Me-Heyo and welcome back to Counting Stars! I finally finished up my goddamn finals! Yes! *resumes partying around like Grell on steroids* Now, I've got the whole of summer vacay to update. :3

So, I don't know if I've said this yet, but we're a little over halfway through this story. Sad, ain't it? After this story's done, I honestly got no idea on what to do next. It's saddening. :/

I don't own Kuroshitsuji or anything else that may be mentioned! All I own is this fanfic.

So, please read onward!

Warnings: Language, abuse (flashback only), some blood/gore (flashback only)

Chapter 21~Never Give Up

Ciel woke up to find himself curled up in the sheets on a bed next to a half naked Sebastian. He slowly opened his sapphire orb and glanced at Sebastian, who was holding him tightly as he slept.

Ciel smiled softly as he cuddled up closer to him, his head on top of the man's heart.

"Mmmm...the smell of anise just smells too good..." he thought to himself.

A small frown made its way to Ciel's face as he slowly sat up in bed, Sebastian's hands sliding off of his waist. A voice made its way in his head.

"You are an eyesore. Get out of my office!" a loud slap echoed throughout his ear, making Ciel flinch.

"Shit..." he grumbled, his right eye beginning to throb.

"Ciel?"

Ciel nearly jumped at the sound of the deep, baritone voice. He slowly turned his head and saw vermillion eyes staring back at him.

The boy sighed deeply as he forced a smile onto his face.

"Morning, Sebastian." he said.

"Good morning, Ciel." Sebastian replied.

They began to stare at each other for what seemed like centuries. Ciel opened his mouth to speak, but he closed it, pressing his lips into a thin line. He then gasped softly, feeling Sebastian grab him by the wrist and then pulling him back onto the bed.

"Have I ever told you just how beautiful you are?" Sebastian asked.

Ciel blushed cutely as he lowered his gaze.

"Th-Thank you?" he answered uncertainly.

Sebastian chuckled as he brought his fingers up to Ciel's hair, brushing some hair out of it. Ciel flinched at Sebastian's touch, which made Sebastian frown a little.

"Ciel? What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm sorry. It's just that...I'm just not used to having anybody touch there..." Ciel trailed off.

"Why not?" Sebastian asked.

"It's...It's something from the past." Ciel said.

"We've known each other for a little over a month, right?" Sebastian asked.

Ciel nodded his head slowly.

"Yeah...And? What of it?" Ciel asked.

"Over the course of this one month, we have had sex twice. Are you sure you can't trust me?" Sebastian asked.

Ciel looked at Sebastian, taken aback by the older man's statement.

"He's right...we've known each other for only a month and yet, we've done things that couples would've done four years into the relationship." a bright red blush suddenly appeared his cheeks. "Eeeeek! Am...Am I blushing?!" he moved his hands (which weren't handcuffed anymore) and brought them to his cheeks. "Ciel, calm down! You shouldn't be this nervous!" he told himself.

He smacked his cheeks lightly and he opened his mouth to speak again.

"I...I can!" Ciel looked into Sebastian's eyes. "I'll tell you. So, what do you think happened to my eye?" he asked.

"Um...did you accidentally poke it out? Was it an accident?" Sebastian asked.

Ciel shook his head.

"None of the above." Ciel brushed away the hair from his right eyelid and he opened it. Sebastian felt his stomach turn at the sight of the black hole that would've held another tantalizing sapphire orb.

"What..." Sebastian breathed out, rendered speechless.

"You're wondering how it came to be. Well, let me take you to the beginning and how this began." Ciel kept his gaze on Sebastian. "You see, I lost my mother when I was three. But, she didn't die of sickness or of old age. My father murdered her." Ciel began.

"Wait, your father killed your mother?" Sebastian asked.

"Yes. You see, my father was a little bit of a psychopath in his days. That night, he had taken a kitchen knife and stabbed her multiple times in the chest with it in the kitchen. I had gone to get a midnight snack and I had ended up seeing the incident." Ciel said as he remembered that night.

Big, sapphire eyes blinked in the darkness as a three year old boy stumbled down the hallway towards the kitchen. He never really ate a lot for dinner and because of that, he'd end up craving a midnight snack.

Ciel reached the bottom of the stairs just as he heard a shout from the kitchen.

"Vincent, just what are you doing?!"

Ciel felt his heart jump a little at the sound of his mom's voice filled with fear. The voice in his head kept telling him to leave, but he found himself moving over to the door that led to the kitchen.

As the light grew brighter and brighter, the sounds grew louder and louder. He could hear his mom struggling and the sound of his father huffing loudly. He then heard his mom gasp sharply and then a thud. Ciel found himself moving faster and faster.

He then heard stabbing sounds, which made him feel sick to the stomach.

Ciel peered into the kitchen and saw his mother on the floor, her chest bloodied and a knife stuck in her. His father gripped the handle tightly like as if he didn't want to let go of it. His eyes were covered by his bangs and his teeth were gritted.

Ciel watched the scene with wide eyes as he continued to watch, his body shaking as he felt a tear roll down his cheek.

"After that, my dad had gotten married to this woman that he had been secretly seeing. However, because I was still in elementary school here, he had decided not to move out to Chicago and live with her. That was when the abuse began." Ciel said as another flashback came back to him.

A six year old Ciel held a paper in his hand. He needed his dad to sign his reading log for him. He couldn't take this to Lizzie, since she also had hers to get signed and she wasn't technically his guardian. And it wasn't like he could go to Chicago and see the stepmother that he never got to meet.

He rose his wrist and he rapped on the door.

"Come in."

Ciel flinched at the rough edge in his father's voice. But, he still reached for the doorknob and he opened it, stepping into the office.

The first thing that hit the first grader's nose was the pungent smell of nicotine. He was tempted to gag, but he refrained himself from doing so.

He slowly made his way over to the desk, skirting around some empty beer bottles as he did so. He finally approached the desk, which was covered in bottles and documents.

"U-Um...Dad?" he stammered out in a timid voice.

"What?" his dad narrowed his eyes at him. "What do you need me for?" he asked.

Cigarette smoke was puffed into Ciel's face. Ciel scrunched up his nose a little as his father motioned for him to come over to the side of the desk. Ciel wanted to refuse, but he found himself going over to the side.

"What is it?" he asked him again.

"I...I need you to sign this for me..." Ciel trailed off.

"When do you need this by?" Vincent asked as he took the paper from Ciel.

"Um...T-Tomorrow..." Ciel stammered out.

A slap was then delivered to his face. Ciel gasped out sharply as he fell to the floor, his head nearly colliding with a nearby beer bottle labeled Bud Lite.

"You're NOW telling me to sign this?!" Vincent roared.

"Y...You're too scary!" Ciel shouted as he nursed his cheek, slowly propping himself back up.

Ciel then felt Vincent kick him in the gut. The wind was knocked out of him as he fell back onto the floor. He coughed as he felt Vincent grab him by the hair and yank him up.

"You are an eyesore. Get out of my office!" Vincent growled as he flung the boy onto the floor.

Ciel whimpered as he picked himself up. He limped over to the office door and closed it behind him as he heard the sound of paper being torn up into shreds.

Sebastian could only stare at him as he continued.

"After that, he'd hit me twice a night and drink continuously. He'd smoke and drink so much that I couldn't invite friends over. When I got into second grade, it got worse. He'd hit me until I was bleeding on the floor or until I coughed up blood. Then, in sixth grade, he went completely insane. That was how I ended up with this huge hole in my eye." Ciel pointed at his scarred eyelid as he also remembered the night he had lost his eye.

Eleven year old Ciel curled up in the sheets of his bed. He had been bullied once again and had Lizzie and his new friend Alois save him again. Then, he came home to end up being his father's punching bag.

He hated his life.

The boy trembled as he felt the tears begin to well up in his eyes. He wanted to cry, but ever since that day in the office back when he was in elementary school, he swore that he would not let another tear fall.

He heard the dorr open, which surprised him.

Ciel slowly rose up from bed and peered through the darkness to see someone standing in the doorway.

"Mmmmm...hello?" he murmured.

"You disgust me..." the person murmured.

"Hm?" Ciel wondered out loud.

"You remind me so much of your goddamn mother...YOU SHOULD DIE!" the person roared before pouncing on top of Ciel.

Ciel let out a scream as he dodged every swing of what might've been a kitchen knife. He tried to get off of the bed, but the person pinned him down. His eyes quickly adjusted to the dark and he realized that it was his father.

"Stop it...! No!" he cried out.

"I hate how much you look like your mother. You are such an eyesore!" his father roared.

"No! don't hurt me!" Ciel felt the tears well up in his eyes again as he continued to struggle.

Vincent watched as Ciel continued to struggle and that was when his eyes locked on Ciel's right eye. A crazed smile made its way to Vincent's lips, causing it to shoot a chill down Ciel's spine.

"Those eyes...I can't kill you, but I can at least scar you." Vincent said.

Ciel watched his father in fear.

"Wha-What are you- - -" a loud scream was ripped from his throat as he felt the knife being stabbed into his right eye. Blood spurted all over the place, coloring his skin, clothes, and sheets red.

Vincent's eyes gleamed as he pulled the knife out of Ciel's eye.

"Heh. Go rot." he spat before getting off of Ciel and heading out of the room, leaving Ciel on the bed in a pool of his blood.

Sebastian watched Ciel in what might've been astonishment.

"So...how...why..." Sebastian was rendered speechless.

"So, I am guessing you want to know how I am still alive. Well, I managed to get over to my cell phone on my writing desk and I called Alois. He then called 911 and he quickly got over on his bike and got me to the hospital before it was too late. They had no choice but to take out my eye because it was very badly injured. Now, I only have one eye." Ciel explained.

Sebastian gritted as he pulled Ciel into a crushing hug. Ciel gasped, his eye wide in shock.

"Se-Sebastian! Just what are you- - -" Sebastian shushed him.

"Shhhh..." Sebastian ran his hand through Ciel's hair and he massaged the boy's scalp. "Let me just hold you like this for a bit." he requested.

Ciel bit his lip as he leaned into the touch, letting the older male hold him in his embrace.

Ciel walked into the kitchen in a black and white striped oversized hoodie with black leggings and white ankle socks. He noticed Sebastian making something in a pan and he smiled, making his way over to him.

"Good mor-ning~" he said as he hugged him from behind.

Sebastian chuckled.

"Good morning to you, too." Sebastian replied.

"Whatcha makin'?" Ciel asked.

"Mmmm, just some apple cinnamon crêpes." Sebastian told him.

Ciel licked his lips at the thought.

"Mmmm, you know, I always seem to come around when you're making something French for breakfast." Ciel noted.

"What, is that a crime?" Sebastian asked teasingly.

"No, my dear love." Ciel replied.

"Well, I've already set the table while you were getting yourself ready. Sit down and relax." Sebastian told him.

Ciel nodded as he made his way over to the table. He sat down and began to play with the placemat a little. He picked up his fork and poked at the green and white checker patterned placemat as the smell of apples and cinnamon drifted to his nostrils. The smell was making his stomach grumble.

"Mmmmm...smells good, love." he purred.

"Breakfast'll be done in just a bit, dove." Sebastian replied.

Ciel blushed at the nickname Sebastian gave him. His heart fluttered as Ciel brought his feet up onto the chair and he curled up into a ball, resting his chin on his knees. He watched as Sebastian came out of the kitchen while balancing a few plates on his arms. Ciel applauded him.

"Bravo, bravo!" he watched as Sebastian carefully laid each plate onto the table. "Wow, you're like a circus man!" Ciel gushed.

"Aren't I now?" Sebastian asked teasingly, which made Ciel giggle.

"Don't flirt too much or else it'll all go to your head." Ciel teased.

"I know." Sebastian replied as he sat down across from him.

"So, what we got?" Ciel asked.

"Well, we've got some apple cinnamon crêpes along with some applewood smoked bacon and some scrambled eggs with melted Gouda cheese and chopped bits of ham." Sebastian explained.

Ciel's stomach began to rumble a little, but it was quiet enough that Sebastian didn't notice.

"Sounds tasty. Let's dig in." Ciel said before grabbing for his fork and knife and cutting into the crêpe.

"Mmmmmm! So good!" Ciel moaned out as he swallowed the first bite he got from the crêpe.

Sebastian smiled at him.

"I'm glad you like it." Sebastian said.

Ciel blushed a little as he continued to eat.

"Say," Sebastian took a piece of bacon off of the plate near to Ciel's plate and bit into it, "You know, this feels like we're a married couple." he noted.

Ciel almost choked on some of his crêpe, a blush quickly spreading across his cheeks.

"I...I guess..." Ciel trailed off.

Sebastian smiled at the boy's bashfulness as they continued to eat in silence.

"You're going so soon?" Sebastian questioned as Ciel went over and slipped on his shoes.

"Yeah. I gotta make sure that Alois' alive." Ciel said with the roll of his eye, making Sebastian chuckle.

"Alright, I get your drift. Say, are you working tonight?" Sebastian asked.

"Yeah." Ciel replied as he turned to look at Sebastian.

"Well, I'll come drop by." Sebastian said as he made his way over to the boy.

"Okay." Ciel looked up at Sebastian and then realized how close they were. A light blush made its way to his cheeks as he stared into the ruby orbs.

Sebastian began to lean in towards him. Ciel found himself closing his eye as Sebastian closed the distance between them, their lips connecting together in a kiss. Ciel's eye grew wide, but he found himself kissing back.

Sebastian pulled away a few moments later and he smiled.

"Bye." he said.

"B-Bye..." Ciel stuttered out before turning around and heading out of the apartment room.

He made his way over to the elevator and got in. As he pressed the button for the parking garage and the doors closed, he heard his phone vibrate in his bag.

"Hm? Who's calling me?" he asked himself.

He pulled his phone out of the bag and he answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Ciel! It's Alois."

"Hey, Alois."

"Where are you?"

"I just left Peter's place. What's up?"

"Um...I got curious, so I went onto Quotev, signed into your account, and read one of your stories and...there were quite a few comments on there that just didn't sit with me."

"Like what?"

"They all think you're plagiarizing The Letter."

Ciel froze as the elevator doors opened at the parking garage.

"What?"

Ciel parked his car in the garage and he flew out of the vehicle and into the house. He went upstairs and into Alois' room, where the blonde was sitting on his bed with the laptop in front of him.

"Explain to me what the hell is going on." Ciel growled.

"I'm not kidding! It's true! Look," Alois turned the laptop towards the bluenette, "these people are like, threatening to kill you!" Alois shouted.

Ciel sat down across from Alois and began to read all of the comments that people had put on the story.

This is plagiarizing! You completely stole Nanadreams01's story.

I know you can do better than this.

Actually, I think that he's a horrible person. Brb, I'm going to go get a lawyer.

Damn, getting sued is going to suck for you, bitch.

Ciel bit his lip as he continued to scan all of the other comments. It was making him sick to the stomach. He had come up with the idea thanks to Lizzie. This was solely his plot.

Alois moved so that he could sit next to him and that was when the blonde noticed a red block next to the flag with the number 2 inside of it.

"Hey, you got two notifications." he stated.

Ciel feared what may be waiting for him. He hesitantly hovered his mouse over the red block and he clicked on it.

Compter les étoiles commented on The Letter.

Compter les étoiles commented on your profile.

Ciel felt his breath hitch in his throat.

"It's him..." he trailed off.

"Wha...?!" Alois nearly exclaimed.

Ciel clicked on the first notification and read what Compter les étoiles had said about his story.

I don't think you understand. This story is solely his plot, not hers. There are obvious differences that back up my point. First off, this story was put two weeks ago. Nanadreams01's version came up two days after. Also, the scene when Kendra teases Jagger is also different. In Nanadreams01's version, it shows Jagger being unaffected by Kendra's teasing. As for this one, Jagger is flustered, which is a side that all of the readers love thus far. And it seems to be that everyone's been whining about the 'test' Jagger had to take in order to befriend Kendra. In Nanadreams01's, it basically copied his version of the 'test', where Kendra had told him to, "spin around three times and bark like the dog you are." She may have put up a copyright on this, but he put this up before she did. You guys are so disgusting. You can't even see the difference between these two stories. If you can't do just that, then what kind of person are you?

Ciel almost felt the tears spring up in his eye. Just reading how he had backed him up made Ciel feel a little warm on the inside.

"Wow...he actually backed you up..." Alois nudged Ciel a little. "Check the message that he put on your profile." he said.

Ciel went to click on the next notification and he noticed the lock on Compter les étoiles' message and realized that this was a private message. A message that nobody else would see.

A message just for him.

He looked at the message and began to read it.

Hey, Lonely and Waiting. I just want to say that you shouldn't let these people get you down. They have their own reasons for hating on people. It could be because they're just jealous of your awesome writing skills or it's just that they just don't like you. But, that doesn't matter. All you have to do is hold your head up high and continue on with life. Most people would let it just affect them, but there are people who just don't care what other people say. I am a fan of you and I love every single one of your stories. But, most importantly: never give up.

"Oh my god..." Ciel trailed off.

"Check his name! Maybe it's him!" Alois exclaimed.

Ciel nodded as he clicked on Compter les étoiles' name and he went onto the profile. The profile was very blank except for a picture of a star. At the bottom, it showed that he was active a minute ago and that he had joined two weeks ago. There was no profile, no stories or quizzes, and no favorites. All he had was one follower.

Ciel scrolled down and that was when he saw his account under the people he was following.

"Shit!" Ciel shouted out, causing Alois to jump a little in surprise.

"Damn, Ciel! What's up with the sudden curse?!" Alois nearly exclaimed.

Ciel hung his head in disappointment as he stared at the laptop keys.

"It's just that...I finally got a clue after three years..." Ciel trailed off.

Me-And there we got it! The next chapter! So, I've finally got an estimate on how much farther I got to go with this story. And the lucky estimate is...5-6 chapters! So, this story's actually wrapping up soon. I'm hoping to finish this story by either September or October, depending on my timing. So, please R&R and you'll get your own virtual butler (name him Sebastian if you want to)! As you all know, this helps me to motivate and write more for you guys! And I won't care if I only get one review because at least someone on this damn site actually reviews, unlike AO3...*sighs*

So, I'll see you whenever! Bai~