Chapter 4

The soft sound of hooves lightly stomping on the ground, created a relaxing melody when Annalise stirred in her dreams. The smell of sweet pecans filled her nose, reminding her neighbor's nut store. She blinked open her eyes and realized she wasn't laying down. Her eyes searched left and right for any hint that might tell her where she was as her eyes caught something peculiar.

"Are you awake now?" Ciel's voice was warm in her ears and she nodded slowly, "We're almost at your house." Annalise wondered how Ciel knew where she lived but her head was light. She almost blushed, thinking how she slept on Ciel's shoulder but she shook her head to make the memory dissipate.

"Why is your hair blue?" Annalise asked the first question that popped in her head. She wanted to hit herself on the carriage's door for being an idiot and asking the question. She was expecting Ciel to be angry at her but he laughed wholeheartedly.

"It's okay to ask me questions," Ciel calmed himself and gave a small smile, "I don't exactly know. My father had the same colour hair as I do. Madam Red, my aunt, had red hair. Red as Spider Lilies." Ciel recalled his memories as his smile dropped into a frown. Annalise knew she had touched a suffocating memory.

"What about Sebastian? He's a bit… strange. I'd say he's too close to you for a butler," Annalise gave her opinion but Ciel merely smiled. It was as if Ciel knew everything and was mocking Annalise for being so innocent.

"There's nothing about him. He's my butler so he stays close to me." Ciel looked out the window but heard a small gasp from Annalise. Her eyes widened as she took in the information.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were a… homosexual," she felt disgusted with herself when she had almost fallen in love with him.

"What?" Ciel stood up in the coach but his top hat smashed into the roof, he hurt his head, "No, when did I ever say I was a homosexual?" He took off his hat and rubbed his head. Annalise sighed with relief and knew better than to assume anything. She reached over Ciel's head and patted it down.

"Okay then, Mister Phantomhive," she gave him a teasing smile when the coach halted to a stop. Sebastian hopped down from the driver's seat and opened the door to Annalise's house. Annalise took Sebastian's hand and hopped out of the carriage and walked inside her store. Her house was built on top of her small chocolate business, but there were boxes all over the store since she was moving.

"Master," Sebastian bowed and held his hand out for Ciel to step out of the carriage. Ciel walked inside after Annalise and examined what was inside. There were a lot of samples of chocolates, all of them in cute shapes and sizes. It smelled sweet and Ciel could feel a warm air flow from the kitchen.

"Mother, I'm home," Annalise shouted and waved. Her mother peeked through the door frame and noticed Annalise had brought a friend over.

"Annalise! Where have you been?" she cleaned her hand on her apron and stared at Ciel and Sebastian, who stood out like a sore thumb, "And who's this?" Annalise smiled and hugged her mom after a long day away from her house.

"This is Ciel and Sebastian," Annalise introduced them but got the greatest idea ever, "Mother, can Ciel stay to watch me make chocolates?" Her eyes sparkled as she looked at her mother.

"If they can stay, then sure," Annalise's mother smiled back and walked up the stairs to her room. Annalise turned to look at Ciel and saw him sigh.

"Sebastian, change my schedule," Ciel directed Sebastian and offered his arm for Annalise to hold. She lead Ciel to the kitchen and Ciel realized that there were barely anything in the room. Limited amount of tools hung on the wall but the island and the countertops were empty.

"Want to request anything?" Annalise asked while tying an apron behind her but her fingers slipped. Ciel crossed the room and helped her, even though he could barely button his own shirt, his ribbon was perfect.

"No, anything is fine," Ciel wasn't picky when it came to sweets, but then he chuckled, "Though I have yet to taste any sweets made better than Sebastian." Annalise smirked, taking on the challenge.

"Bring it on," she opened four overhead cabinets and pulled out bottles after bottles of what seemed like chocolate and sugar. Ciel couldn't exactly watch what Annalise had did but before he had time to process all the steps Annalise did, she had finished making half of her dessert.

Sebastian had made hundreds of treats and snacks for Ciel, but he was never interested in how Sebastian made it. It was too flashy for Ciel but there was something with Annalise. She was smooth and graceful with every move she made. She had passion for making the sweets, unlike Sebastian, making it on an order. She was mixing a thick brown liquid when she looked up at Ciel.

"Could you give me a hand by passing six glass cups from that cabinet," Annalise pointed with her head, not stopping her mixing. Ciel took out six glass cups, as she requested, shaped like plant pots, and set them on the table. He still didn't know what she was making but it was exciting. She poured the liquid into the cups and set her bowl into sink. It clinked when it hit against the metal sink, but Annalise had already moved onto heating up the stove with a small pot on top of it. She ripped open a bag of candy wafers and poured some into it. She didn't have time to measure so she just went along with her instincts. It melted quickly due to the high temperatures and Ciel watched as she poured in a clear substance.

"I hope you have a bad sweet tooth because this is corn syrup," she smiled goofily as Ciel looked away from her. How did she know, Ciel almost blushed but then nodded shyly. Annalise poured the mixture onto a pan on top of a gigantic bowl of ice cold water.

"Just wait a while," she was about to lick the candy off her fingers but Ciel licked it for her.

"It is very sweet," he commented while rolling up his sleeves, "Let me help you." He found a cloth and started scrubbing the utensils. Annalise giggled and rolled her sleeves as well. They washed the dishes. Ciel looked serious until he splashed some water on Annalise.

"Hey!" she shouted and flicked her fingers to spray droplets of water on Ciel. They flung water at each other and laughed with a light atmosphere.

"That was unfair!" Ciel laughed and and sprayed water all over Annalise. They were having the time of their lives when Sebastian cleared his throat.

"Are we here to play?" his deep voice broke Annalise and Ciel's moment as he crossed over to see what they were doing. Ciel got up and took out his handkerchief to dab himself dry. Annalise scowled at Sebastian and got back to making her sweets. She took the half cooled off hardened candy and broke off a small piece of it. She was molding it into leaves and stems. Ciel observed with caution as he saw Annalise piece them together. Then she took out a device that seemed like a paintbrush. Annalise attached a small bottle of green powder and brought the paintbrush to her mouth.

"Are you eating that green thing?" Ciel inquired, not knowing what it was. Annalise shook her head but she couldn't talk with the paintbrush in her mouth. She gently blew on it and green paint spat out gently onto the candy she molded. She interchanged between a dark green and light green and she painted the candy. It had intricate designs on it and it looked like the real thing.

"It's called an airbrush. I just sprayed on food paint," Annalise breathed in deeply after painting all six small plants, "Now for the finishing touches." Ciel caught Annalise sweating and wiped it away with his sleeve.

"Careful not to overwork yourself," Ciel curled up the corners of his lips into a small smile and left Annalise alone to finish her work. She took a bunch of dried chocolate from a jar and crushed some in her hands. She sprinkled it on top of the dark liquid inside the cup and stuck the tiny candy plant in the middle. She looked around the room for a miniature popsicle stick. Ciel and Sebastian could smell the faint of honey soaked in the popsicle stick as she stuck it in on the side. Her final product looked like a potted plant with the dried candy looking like dirt and the candy art as a leaf.

"I call it the Plant Pudding," Annalise handed one to Ciel and Sebastian. She waited for Ciel's tasting skills and she watched Ciel's eat it. She was hoping it was too sweet for him.

"This is," Sebastian stared at the popsicle stick with shock in his eyes. It made Annalise anxious about what they would think of her masterpiece.

"This is delicious. I love how the taste tingles in my mouth and how the honey on the stick brought out the taste," Ciel took a bite of the candy art Annalise so beautifully crafted and he looked as if he was full of bliss, "I think she beats you, Sebastian." Sebastian put down his cup and bowed at her.

"I will accept my defeat since you did brew up a sweet my master loves so much," Sebastian winked at Annalise but she took it in a different way. As she shivered from Sebastian's wink, she put the rest of the cups in a box.

"Here, you can take the rest home for your servants," Annalise grinned brightly and handed Sebastian the box.

"We must depart now. Please excuse us," Sebastian spoke politely. Ciel picked up Annalise's hand and kissed the back of it as a good-bye gesture.

"I never laughed this much since I was very young. Until next time," Ciel left the room as Annalise's face turned a dark red. Why was she blushing? She put a hand on her cheek and guided Ciel out of the kitchen. When they left the room, they found Annalise's mom managing the store.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Mrs Lawright," Ciel put on his top hat and looked back before closing the door, "I had a wonderful time here. Please do welcome me if I ever come back, our best regards from the Phantomhive." Ciel exited and got on his carriage again. Mrs Lawright dropped her pen and quickly ran into the kitchen. Annalise heard footsteps on the stairs and snapped her head at the sound.

"Annalise! They were the Phantomhives!" her mother shook her shoulders and Annalise was confused. She fixed her hair again and cleaned up her tools.

"What about it? I already knew that," oblivious to everything, Annalise continued to put back her cooking gear.

"The little boy is the owner of Funtom company!" her mother shouted again but Annalise still doesn't get what she meant, "He's rich! Maybe you can get some money out of them! We're the poor middle class and desperate about money. That way, your father can be cured by getting the correct surgery." Mrs Lawright's eyes shone with greed as Annalise brushed away her mother's arm.

"I'm not going to do something so horrible. It's his money and he can do whatever he wants with it. I'm not going to ask him for money." Annalise was busy thinking about what to make for Roy the next time they met.

"Do you want to see your father suffer more?" her mother fell to the floor with tears in her eyes, "Please. I don't want to live in a shabby place like this anymore!" Annalise dropped all her daydreams and got on her knees.

"Please mo-," Annalise began but her mother grasped on her arms tightly.

"You can marry into the family!" her mother was franticly suggesting anything that appeared in her mind. Annalise already knew it was impossible. Marrying into a rich family is what every girl dreams of.

"He probably already has a fiancée," Annalise tried to stray her away from her mother's greedy thoughts. She didn't want to see her father suffer from his illness nor does she want to ask for Ciel's help in their financial situation.

"How would you know that?" her mother got up with anger filling her eyes. She was frustrated how her lovely daughter would dare speak up to her and not follow her mother's orders.

"He's a nobleman. Don't they have arranged marriage since they were born?" she thought of an excuse and what she heard from the gossips of the outside world. Her mother sighed and walked up the stairs.

"I don't see any hope for our family to stay together," Mrs Lawright's voice turned cold and harsh. Annalise turned her face away with shame. What could she have done to satisfy both sides?