Sitting in bed in the master bedroom, Alois looked up from his phone and grinned with a light blush as he was approached by a familiar face. Ciel appeared from the doorway, peeking in at him. Closing the door behind him and locking it, the Watchdog slipped off his shoes at the foot of the bed and leaned over. His palms rested on the mattress, sinking in slightly by supporting his weight.

"Sorry I kept you waiting." he said, kissing Alois' cheek. "That e-mail had to be worded very carefully."

"It's fine." the menace replied. He turned to place his cellphone on the nightstand before returning his gaze to the bluenette. Meeting the other halfway, he cupped Ciel's cheek and pecked his lips. "Your attention is on me now, and that's all that matters."

"I'm gonna go get ready for bed." Ciel announced, but when he tried to get up, his partner tugged at his tie.

"Can't it wait a bit?"

"Do you want me to sit here in my work clothes?"

"No." Alois bluntly stated with a glint in his eye, earning a coy smile from the other. Ciel moved forward, placing a knee on the mattress while the blonde leaned back. Eventually, Alois was laying down with the Watchdog looking down at him.

"Care to help me out, then?"

"Certainly~!" giggled the menace, loosening Ciel's tie. As he did, the other demon bent down, placing a kiss to his lips. The tie came off, and several of the buttons on Ciel's shirt came unfastened while his hand made it's way to the blonde's side. Breaking the kiss, the Watchdog pressed their foreheads together, staring intently into icy blue eyes with a bright smile.

"I love you, Jim..."

In an instant, Alois' eyes shot open and he was staring at the ceiling. His heart was rattling against his ribcage as he tried his best to focus. A thin layer of sweat coated his skin as he laid their under the hot blankets. Soon, he realised that he was alone. Furthermore, it had come to his attention that he was in the bed of the room that still didn't feel like his own after a week, and that he had just awakened from a dream.

Sitting up, he put his bright red face in his hands. It wasn't the kind of dream that vanished upon waking. His mind was too cruel to grant him such mercy. That dream of his was so real, so vivid. He could almost feel the lingering sensation of a gentle hand on his side, while his lips tingled from a kiss that he never had.

What was wrong with him? How could he? Such dreams about his friend and coworker were incredibly inappropriate on both an interpersonal level, as well as a personal one. Needless to say, Alois felt absolutely ashamed and disgusted with himself. The night before, he discovered information about Ciel sexual orientation, and the first thing he does is have such thoughts, even without consciousness? Shameful! It made him feel guilty. In addition, he felt dirty. Truly, he was an awful friend. He was even holding his own coat with the Phantomhive's scent still on it. That was clearly suspect.

For the longest time, it felt like, Alois did nothing but sit there, unable to get up and face the day just yet. He could not see the bluenette, now. Not while being such a confused mess. Unfortunately, he had to. His alarm clock for noon went off, and although it was a Sunday, he had to check in on the case.

Thus, with copious amounts of reluctance, the menace pushed the blankets to one side and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Still, he didn't actually get dressed. Instead, he simply changed into fresh clothes that were still suitable for casually running around in the privacy of his own home in, as he knew he should probably wear shorts. They were a bit short for February, but the Phantomhive household was a comfortable temperature, and even if it wasn't, he still had blankets he could wrap around himself.

Trudging out into the hallway, shuffled against the carpet in his bare feet as he made his way to the office. Granted, the blonde's pace was almost painstakingly slow. Had he been walking with someone, they would probably have felt compelled to push against his back. His reasoning was sound, however. While he was obligated to, every part of him was telling him not to see Ciel. Alois wanted to turn back and lock himself away until he had this figured out, but somehow, he knew that the bluenette would come after him, if he vanished for too long. That's just the sort of man Ciel is.

How bothersome. Couldn't Alois have been stuck with an unattractive, inattentive man instead? Alas, it wasn't to be. As soon as Alois stepped through the door and saw Ciel seated at his desk, his blush returned and his heart sped up, remembering the dream. He briefly froze, unsure of what to do next or how to handle this. He knew he should try to appear as "normal" as possible, but that was gong to be an impossibility.

Sensing the blonde's presence, Ciel looked up, locking eyes with the other. "Afternoon." he greeted.

"Morning..." Alois said, lacking his wits as he tried to think of something to say. He walked over to his desk, but not before making himself feel worse. "H-how are you?"

"I'm good." sighed the bluenette, doing the same as he did since the accident. He was still upset. He was still distraught. He still missed his spouse, but he knew he needed to have strength to pull through. Alas, he was weak, and his eye honed in on Alois' exposed legs. With a blush, he caught himself and corrected his actions, but the menace did notice it.

"That's good..." the menace awkwardly replied while quickly making his way over to his own desk. He pulled his chair up so that his abdomen was touching the edge of the furniture in order to hide his legs. While he wasn't sure what Ciel's intentions were, he did feel extremely self conscious, and wished that he chose different garments.

The silence that followed was too long to be comfortable, but neither of them really knew what to say. It was true that they had made incredible progress over the past few days, growing closer with the more time that they spent together, but they still had a lot of distance between them. Alois still didn't know Ciel very well, despite knowing things about him and observing some of the ways he behaved. The bluenette himself, however, was internally chastising himself for allowing his eye to wander. How on earth could he have been so brazen?! Surely, by this point, he could control himself better!

He could not. The habit was already there from before and it wasn't as though Ciel could simply decide that he was no longer attracted to the blonde. To Ciel, Alois was just as breathtaking and gorgeous as ever, but now, he could no longer express it. He had begun to wonder how on earth he lasted so long without telling Alois how he feels about him before, because this is agonising. Even complimenting the man felt out of place now, as he was afraid that he would come across as being "forward" and make the menace uncomfortable. Ciel still didn't know what his ultimate goal was.

Of course he wanted Alois back. He wanted his husband to be his husband again. He craved it so much that it made him ache. At the same time, however, he did not want to pressure the man into giving him affection. At the end of it all, Ciel wanted Alois to choose him on his own. If he did, then he would be elated, but if he didn't… Ciel had resigned himself to accept it no matter how much it hurt. No matter how agonising it was or how much he didn't want to live without him, Alois' happiness was still important to Ciel. Even if he wasn't remembered, Ciel did, and was completely, hopelessly, and undoubtedly in love with Alois, still. Even now, he was having trouble, since he felt compelled to glace over at the blonde just for the sake of seeing his face.

His mind was still too foggy to formulate plans, and he wasn't even sure if he could complete this case at all. Sluggishness and the tendency to stare blankly into space plagued him as he lamented his situation. He desperately wanted to look. He needed to feel what he was feeling. Most of all, he needed to end this silence.

"Still no plan on how to deal with Wakefield." he casually brought up. "H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. said they would handle the plan making and fill us in."

"Huh..." absent-mindedly replied the other. "Do we usually not make the plan?"

"We usually have some involvement, but I'm just not up to it at the moment."

"Brain fart?"

"Sort of." Ciel sighed with raised eyebrows to indicate that he was still being sociable. "I want to work, but I just don't really feel up to it. I was hoping this case would help, but..."

"No dice?"

"Nope."

"Sucks..." Alois answered, resting his chin in his palm. "So we wait?"

"Yeah. Looks like it."

"Anything I can do to help?" asked the menace.

"I don't know. If you can come up with a plan..."

"No, I've got nothin' for that. I was talking about you." Alois corrected, surprising both the bluenette and himself. Ciel actually thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"I can't think of anything." he said. "Thanks, though."

"Well, tell me if you do."

"I will." smiled the Watchdog softly. "You tell me if you need anything too, alright?"

"Well, I would like the usual answers about the past, but I dunno how inclined you are to answer them."

"Depends on the question."

Humming, Alois paused to think, looking up at the ceiling as he did. In actuality, he had nothing in particular that he felt comfortable asking the other, as the majority of his memory was hidden. Alois simply didn't know what to ask about.

"I dunno. What all did we do together?" the asked. "I don't really know what I'm missing, so I can't think to ask about anything specific."

"We did almost everything together." the Watchdog answered without missing a beat. A slight blush appeared on his face when he thought about it, but managed to maintain a casual demeanor about it. "School, trips, hanging out, just name it."

"Oh? I thought Kristopherson was my best friend?" Alois teased.

"Well, he does loan us his beach house sometimes in the summer."

"We haven't gone in a while though. We should this time."

"Oh, so you remember that?" inquired the bluenette, turning to face the other formally. He could remember the many times they've gone to their friends' beach houses for a few weeks in the summer and how much fun they always had. After graduating, however, the group hasn't gone in a long time.

"Yeah- well, not a lot, but I remember that we used to go in summer." Alois admitted. "I remember the others getting the shit scared out with scary stories… I'm guessing you're the one who told them, huh?"

"Guilty." chuckled Ciel, finding himself pleased with the fact that Alois could remember things if he put his mind to it. "

"It was you who couldn't swim, too, wasn't it?"

"Yes, and you would enlist the others to try and throw me into the water." the bluenette reminded, causing the other to laugh.

"True." the menace grinned. He was beginning to relax again, allowing his prior concerns to drift away while he was having a good time. "The others almost drowned once, didn't they? Because they tried to prank us?"

"Yeah. I don't remember how we got out of that one. I remember you crying afterwards because you were so scared."

"My friends could have died! Of course I was scared. You were quite the gentleman, though, letting me cry on your shoulder." In an instant, his blush returned as he worried about that coming across as flirtatious. But even if it did, would if have mattered? Alois now knew that Ciel had an interest in men, but that didn't mean that he was interested in Alois. What if it ruined what they had? That would be the worst!

Fortunately, that sort of response was normal to Ciel, so it went over his head. "I had to. I would have felt bad, otherwise."

"I don't need yer stinkin' pity."

"That was years ago. You've grown up a lot since then, even if you do cry at sad movies."

"Sad movies are sad, Ciel. They're just doing what they're designed to do." stated the menace. "Besides, I have you to wipe my tears on, so it's all good."

There he goes again. Alois' brow furrowed slightly, cursing himself for letting these things slip out. They just felt so natural. Was this the way he normally joked with Ciel? He didn't know. He was still in the dark about most things when it came to Ciel, but inserting him in various situations in his memory helped.

But as he looked over at the bluenette, the way the man looked back at him told him differently. He should not be embarrassed or think badly of himself for saying such things. Ciel was actually smiling. This time, it was less hidden and more genuine. The fact that Alois' memories were coming back to him filled Ciel with hope, and as the blonde joked around with him, it set his own concerns a bit more at ease. The man's expression in turn caused the menace to smile broadly as well. This was the first time that Ciel had given him this expression of acceptance since he woke up in that bed in the infirmary. It actually made the blonde happy.

Not matter what happens, the two of them were determined that everything would be alright in the end. Nothing else really mattered. All that they wanted was each other, and as long as Ciel and Alois were together, all would be right with their world.


A/N: It's four a.m. but I was determined to update because I didn't yesterday. I'm so tired...

This chapter was tough to write for some reason. Nothin' was coming to me. This was a rare chapter where I wrote several paragraphs and just deleted the whole thing. I hated it. I think it turned out okay, though, even if it didn't add much to the plot. I was still deciding what I need to do next in order to progress things. Still no solid plan. We're getting there, though.

Next time, we'll actually get into plot and junk. I promise.

Sorta...

maybe...

Probably?

Hopefully.

In other news: Although I was extremely reluctant at first, DLTD has begun being translated into French! It made me wonder, though... There's probably going to be a few differences due to translation, as happens with a lot of things. How would you even translate some things?

I ain't even mad. I wonder what kind of liberties would need to be taken... I'm curious...

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!


CHARACTER SHET

Question: "To Luka, what's your favorite and least favorite thing about school?" by marleyrockstar

Luka: "My favourite thing is going and playing with other kids. My least favourite thing is having to sit through stuff I already know."

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Question: "Hi Luka, Has it been hard for you to keep secrets from Alois about his past with Ceil?" by Hannahfanbear

Luka: "It's sooooOOOOoooo haaAAAaarrrrddd! It's impossible! They were so much happier before and I know that they'll be better if they can be husbands again, but Sebastian and Ciel keep telling me not to? And this stuff is just normal! They look weird when they sit so far apart and I don't know what he knows! I just want everybody to be happy again..."