Finals week passed by in a blur. Claude had no complaints in that department; it meant that things weren't moving at a glacial pace. As the semester was finally wrapping up, that meant that Claude had more time to live life as a human being. He could socialize, instead of intentionally holing himself up in his apartment. It was nice, for a change.

Of course, the more he was socializing, the less he got to see Sebastian. Which had its ups and downs. It meant that he didn't have to deal with Mey Rin all the time, at least. Claude found that he was spending a majority of his time with Alois, which rather surprised him, though he did nothing to remedy the situation. So far, there hadn't been another intimate incident, as Claude was sure Alois felt just as awkward about it as he did. For this, he was secretly grateful.

"I promise he's not annoying," Alois tried to assure Claude. The young boy had been begging Claude to meet one of his friends for ages. Though Claude had never been particularly fond of any of the kids Alois chose to surround himself with, he found that he was willing to oblige in this instance.

Alois led Claude through the lines of people and past small tables supporting chatty individuals. Alois had an affinity for coffee shops, and Claude was used to it by now. In fact, from time to time, Claude found that coffee shops were his location of preference when he was stressed. It only made sense that Claude would be introduced to Alois' best friend in such a location.

Alois stopped at a table toward the back of the establishment. A boy around Alois' age was seated alone, obviously absorbed in his reading. He had hair that was so dark it almost appeared to have a blue tint. He looked up as Alois and Claude approached, revealing his eyes. They were both large and one was quite blue. The other, however, was a milky grey color. It wasn't ugly; in fact, it made the boy appear older and more intriguing. He grinned as he set eyes on Alois.

"Hey," he greeted, setting down his book.

"Ciel, this is Claude," Alois said, motioning between the two. "Claude, this is Ciel." Claude could feel Ciel's eyes on him, giving him a one over.

"You're the ex?" he asked after a moment.

"Um, yeah," Claude said, feeling slightly uncomfortable. He wasn't really used to such heavy scrutiny though he was sure Ciel didn't really mean anything by it. Claude smiled awkwardly.

"It's nice to finally meet you," Ciel grinned, and Claude allowed himself to relax. "Idiot over here wouldn't shut up about you for weeks. It was all Claude-this and Claude-that."

"Well, I would hope that it was only good things," Claude began with a laugh, "But I know Alois too well for that."

"I only talked shit on you a couple of times," Alois cried in an attempt to defend himself. "And that was only when I was really pissed."

"So you two know each other from school?" Claude asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah," Ciel said, flicking his dark hair to the side with a jerk of his head. "We're both stuck in the same hell hole for the next two years," he said glumly. After a pause, he asked, "And you're a Junior in college?"

"Sophomore, actually," Claude corrected. "I'm not exactly the 26 year old stud Alois may have described," he winked in Alois' direction.

"I only lied about your age once! And you gave me permission!" Alois jumped to his own defense once more.

"Wow," Ciel laughed. "Because that wouldn't make your relationship seem twelve times creepier than it already is."

"I lied about my age too, dipshit," Alois scoffed. Claude began to wonder what sort of awkward situation he'd gotten himself into. It wasn't that he was uncomfortable around Alois and Ciel, he was just uncomfortable with the direction their conversation was taking, despite his efforts to remedy the topic. He made the decision to sit silently, hoping that the conversation would naturally flow away from his relationship with Alois.

His phone buzzed obnoxiously in his pocket. He shot an apologetic glance to Alois and Ciel, though neither of them seemed to care that he was reaching to answer his phone. Grateful for the chance to escape the conversation, he answered.

"Hey," Sebastian's voice purred softly on the other end of the line. "What are you up to?"

"I'm with Alois and one of his friends at a coffee shop," Claude responded. "Why?"

"The one on Cherry Street?" Sebastian asked, ignoring Claude's earlier question.

"Yeah, the one on Cherry," Claude replied.

"Okay. I'll be there in, like, two minutes, if that's okay," Sebastian informed him. Claude knew better than to tell him not to come. He wanted him to be there in the first place. Plus, Sebastian would show up whether he had an invitation or not.

"I thought you were with Mey Rin?" He responded instead. He heard Sebastian heave a large sigh.

"Yeah, I was. She had some… stuff to take care of," he said, vaguely. Claude didn't bother prying any further.

"See you, then," he said in parting. After he hung up, he turned to Alois. "You mind if Sebastian joins us?" he asked. Alois shrugged.

"Doesn't bother me," Ciel interjected, inserting himself into Claude and Alois' conversation. Claude hoped things would become more… comfortable with Sebastian's presence.

"He's not bringing that one chick, though, right?" Alois asked quickly. Claude flashed a half smile. He was glad that he wasn't the only one with an avid distaste for Mey Rin.

"You think I'd let him come here if he was going to tow her along?" He asked, his response causing Alois to grin as well.

"So who the hell is Sebastian?" Ciel asked, addressing no one in particular.

"He's my roommate," Claude answered. "And he's been my best friend since middle school." Ciel gave a slow nod and mouthed "oh."

"He's a nice guy," Alois supplied. "I'm sure the two of you will like each other. You're a lot alike, I think. Not to mention you both have an inherent taste for rule-breaking."

"Is he hot?" Ciel asked after a pause. His eyes were on Claude's face. Claude was hesitant to answer, mostly because he had assumed Ciel was straight, though he also didn't want to give away his own feelings.

"Um, well, he likes to think so," Claude laughed nervously. Alois let out a snort.

"Don't let this guy lie to you," Alois interrupted. "Sebastian is hella attractive." Ciel grinned widely at Alois' apparently satisfactory answer. "But, I'm going to have to crush all of your dreams right now," Alois continued, despite Ciel's dopey grin. "You're not really his type."

"What, because I'm young, attractive, and single?" Ciel asked, obviously confident in whatever qualities he thought he might (and, Claude noted, did) possess.

"No," Alois said, rolling his eyes. "You're not a chick." This comment caused Ciel's grin to widen even further.

"Well, there are many straight men included in my conquests," he said. "Or, I guess, men that thought they were straight," he added.

"Whatever," Alois sighed, obviously annoyed. "Good luck." Claude found it odd that his feelings were so closely mirroring Alois', though he wasn't one to complain. It was nice to feel like you had someone on your team; it was nice to know he wasn't alone in becoming agitated in Ciel's overly apparent interest in Sebastian. Though, he hoped it was for different reasons.

"That him?" Ciel asked, nodding his head in the direction of the front door. Both Alois and Claude craned their necks to look at the person Ciel had indicated.

It was clearly Sebastian. He was striding around as though he owned the place, though he'd only been here once or twice before. He smiled cordially at the other patrons as he walked past. He dragged a chair from an unoccupied table to the table occupied by Claude, Ciel, and Alois. He sat in it backwards- with the back of the chair resting against his chest. He flashed a grin at he already seated group.

"Thanks for letting me crash," he said, breaking the silence.

"Thanks for crashing," Alois said, not completely unenthusiastically. "Haven't seen too much of you since I've been here," Alois noted, trying to strike up conversation.

"Oh, yeah," Sebastian sighed with a smile. He tucked his dark hair behind is ear. "Well, I've been spending most of my time planning Claudie's birthday," he punched Claude in the arm playfully. "Which is going well, in case you're wondering."

"Should I be scared?" Claude asked, raising an eyebrow. Sebastian's presence was helping to-somewhat- brighten the mood he'd found himself in.

"Nah," Sebastian shrugged. "Actually, Mey Rin and I just finished up inviting everyone. It was a lot of phone calls." He turned to Alois. "I don't have your number, but, obviously you're invited, as long as Luka doesn't care that you'll be out past curfew," he grinned. "You can bring your friend, too," he added, noticing Ciel for the first time. He offered his hand. "Sebastian," he introduced himself quickly.

"Ciel Phantomhive," Ciel responded, accepting Sebastian's handshake. Claude was guiltily pleased when Sebastian didn't catch on to the sickeningly coy look Ciel was giving him. They shook hands, and that was that. Sebastian moved on to other topics, for the most part ignoring Ciel. Claude couldn't help but note that Ciel looked a little upset that his obvious efforts were getting him nowhere. Welcome to the club. For once Claude was glad of Sebastian's overwhelming obliviousness.

"They'll probably expect me home at least two weeks before Christmas," Sebastian sighed, discussing his plans for Christmas vacation. "It's not gonna happen. Hell, I haven't even thought about packing."

"Well, you have a couple weeks yet," Alois reassured him with a laugh. "Geez, isn't the point of college to get away from your parents?"

"Yeah," Sebastian grinned. "But I miss my mom's cooking too much to stay away for long. I mean, Claude's good. But he's not that good."

"If I were your parents, I'd keep a closer eye on you," Ciel cooed. "Look at you. Your looks alone are enough to get you into trouble. Not to mention I hear you have a knack for trouble making," he flirted ruthlessly. Sebastian let out a small laugh.

"My parents are more than forgiving for all of the trouble I cause," he smiled. "But that's not to say I don't get chided for it."

"Not that it does anything," Claude scoffed.

"Good," Ciel said, flashing a smile. "I like troublemakers." There was no way Sebastian would miss that blatant come on, Claude knew. Not really wanting to stick around, Claude looked for a quick escape. He glanced down at his watch.

"Don't you have work in half an hour?" Claude asked, nonchalantly.

"What's today, Thursday?" Sebastian asked. Claude nodded. "Shit," he sighed. "Yeah, I do."

"Guess we should split, then," Claude said, standing. "I have to tutor at the library in a few hours anyway. See you later, Alois." Claude grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair. "Nice to meet you," he said to Ciel as he turned to leave.

Sebastian fell into step with Claude outside of the coffee shop as they walked towards Claude's car.

"You're not pissed I showed up, are you?" Sebastian asked, sincerely. Claude quickly shook his head.

"Hell no," he admitted. "You cleared up a lot of awkward back there. All Ciel wanted to talk about was me and Alois. And you do realize he was hitting on you, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Sebastian said. "It was kinda weird, but kinda flattering." He paused. "What can I say? Kid has good taste."

"You're hopeless," Claude sighed, unlocking the car door.

"Oh, Ciel," Sebastian said with a laugh, as though he'd known the boy for years. Claude rolled his eyes. "Good kid," Sebastian added.

Son of a bitch.