Author's Note:

Thanks to anyone who has stuck around! Don't Try To Change My Melody, thank you for your solitary and enduring support lol. Anyway this story was originally planned to be longer but I think I have found an acceptable place to end it. So, here it is (:

"Sebastian..."

The demon opened his eyes. He had been resting but not quite asleep; the waking world held too much appeal now. He looked down at Grell who was blinking hazy, tired eyes from behind a fringe of mussed red bangs. Sebastian chuckled and pushed them to the side.

"You had best get a haircut before I'm able to mistake you for Undertaker."

Grell snorted and dropped his head back on the pillow. "Hmph. I'll mistake your underwear, too, mister."

"You...are largely still asleep," Sebastian concluded, and watched the eyes not unlike his own flutter shut once more.

He watched Grell sleep for awhile. Many times in the night he had felt as though he was waking from a dream, even though he had not dreamt since he was human. Each time he opened his eyes and found that his bare limbs were still tangled with Grell's and they were still safely in the Phantomhive manor together. Since Sebastian was under orders to look after the estate they had moved their reunion there. That was more than twelve hours ago. Clearly, it had been awhile since Grell had gotten a sound night's sleep.

His fingers ghosted over Grell's disheveled hair and the love bites fading on his neck. Their reunion had certainly been one to remember, once they had finished with the debacle at the house where he'd found Grell. He thought back to it with a long winded sigh. He was going to regret succumbing to the reaper's will in a moment of weakness.

"Let's go," he said, taking Grell's hand.

They were to the door when Sebastian's body lurched backward; Grell had just dug his feet in and came to a grinding halt. Sebastian turned to look at him, to find an expectant expression on his face and his arms crossed over his chest. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Er...no?"

"What about them?!"

Sebastian followed his pointed finger to the two other half breeds, the ones that had threatened his life when he arrived. He shed his gloves and bowed his head. "Right you are, excuse my negligence."

He appeared in front of Kerberosel, who had dozed off in a plush chair. A knife slid into his hand and he went for the half demon's throat. Grell shrieked behind him but Kerberosel reacted first. The knife went flying across the room with a flick of the blond's now open eyes, and stuck in the wall. Sebastian went flying shortly afterwords and collided with a wall that was much less forgiving to him than his knife.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

He waited for Kerberosel to answer Grell's infuriated demand until he looked up and saw that he was the object of the red head's anger. He rubbed his head and tilted it to the side in confusion. "Did you not wish for me to rid you of these two?"

Terren gave an offended squeak, and Grell said, "They're my friends, I can't just leave them. I'm our best fighter, they need me!"

"Your English friend seems to hold his own alright," Sebastian muttered resentfully, standing up and brushing himself off.

Grell stared him down. "I love you, Bassy, but if you can't understand why I wouldn't abandon the people who have stood by me all this time, I don't need you."

Well, he certainly wasn't the flighty lovesick Grell of his memory. He had seemed to find himself since returning from Hell which was fine and dandy when it wasn't such an inconvenience. Sebastian looked at the two strangers, who had come to stand on either side of Grell as if it were instinct. The three looked as though they had stood in this formation many times before. Sebastian was reminded acutely of the servants, and thought of how one of them would react if he tried to separate them.

"Last time I checked, you had just decided to stop hating Grell before your master forced you two apart. We've done a lot more for him than you and if he wants to stay with us, you're not going to stop him mister tall, dark, and moody!" Terren said, seeming to forget he was five feet tall and Sebastian could squash him like a bug.

"I do want to go with Bassy but-"

"So what's it going to be?" Kerberosel demanded, one of his eyes turning red.

Sebastian smirked. The room began to darken and a whirlwind of black feathers swirled around his feet. A bluish green light was cast over them. "First, let me remind you arrogant children that I am a full blooded demon, and I am not the slightest bit intimidated by the likes of you. Second, I am going to allow you to return to the manor with us only because it is what Grell desires. Attempt to threaten me again and I will obliterate you both into atoms whether it upsets Grell or not."

Grell was grinning as if he had just given the most romantic speech in history, and Terren was bouncing on his heels with excitement. Sebastian held out his hand and this time Grell allowed himself to be led out of the house. Unfortunately that was only because his two vermin friends were right on their heels.

Sebastian idly wondered how much trouble those two had managed to get into. He'd had little on his mind the night before except making up for lost time with Grell but now he fretted over the state of the manor. He tightened his arm around Grell. He supposed if the damn red head wasn't doing something to make his life more difficult, their relationship would crumble as adversity was the foundation it was built on.

He awoke Grell with a kiss. Grell made an incoherent sound then seemed to perk up when he realized there were soft lips against his and slightly pointed nails resting on his hip. He opened his mouth and pulled himself closer to Sebastian, who pushed Grell gently onto his back. Their kiss deepened until a familiar warmth began to unfurl at Sebastian's core. He let his hands travel further down, and found that Grell was quite awake indeed.

Lean but strong arms wound around his neck as he hitched Grell's leg over his hip. Grell kissed him tenderly, without his usual impatience and force. He broke the kiss only to gasp as Sebastian entered him. They moved together until they had fallen into a deep, slow rhythm. Sebastian laced their fingers together and pressed their joined hands above Grell's head.

Tremors began to run through Grell's body. Sebastian felt his own release building and groaned into Grell's neck, movements faltering as he moved closer to that razor's edge. He felt Grell's legs scrambling against the bed for purchase as he chased his own climax. The reaper's toes curled against Sebastian's calves, his body seized up and then Sebastian was being pulled over with him. He growled something that might have been Grell's name as he spilled into that clenched, stifling heat.

"Grell," he said more coherently as they parted to lay next to each other.

"Hmm?"

"I think...Well, I may..."

Grell propped his chin on Sebastian's shoulder and stared at him, eyes dancing with amusement. "Left you speechless, have I? You think you may what?"

Vivid images of Grell soaring into the air reciting poetry, harping about how he'd always known Sebastian loved him, overwhelmed Sebastian and he slid out from under Grell to get to his feet. "I think I may need to bathe."

There might as well have been a cloud of smoke where he had been, so fast did he disappear to the washroom. He heard Grell complaining about his hasty departure but closed the door on his grating voice that had somehow become endearing. Curses, he thought. These feelings are going to be even more trouble than I previously imagined.

Grell had cleaned up and dressed by the time he returned. Now that he wasn't bound by the reaper dress code his already off-key sense of style was running rampant. He wore a red corset and his striped bow was tied through the loops of his slacks like a belt. Naturally, his feet were still planted in his black and red ankle boots. His form was strong yet feminine. Sebastian sighed, observing him from the doorway of the washroom. He didn't know what to call Grell. "It" seemed a tad offensive. Two sides of Sebastian's subconscious began to argue over the matter.

He calls himself a she.

Then consider him a woman.

But he is in possession of male genitals.

Then he's a man.

But he's so very beautiful for a man.

Maybe you're just a raging homosexual.

That's drastic, I simply wish to respect him...her by acknowledging the identity she feels most comfortable with.

Stop, just stop, his subconscious begged. Current society isn't advanced enough for us to have this discussion right now.

Sebastian conceded with another sigh. Even when he wasn't speaking Grell managed to befuddle and vex him. Hell, he had plagued Sebastian so deeply that he had forced him into a lengthy conversation with himself. He was an enigma at the center of a vortex of confusion that sucked in anyone who came too close. It was impossible to become bored of such a wildly unpredictable man...manly-woman-person-thing and Sebastian could only assume that was why he was taken with him. Few creatures had ever held his interest, for human nature was no more intriguing to him than falling rain; it was equally transparent, and gone in an instant.

The whole of the Phantomhive household took dinner outside that evening. The servants joined them at the table, seeing as there was not technical Lord of the house now. It felt strange for Sebastian to sit down to his own freshly prepared meal. He glanced to the head of the table and wondered who had made Ciel's dinner tonight, for the Earl could hardly make it for himself. He sighed. His sense of duty was still strong, and however much he had resented the child's selfishness, a miniscule part of him missed Ciel.

There was a soft touch and he looked down to the manicured ruby colored nails resting on his hand. He raised that hand to his lips and kissed Grell's fingertips. "I humbly beg your pardon, my lady. My attention was elsewhere."

"Dinner is just devine," Grell said, after he had removed his hand to cut into the tender filet of beef on his plate.

Sebastian looked around. What a strange bunch they were. Kerberosel was flirting with Bard, much to the chef's disinterest, and Terren seemed to have made fast friends with Finnian. Grell was engrossed in a debate with Mey-Rin about hairstyles. Demons did not possess a sense of family, or true loyalty that was not governed by their contract, but looking around the table Sebastian thought this was what it must be like to feel those things. He was reminded of what Ciel had sacrificed to allow him this happiness and once more felt a surge of appreciation for his young master.

By the time they finished dinner, the moon was high and the sky was blanketed with stars. It was such a lovely night that Sebastian couldn't bring himself to conclude it just yet. He took Grell's hand and pulled the confused redhead from his...no, her chair.

"Would you honor me with a dance?" he asked, guiding her to the middle of the stone terrace.

She turned bright pink, which was closer to mauve in the silver light. "It would be my pleasure."

They stepped into a waltz and began to move as if they had done it many times before. There was no music but it made no difference to them. The voices of their companions died down and Sebastian knew they were being watched, but he was unfazed. He kept his eyes on Grell and the ex reaper didn't look like God himself could have descended and torn her eyes from Sebastian.

"You're rather good," Grell said.

"I enjoy dancing, alas Ciel was not only an incapable but also an unwilling partner."

Their waltz slowed to something less formal. Soon they just swayed together, Grell's arms around his neck and his own resting about the red head's waist. Kerberosel was a couple yards away dancing with Mey-Rin, who had been watching the demons slow dance with longing.

Grell looked up at the moon. "Such a wonderful night, though next time you plan a moonlit ball you should tell me so I can don an appropriate dress, and some-"

"I love you."

He expected his eardrums to be shattered by Grell's voice jumping several octaves, maybe a speech about how Grell was right that would last until daybreak, but for the first time she seemed speechless. Her eyes were wide and there were small indentions in her lip where she was biting it. Sebastian had actually begun to feel a slight prickle of nerves when Grell pulled him into a long kiss that almost knocked them both to the ground.

"I've been waiting my whole afterlife for someone to say that! I never dreamed it would be you, who I pined for so, who night after night..."

She dissolved into melodrama that he silenced with another kiss, before it could get too far out of hand. He was distantly aware of the servants whistling and shouting but there were mere background noise. Grell melted into his arms and he knew that was where she would stay for however long he could keep her there. They were now creatures of the same fiery depths, had experienced the same misguided efforts from those who loved them, but whose love they could not return. Sebastian supposed it was meant as a curse for him to fall for such a wild, often irritating basket case, as punishment for his sins, but he had accepted that these feelings were beyond his control. At this point he didn't think he would change them if he was given the choice.

When they parted, they observed the manor silhouetted against the night sky. It was hardly the end. The reapers were not to be trifled with and they still wanted Grell's head on a pike and there was a feeling deep inside Sebastian that he had not said his final goobyes to Ciel. He wasn't sure they would survive the trials that lay ahead, but looking at the trail of ruin behind them, he could not deny that a path of destruction seemed to be the one on which they thrived.

The night air carried with it the scent of strawberries and red licorice, and Sebastian smiled. The road ahead was not imposing to him. They would be walking it together, after all, and Heaven help the fools that got in their way.

These violent delights have violent ends

And in their triumph die, like fire and powder

Which as they kiss, consume

-William Shakespeare