((Sorry it took so long to get this reply out! I've been very sick lately, so I haven't been able to work on my FanFics, but I'm getting to them all now!)

*Ciel's POV*

"I'd like to argue with that last statement," a familiar voice broke the scene between Claude and Ciel. The Earl's head snapped to the side to see Sebastian Michaelis standing there, his arms crossed over his chest. Venom dripped from his words as he added, "This is quite sweet, actually, to think he really fooled you so easily… But, so's the way with human hearts, I suppose." He seemed to shrug before he bit out the words, "Now, out of your best interest, I must suggest that you get the Hell away from him, my lord."

In the heat of the moment, Claude set the boy down, pushing him behind himself defensively. Ciel smacked his arm away then, moving to stand at his side as he growled, "Enough, both of you." He waited until Claude had taken a step away from him and Sebastian a step forward before speaking to Sebastian directly, "You left." His words were blunt, harsh, "Why?"

"My lord, you must understand," Sebastian began, "That angel murdered your Queen and burnt London to little more than rubble. I was trying to to control the damage—"

"You left before we even knew that London was going to burn," Ciel snapped, taking a step towards the demon in his anger, "Or were you hiding something from me, demon?"

The butler blinked, stumbling over his words as he tried to explain himself, "Master, please, just listen to me. I was trying to help. I—"

Again, he was interrupted, "London has been back to normal for several weeks now, Sebastian. What took you so long?" There was no way in Hell he was going to let the butler sweet-talk his way out of this one. He'd screwed up, he'd hurt Ciel, and the Earl was going to make sure Sebastian knew that. "You abandoned me," he snapped, "You lied to me!"

"I… I'm sorry," Sebastian's expression grew softer, more sad than before now, "I… I hadn't meant for it to take so long. I only wanted to help you, you must understand that—"

"You should be sorry," Ciel told him, tears starting to form in his azure eyes, "You left me alone with nothing, nobody, to protect me, Sebastian." He shook his head and swiped at his eyes, trying to stop the water-drops that fell from them as he asked, "Why, after all this time, did you even bother to come back?"

Sebastian turned his gaze downwards as he spoke, "I've been by your side for years, my lord. I didn't… I didn't know what to do with myself without you." His face contorted with stress before he continued, "Much as I detest admitting it, I care about you; I thought that—"

Ciel was starring at the ground as he turned his back to the demons, looking out at the garden that this new Estate offered so flawlessly. When he spoke, his voice was quiet despite how certain it was, "You thought wrong, Sebastian. When you left, you broke your promise and you broke my heart." His hands clenched into fists at his sides, as he shut his eyes for a moment, biting out the words, "And after all that's happened, I don't think I can forgive you."

Claude's hesitation was palpable as he moved towards Ciel, resting a hand on the young human's shoulder and leaning down to murmur, "You don't have to deal with this right now."

Ciel nodded once, then raised his voice to be heard by Sebastian, "When I'm ready to talk about this, I'll call you, Sebastian. Right now, I'd like to get some rest."

"But my lord—"

"This an order," Ciel forced those three words from his lips, "Get out of my sight until I tell you otherwise." He didn't turn around then, but instead paid close attention to the atmosphere of the balcony; several moments passed before the tension disappeared and he felt Claude's arms wrapping around him from behind. He leaned against the spider-butler, his voice quiet, "I'm so confused, Claude…"

The other sighed as he replied, keeping his voice calm, "I know you are." For a moment, it was quiet again, and then the demon asked, "Is there anything I can do to make you feel better, my lord?"

Ciel turned to face his butler, so that he was looking up at him, voice breaking, "I can't feel anything, Claude. It's like he's ripped part of my heart out and put it on ice so that I can't process my emotions anymore." He shook his head fitfully, not knowing how else to explain it as he practically begged, "Make me feel something again, Claude..."

((My apologizes to the Sebaciel shippers who's hearts have just been broken. Check out some of my other Fics guys, I promise I don't rip their hearts to pieces all the time xD Anyways! There'll be an alternate version to this story eventually, but for now I'm gonna work the Claude n' Ciel angle... *shrugs*))