh, you mean the maid…?" Sebastian asked laughingly, not even using her name.

"'The maid' has a name, goddamnit! Maylene! Maylene!"

"Of course she does. She was stupid to bring something as foolhardy as a confession to me. She brought her misery upon herself…" Sebastian said with a cold smile. Maylene gasped. She could feel tears filling her eyes again. She couldn't handle his callousness… But on the other hand, Bard was there defending her. She couldn't tear her eyes and ears away from the scene.

"It wasn't foolhardy! It was heartfelt! And you crushed her heartfelt confession like it was nothing!"

"I did crush it! Because it was nothing! Now if you have nothing new to say, please move. I am very busy."

After a few minutes, Maylene came out. She had long ago stopped having hangovers after getting drunk. After all, her job as an assassin often required that she wined and dined her target first to get him drunk before she assassinated him.

However, she was still feeling a little bit dizzy, though it had nothing to do with the alcohol. Bard looked over at her, and sighed.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that, Maylene… I know Sebastian can be a jerk, but please don't leave. I'm so used to having you here that it wouldn't be the same without you."

"I… I… And you… I remember what you said last night, Bard… Why are you being so kind t-to me when I ignored you f-for so long? It d-d-doesn't make sense!" Maylene asked nervously, blushing heavily upon bringing up Bard's confession the night before.

"It makes perfect sense. I'm not angry that you didn't notice, and I haven't stopped loving you just because you had feelings for Sebastian. And I won't stop loving you, even if you think I should…" Bard said in his characteristically rough voice.

He took Maylene firmly but gently by her shoulders and pulled her into an embrace.

"I'll wait until you do love me, Maylene… And if that never happens, then I'll just try to be damage control. No matter wha…"

Maylene cut him off, though. She removed her glasses, revealing her amber irises that seemed to swim in the light, and she smiled gently at Bard, reaching up, as he was at least a head taller than she was, and kissing him.

"Thank you, Bard."