Disclaimer: Characters belong to Yana Toboso.

A/N: Another big thank you to you guys and all of your great ideas and well-wishes! I will say that this might be the last chapter for about a week or so. I get married on the 2nd of August and then I'm on my honeymoon until about the 6th, but I'll definitely have this story ( and a few others) on my mind so I can come back with a great chapter as soon as I get home!

Flesh

Three

"Is that all you're eating?" Angelina pried, wide hips leaning casually on the kitchen counter as she nursed a steaming cup of coffee. Ciel didn't answer her, pretending to be too busy munching on his rice cake as he pulled a bottle of water out of the state-of-the-art refrigerator. "Ciel, come on, sit down. I made all this food for you-"

"Can't. Running late." He had absolutely nothing to say to her, even those three words were far too many in his honest opinion.

Angelina had, at one time, been his favorite aunt. She would always dote on him, bring him sweet things and an overabundance of loud, obnoxious toys, and on the weekends, he would sleep over at her house and climb into her overstuffed queen bed with her and watch his favorite movies. Now, however, he could think of no more than one word to describe her: saboteur.

It was his sophomore year in high school when he had noticed that Angelina came around much more often, and that it was always around the time his mother was away working or out with the few friends she had. Every visit went the same, she would sit at the dining room table with Ciel and his father, Vincent, making small talk and giggling away at his father's lame jokes. Vincent would pour her a glass of red wine and himself a tumbler of scotch, and would give Ciel a bottle of water before telling him to go to his room or to run an errand, that he and Angelina had to talk about his mother. It never clicked right away that something was amiss, he never had any reason to suspect anything. Angelina was his aunt, his dad loved his mum, and everything was as it should have been. Until, one day, Rachel had come home early.

Ciel had only just heard the outraged screams of his mother over his headphones, and he had nearly flipped over his desk as he shot up from his seat and ran out of his room, fearing that someone had been hurt. When he opened the door, the sight that met him was almost enough to stop his heart.

Rachel, calm, sweet Rachel, had Angelina by her crimson hair, seemingly dragging her out of their bedroom, her little hand balled into a tight fist that she repeatedly brought down harshly on every inch of Angelina she could reach, as his aunt held nothing but a thin bedsheet to her naked body. Vincent had stormed passed, stripped down to his boxers, and attempted to restrain his fuming wife, who had turned in his grip and turned her attack on him. She pounded on his bare chest in a fury, but Ciel could clearly see the desperate tears streaming down her rounded, ruddy cheeks.

"Why?! Tell me why!?" she had cried, her breath coming out in heavy gasps. It was then that Ciel decided to intervene, pulling his hysterical mother away from the pair. "She's my sister!" She screamed, her body finally giving out as she slumped in her son's arms. Ciel didn't know what to think as he faced Vincent and Angelina. Vincent had the decency to look away, his face dark with an unknown emotion, while Angelina sobbed quietly with a delicate hand covering her mouth. Ciel couldn't remember the last time he had seen his mother so upset, and he imagined that his aunt couldn't either. She was a mess, cheeks wet, blue eyes bloodshot, strawberry blonde curls falling from her ponytail and over her face.

"Rachel, I'm so sorry-"

"Fuck you! You're my sister, how could you do this to me?!" Angelina had tried to reach for her, to console her older sister, but Rachel was having none of it, and if Ciel hadn't had a tight grip on her, she probably would have gone on the attack once again. He turned with desperate eyes to his father, unsure of how to handle the situation.

"What the hell are you doing, just standing there?! Do something!" He shouted to Vincent, who seemed to snap out of whatever trance he had been in. Much too calmly than Ciel would have liked, Vincent turned to Angelina.

"Red, you should go. Rachel and I need to talk." he said quietly, placing a gentle hand on his lover's shoulder and guiding her back into the room to pick up her gathered clothing. She wasted no time dressing, haphazardly throwing on her shirt and jeans and carrying her underclothes in her hand before taking off out the door. Vincent took hold of Rachel next, and, with unnecessary force, pulled her into the bedroom and slammed the door behind them.

He didn't know what had compelled him to do so, but Ciel had sat with his back against the closed door of his bedroom, listening intently to the argument that raged just feet away. Superficial words like 'fat', 'lazy', 'too old' were heard in his father's deep baritone, and that was really all Ciel needed to hear. His mother was no longer good enough, the pounds she had put on with work and motherhood and drinks with friends and too-decadent dinners (that his father cooked, no less!) were no longer acceptable. Rachel's typical lilting soprano was screeching in response, but the words were nearly indistinguishable. He could make out the word 'sister', but would that have made it any better, him picking up and laying a co-worker or a tramp he had met at a bar? He supposed not.

After an hour of awful screaming, sharp words, and hateful remarks, Ciel had heard enough. He had crawled into bed and put his headphones back in and turned the music on high. His mind was going a mile a minute, and he tried to quell the rising panic that clawed at his chest. His parents' marriage was ending, that much was obvious, but everything had just transpired also confirmed his greatest fear: fat simply wasn't good enough.

He had been shipped off to live with Lizzy's family a month later, while his parents were too busy dragging each other through the courts to care for him, and he supposed that,in a way, he had Angelina to thank in part for all that had happened since, but he simply couldn't bring himself to forgive her for being the home wrecker, for being the one who had split up his parents, and he never once let her forget it.

"Ciel, sit down and eat!" Angelina commanded, her voice stern. Slamming the refrigerator shut, the boy turned to her and pinned her with a fierce glare.

"I said no!"

"You need to eat something!"

"And you need to back off!" he shouted. His blood boiled in his veins. Who in the hell did she think she was, talking to him like a child! "I said I'm running late, so piss off!" He turned and stormed out of the kitchen, throwing the remainder of his rice cake in the trash. Angelina brought out the worst in Ciel, often making him so angry that he could barely see straight, let alone eat.

Angelina followed him from the kitchen to the foyer, a frown marring her elegant features.

"I'll be talking to your father about this."

"Tell someone who gives a shit." Ciel sneered as he pulled on his running shoes and heaved his large backpack onto his back. He stepped into the chilly September air and slammed the door shut behind him before he took off down the sidewalk on his morning run. He hated running when he was upset. The stress always irritated his asthma, making it difficult to breath as it was, and, in his anger, he always found it hard to concentrate on his breathing. He tried to time his breathing with the rhythm of his hard steps, but he kept loosing count as the events of the morning played over and over again. He could feel his lungs working overtime, trying hard to keep up with his harsh workout. Don't stop. Just a little bit more. The mantra repeated in his head, and his pushed his body further. He couldn't stop now, he had made a promise to himself and he intended to keep it.

Alois had been one of the first to arrive to class that morning, a first for him. Typically, he found it hard to break away from Claude's warm embrace, and, apparently, his boyfriend felt the same

way, usually pulling him back in for a quick romp beneath the sheets before finally letting him go to get ready for class.

But this morning, the blond was on a mission. Ciel had been one of the first he had any interest what-so-ever in befriending since he had arrived on campus. Something about him, in all his perfection, had drawn Alois in, and he was not the type to let something he wanted get away. He wanted to know more about Ciel, especially after what had happened the day before. What had it been like, living life the way he had, how did he make it through? How had he lost all that weight? Alois wanted to know it all, and he wasn't going to let Sebastian ruin that chance for him.

So he sat quietly as he waited, hoping that Ciel would show up, as he bid his time on his laptop. He hadn't realized just how early he had arrived, nearly a whole twenty-five minutes, and there was precious little he could think of to whittle away the minutes until Ciel arrived.

If asked, he couldn't say what had made him think of the site he had caught Ciel surfing yesterday, but his interest had piqued. He hadn't missed the way Claude's eyes watched Ciel's body as he stormed away, seemingly locked on the other boys fit behind. Alois had never had issues with his body, always loving the round perkiness of his ass and the creamy skin of his luscious thighs, but it was hard to miss the pure appreciation in those golden orbs when Ciel had been around. Maybe if he did whatever Ciel had been doing, Claude would look at him that way too. With that new-found determination in mind, the blond clicked on the link. Instantly photos of tiny girls with stick thin legs loaded on the screen, as well as photos of people who were built, well, like him

Fat, he saw the words in big, bold type as he read the hatred they felt for their bodies. Is that what he was? Did Claude see him his fat? He peeked down at his own legs, clad in short jean shorts. His skin was flawless, but had his thighs always seemed...amorphous? Had they always pooled between his legs when he sat down? He glanced again to his computer screen, to a picture of a girl's legs, long, tan, and thin, stretched out in the sand on a bright, sunny beach. Thinsperation. Beautiful. Those words were typed beneath the photo, and Alois had felt inclined to believe it. Upon further inspection of his own limbs, his skin did look a bit mottled, faint blue veins running along his thighs. Is that what Claude saw every day when he looked at him? Large, gelatinous puddles of flush, teeming with lines like a road map? And if his thighs were that bad, what did the rest of his body look like? Disgusting!

"Are you on there, too?" A voice snapped Alois out of his hateful reverie, and he snapped his head around to face Ciel. The other boy's face was flushed, miniscule beads of sweat clinging to his delicate brow. His bluish-gray hair was sticking to his forehead, and his chest rose and fell with labored breaths. Alois could see why Sebastian (and Claude, evidently) was so enamored by him. Ciel's shirt was cropped short, with a wide neckline, exposing his collarbones and the milky skin of his flat stomach. His legs were tiny, just like the girls on Flesh, wrapped in skintight black jeans that rose low on his hips, exposing pronounced hipbones. As he sat down, Alois noticed that his thighs only just barely touched one another. Ciel's body was perfect, almost reminiscent of the models that graced the runways. "Helloo! Are you okay?" Ciel asked, waving his hand in front of the blond's face.

"Hm? Sorry, what?" Alois asked, snapping out of his mental appraisal of the other's features. Ciel pointed to the computer screen where Beach Girl was still posing her perfect legs for everyone to see.

"That blog, Flesh. Do yo have one?" The blond shook his head.

"No, I just saw you looking at it yesterday, just thought I'd check it out..."

"Oh, cool. You should make one. Everyone's so helpful on there." Ciel commented, taking out his own computer and logging on. He then took out a notebook and tore out a sheet, quickly writing a series of numbers on his surface. "Here's my number. Text me sometime and I'll help you set one up."

Alois had the distinct feeling that the other boy had misunderstood, but he brushed it off. The whole idea of perfect, skinny, beautiful was beginning to make him uncomfortable, and he wanted to put the topic of Flesh and skin and fat to rest for now.

"So, hey, I wanted to say sorry about yesterday. Had I known-" Ciel put a hand up to stop him.

"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault. Besides, it's in the past."

"Well, I'd still like to talk, and, you know, hang out or whatever."

Ciel regarded him critically for a moment. He wasn't stupid, texting Alois was one thing, but actually hanging out, spending time with him would mean spending time around Claude, which undoubtedly meant that Sebastian would be hanging around as well. Is that really going to stop you from making friends?, the tiny voice in his mind chided. You swore you wouldn't let him control you anymore...

"Yeah, I think I'd like that." the boy blurted out. He didn't really need to think about it, he liked Alois, he wanted to make friends, Sebastian shouldn't even be a factor. Alois' eyes brightened and a smile split his features before he started rambling off like he did the day before. So the mouth would take a lot to get used to, but he's tolerated worse.

"So, Sebastian was, like, hounding me all night about you, saying all this shit about how bad he felt and shit, and I'm just like, hello! Why is he even talking to me about that, he should just be a man and come to you, and-"

"Wait, Sebastian was asking about me?"

"Yeah, I'm supposed to talk to you about him." Alois trailed off, gauging Ciel's reaction at the mention of his friend. If he were in the other boy's shoes, the last thing he would want to talk about would be Sebastian, but then again, he was a vindictive person by nature. "He feels really bad about what he did, and-"

"Are you freaking kidding me." Ciel mumbled, his eyes not focused on Alois' face, but rather on the classroom door. The blond turned in his seat to see what had captured the other boy's attention, and his anger piqued as he saw Sebastian, of all people, creeping into the class as quietly as he could as not to alert the teacher of his presence.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Alois hissed as Sebastian took the seat on the other side of Ciel.

"Will you shut up? I'm just here to talk to Ciel." the older boy replied.

"Yeah, well, I don't want to talk to you. What are you even doing here, you're not even in this class."

"Well, I didn't know where else to find you, and Alois said you guys have this class together so I just came here."

"Alois, what the hell!" Ciel shot the blond a scathing look, and Alois raised his hands in defense.

"Hey, I never told him to come here." he then shot Sebastian a venomous glare. "I told you I would talk to him-"

"You know what? I don't have time for this." Ciel sneered quietly before he quickly packed up his things and rising from his seat. He could feel his skin prickle in his anger, and he ignored the stares of the other students and the questions of the professor as he quickly made his way to the door. He faintly heard Sebastian get up behind him, and, as much as he hated to admit it, he loved the idea of the older boy trailing after him, but even that didn't quell the anger clawing at his gut. Where did that creep get off, showing up in his classes like some crazed stalker?

"Hey! Ciel, wait!" Sebastian called after him, but the younger boy kept walking. Determined, the older male stormed after him, quickly catching up before grabbing his wrist and turning the smaller body around to face him. Sebastian couldn't ignore how much smaller Ciel's wrist felt in his hand as his long fingers wrapped tight around it. He could practically feel Ciel's blood rushing through his veins.

"What!?" the smaller boy shouted, his cheeks red with frustration, big blue eyes shining with unshed tears. "What do you want from me now, Sebastian?"

"I just want to talk to you!" Sebastian tried to lower his voice, but the situation was too tense, too delicate for him to even begin to try comprehend. He should have just let Alois do all the talking like he had originally planned, but all night he had been haunted by the thought of Ciel, of those eyes, of those lips and hips and how badly he wanted to be near him again. For eight years he had been able to push away the memory of that heat, of that nervous, shuttering breath ghosting over his lips, but seeing the boy in person once more just did something to him, drew him in and refused to let him go. "Listen, I'm sorry okay?! I don't know what you want me to say, or what I should do, but I need you to know that I'm sorry. Not a day goes by that I don't regret what I did to you."

There was no stopping them, the tears fell freely over Ciel's rounded cheeks, and he hated himself for it. This wasn't supposed to happen, he was supposed to stay strong, he wasn't supposed to let Sebastian do this to him again.

"You're sorry? You humiliated me, Sebastian. Something died in me that day, and all you can say is that you're sorry?" Ciel's voice was quiet, but quivering with rage and sadness.

"What else do you want me say? Ciel, I-"

"You know what, save it, Sebastian. You're too late." Ciel stated quietly, pulling his wrist from Sebastian's almost bruising grip. He turned and tried to walk away, but he only made it two steps before he faltered. His head began pounding furiously. His vision swam before white spots appeared before his eyes, and his body felt a sense of vertigo, as though the world was slipping from under his feet. His body suddenly felt cold and weak, and the only thing louder than the sound of his racing heart was the intense ringing in his ears. Dammit, don't do this now, he thought desperately as he stumbled, his shoulder slamming into the wall next to him as he knees started to feel weak.

"Ciel! Ciel, what's wrong?" Sebastian's voice sounded far away, but the strong arms that were wrapping around his waist, hoisting him upright, told him that the older male was in fact close, so close. Sebastian's scent, something rich and dark like fine chocolate, permeated his senses, and he nuzzled closer to the warmth of his strong firm chest. "Ciel, are you okay?" The deep rumble of Sebastian's voice was enough to slowly bring the younger boy back to his senses, and the world around him slowly started to shift back into place. His body was rebelling, the fatigue of a near sleepless night and running on next to nothing was finally catching up to him, punishing him by driving him into the arms of the one person he wanted to be far away from. Ciel weakly pushed away as he tried to gather his bearings, and his brain slowly began to organize his thoughts. He was supposed to be pissed at this man, not cuddling up to him, and he was furious at himself for getting so close.

"I'm fine." Ciel spat, turning and trying to leave once more, but Sebastian grabbed his arm once again.

"You're not fucking fine! What the hell was that, you practically passed out just now! We need to get you to the infirmary."

"What I need is for everyone to just mind their own damn business! I said I'm fine!" Ciel hadn't meant to shout, but he had had enough. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. He was supposed to be beating guys off with a stick, he was supposed to be feeling confident and sexy and like he was king of the campus, not getting dizzy in hallways and cuddling up to his worst nightmare and certainly not fending off Sebastian's concern. He couldn't bring himself to face those terracotta eyes, knowing they would be filled with questions that Ciel didn't have the strength to answer.

Sebastian swallowed hard the lump that was forming in his throat. There was something Ciel wasn't telling him, something he desperately needed to know, but knew he did not yet have the right to ask.

"Ciel, please, just listen to me. I'm sorry. I want to make it up to you. I want to make the past eight years up to you, all I need is for you to give me a chance." He was asking for a lot, he knew, but he knew that he could do this. He could make Ciel happy, like he had for those brief few days so long ago.

"You can't do that, Sebastian." the younger boy argued, his voice eerily calm. "You can't just push your way back into my life like this. Do you have any idea what that did to me? What you did to me? How can I even trust you."

"I don't know, alright?" Sebastian sighed, exasperated. "I don't know, but I'm not going to stop until I show you that I'm not that person anymore. I'm not the stupid fucking kid I was back then. Please, just give me a chance." Ciel shook his head, fully intending to brush off Sebastian's plea, before the older man called out after him. "I know you felt something that day, Ciel!"

The younger boy stopped in his tracks. The words seemed to slap him in the face. His throat constricted, his heart raced, his lungs felt tight as he struggled to control his breathing. This was too much, he couldn't bear to hear another word.

"Stop." He quietly commanded.

"No, you felt something-"

"Stop..."

"And so did I"

"Shut up!" Ciel snapped, head snapping to face the raven-haired male. "That's enough! Who in the hell do you think you are, huh? You really think you can come here and wax romantic with your fucking apologies and sweet talk? You felt something? Seriously?!" Ciel stormed closer to Sebastian, his thin arms coming up to shove at that solid (perfect, delicious, coveted) chest. "Well whatever the hell you felt obviously wasn't enough to keep you from throwing me away like I was fucking trash, Sebastian!"

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?! I was wrong, I was an asshole, but I know what I felt! I know what I felt, and I want to feel it again, with you..."Sebastian's voice trailed off as he pulled Ciel close, and, much to his surprise, the younger boy let him. Ciel couldn't help himself, that decadent scent pulled him in, and he was too exhausted, physically and emotionally, to fight it. "Please, Ciel. Just give me the chance to show you I've changed. Let me be the person you thought I was that day, that held you close. Please..."

Sebastian knew that he was begging, but being here, having Ciel in his arms, brought back that same intoxicating feeling of possession. This was right, this was where he belonged, hold and comforting his Ciel.

However, all too soon, the smaller boy pushed away, slowly steadying his body and standing up straight.

"Just piss off..." Ciel replied, his voice almost silent and he forced himself away from the warmth of Sebastian's body. He hated himself for the sense of loss he felt, but he tried his hardest to shake it off. He didn't need this, he didn't need Sebastian.

"At least let me take you to the infirmary!" He heard the older man call out, but he merely tossed up his hand, middle finger held high as he walked away. He didn't need help. Not from Sebastian or anyone else.

A/N: I'm gonna stop it here. It just feels like a good place to stop. I have a better idea of the things I want to happen, and I'll try my hardest to have one more chapter posted before I go!

Ps. The part with Alois is important, so go back and re-read it if you skipped it!