*Ciel's POV*
When Ciel Phantomhive woke up that morning, something was horribly wrong. It wasn't that he'd slept poorly, or that he'd woken in a bad mood, or even that he was late for something. No, for once something was very seriously wrong, and it took him a moment to figure out what it was:
He was in the Phantomhive Manor, which had been reconstructed during his stay at the motel a couple months prior. The reconstruction was nearly a replica, but that wasn't the issue: the issue was that he shouldn't have been there at all.
Sitting up straight in his bed, Ciel looked around wildly, trying to piece everything together. He looked over himself, seeing that he was in his sleep-wear; he didn't remember changing the night before, though, not after what had happened with Claude…
Where's Claude!?
The thought struck the Earl suddenly and he was instantly on his feet, tossing the clothes away as he got dressed as quickly as possible. He'd only just finished getting dressed when the door opened to reveal Sebastian. Instantly, the child turned on him, his voice a growl, "Where is Claude?"
"Who are you talking about, my lord?" Sebastian asked, his voice eerily innocent, "You must've had a bad dream. Come now, I've got tea ready in the kitchen for you."
Confused, Ciel shook his head, "No, it wasn't a dream. Where is he, Sebastian? What have you done?" His voice was full of accusation, if not anger, as he tried to piece together what on Earth had happened. There was no way the past few months of his life had been all a dream; it simply wasn't possible!
When his butler didn't respond to his question, Ciel stormed out of room, pushing Sebastian aside. He hurried down the stairs to see the other servants, minus Tanaka, standing in the kitchen. "Good morning, young master!" both Finny and Mei-Rin cheered; Bard was busy blowing smoke rings and looking bored.
"No, it really isn't," Ciel spat at them despite their innocence. They'd likely been lied to about this little charade. He threw open the desk drawer next to the phone and found his phone-book, searching quickly under 'Claude' and then under 'Faustus'. There wasn't a number anywhere to be found, so he threw the book to the side and growled, "Damn it!"
"What are you looking for, master?" Finny asked worriedly, moving to pick up the small book, "Can we help?" He put the item on the table as he watched Ciel flutter around the room.
Finally, the young master turned to face his servants again as he muttered, "Forget it. It doesn't matter. Go…somewhere else, would you?" With that, the servants rushed out of the Manor, probably to talk in the garden about whatever conspiracy they'd formed about his behavior.
Under his breath, Ciel hissed, "Claude, where are you?"
A knock hit the door, but Sebastian was there to answer it before the Earl could. There, on the other side of the door-frame, was a very angry Claude Faustus. The demon's eyes were blazing and his fangs were in full-view as he shoved Sebastian back with enough force that the other demon's back struck the wall across the room. Then Claude stepped inside, voice dangerous, "What the Hell have you done with my mate?" Ciel was conveniently up the staircase, having been looking for another way to contact Claude. This placed him so that the spider couldn't see him from the doorway.
"Your mate?" Sebastian scoffed as the air returned to his lungs, "You must be joking. Surely you don't actually care about the boy; he's human, for Hell's sake." There was disgust in the demon's voice as he argued with Claude, as though the whole notion of a human and a demon mating sickened him. Truthfully, Ciel was fairly certain that it was jealously that caused these words; Sebastian wasn't as good an actor as he thought he was.
Claude flashed forward and grabbed the other demon by his shirt, lifting up him and shoving him against the wall as he hissed, "Listen here and listen good, you sorry son of a bitch. I want my mate back now, or I swear, I will rip your heart from your chest and feed it to the spiders of my Manor." He dropped the other, briefly, only to wrap his hand around Sebastian's throat constrictingly, "Do you understand me, Michaelis?"
Sebastian's voice was a rasp, choking on his words as the other demon's hand tightened around his windpipe, "If you think I'm going to let you have his soul, you're bloody insane."
"I don't want his soul, you bleeding idiot," Claude growled, "I want my mate back. You screwed up, so just leave him the Hell alone!" He shoved the other back against the wall, ready to say more before Ciel Phantomhive's voice echoed from the staircase:
"Enough!" The Earl stalked down the stairs quickly, then grabbed his lover's wrist and added, "Let him go." Seeing the disbelief, the absolute pain, in Claude's eyes, Ciel softly reassured him, "It's okay, Claude. I'm going home with you, but you have to let go first." He trailed his hand away from the others wrist, to his cheek, as a smile formed on the Earl's lips, "Lets go home, Claude."
Claude shot one last glare at Sebastian before releasing him, stepping back and wrapping his arms defensively around his mate. His voice was low as he spoke, "I don't know where we stand right now, but I won't let him take this option away from you." He shook his head as they left the Phantomhive Manor, walking home.
"I'm sorry, my lord, for what I said last night," Claude broke the silence, hesitation clear in his voice, "I… I shouldn't have—"
Ciel turned to face the butler, placing a finger against his lips to silence him. "Don't," the Earl told him gently before stepping closer to Claude and wrapping his arms around him in a tight embrace. All was quiet for a few moments, neither of them willing to pull away from the hug. At last, Ciel's voice broke this moment of silence, "I love you too. Don't ever apologize for that."