Urgh! I'm still alive. Barely hanging on since my teachers seen to want to kill me... But I've been feeling bad about my lack of updates and felt I should create a second [and maybe third] chapter to this since it was requested. Sorry if you readers feel like I've been ignoring you! Please enjoy.

Now, Finny wasn't a nosy person by nature. Sure, he was excitable, maybe a little extreme sometimes, definitely clumsy, but never nosy. However, he was curious. Curiosity wasn't a bad thing, certainly nothing like nosiness. Well, that was what he thought anyway. On that particular day, when his young master had stormed past him down the corridors to his bedroom, the slam echoing to his ears even at such a distance, well, he couldn't help but be curious. Of course, he was never going to directly disobey his young master, but if he so happened to be passing by...

Stood in front of the large double doors made Finny doubt his plans, the wood seemed taller and darker than normal, more intimidating. Without noticing, the gardener had begun to shake slightly, the subconscious fear of his younger instilled in his mind. The blonde was about to turn and leave, when a soft whimper caught his attention. With wide eyes, he crept closer to the doorway, trying to peak through the slight gap between the doors. All he saw was a brief glimpse of something blue and rippling before the sound of shuffling and light footsteps caught his attention. He barely noticed the loud click noise as he raced from the door and around the corner. He waited a few minutes, to make sure the young Earl wouldn't check the corridors, before sneaking cautiously back to his spot.

Shifting into a comfortable position, the gardener rested in front of the double doors, eye aligning with the slim gap between the wood. Trying to keep his breathing under control, he focused on searching for his young master in the large bedroom. Unfortunately, he could not spot him. Since the Earl wasn't currently in sight, the blonde took the chance to look around the younger male's bedroom, even though he knew he shouldn't. The first thing he noticed was the massive bed against the wall, between the window and the door. How could he not? The thing was huge! Then he noticed the box resting on top of the silken sheets. Large but flat, the lid resting beside it and tissue paper contents spilling out haphazardly. For a moment Finny wondered what could have been in that box, but then he remembered the dark blue fabric from earlier. It was most likely a new suit, possibly a gift from Miss Elizabeth.

Next he noticed something glinting on the floor, closer inspection revealing it to be a small golden padlock. Not real gold, although the gardener wouldn't put it past him. A small cream coloured case was residing, wide open, on the dresser above the lock. Small bottles and tubs were sticking out, and a palette of what Finny, at first, thought were paints. He was so engrossed in looking around the room that the sudden 'click' from the bathroom made him jump. The noise reminded him of when something small and solid was dropped onto tile. Turning his attention towards the en suite, he noticed the light shadows against the back wall, implying someone was moving about in that room.

As the shadows drew closer to the bathroom doorway, Finny tucked himself back behind the door, to avoid being spotted. Calming his breathing, he peeked back around the wood. Everything in the room was exactly the same... except for the small figure standing in front of the Earl's mirror. It was a young girl, maybe twelve years old, dressed in royal blue satin with silvery blue ringlettes trickling over her shoulders. He couldn't see her face, but the young gardener felt entranced. Far too distracted to put two and two together, realize that the Earl was not there and a young blunette was...

Hardly blinking, Finny watched the girl giggle and spin in front of the mirror, seeing the layered skirts flair beneath the breeze and the curled strands bouncing over her skin. Her eyes were closed lightly as she spun, and Finny imagined what colour rested beneath them. Blue, he concluded, a magnificent and heart-stopping blue. He barely realized his own smile had been growing, when she stopped spinning and slumped, facing the mirror and tracing her image with a gloved finger. The sadness poured off of her in waves, and Finny felt himself getting teary at the sudden melancholic aura of the room. He wanted to reach out to her, tell her everything would be okay. So desperate was he, that he forgot his current position. Leaning further against the door, he was unprepared as it swung open, slamming against the wall with an echoing 'crack' and sending the poor boy tumbling to the ground.

The sudden bang startled the Earl, causing him to jump and turn to face the intruder. The skirts flowed at his ankles as he spun, his carefully pinned extensions falling from their place, fortunately, to cover up the contract eye enough that the symbol would not be visible. He expected to see many things; another assassination attempt, a surprise visit from Lizzie, maybe even Pluto managing to get into the house again. What he did not expect however, was a blushing, blonde gardener lying face down in the carpet. Darting back towards his bed, the Earl picked up his eye-patch and tied it around his head before calming himself and marching towards the other male, his mask back in place.

Many thoughts and emotions crossed Finny's mind in that moment he decided to look up. Confusion, Embarrassment, Fear, Affection, Pain and most importantly, "I should not have looked up."

However, when the gardener felt piercing eyes glaring at the back of his head, and the carpet began to feel uncomfortable against his face, the boy looked up. Staring down at him was the girl from across the room, who in fact was not a girl, but rather the young Earl Ciel Phantomhive. For a moment, he was stuck on deciding on whether his blush was from embarrassment or... something else.

"Um..." There were no words the blonde could say to fix this situation, and even if he could think of some, his mouth was paralyzed He couldn't help but let his eyes roll across the Earl's slim and fitted figure, the delicate material that rested over the smooth skin. It would appear as if the younger had noticed the roaming eyes, if the light blush breaking through his mask was anything to go by.

"You look nice." The words had escaped from the gardeners mouth before he thought. And he almost immediately regretted it. In a second, those three words had broken Ciel's cover and the shock was clearly visible. A range of emotions flew through his eyes before they started to water.

"You look nice."

If the Earl was expecting anything from the blonde on the floor, it would not have been that. But what did he mean by that anyway? Was he mocking him? or nervous? Was it the first thing he thought of or was he not really thinking? Maybe he really did think that he looked nice like that... or maybe it was a cruel joke...

Of course, that was it. The gardener was obviously disgusted by him but knew he couldn't say anything direct or he would be thrown out. Ciel could feel the hot tears falling down his cheeks and the choking sobs that burned his throat but he didn't care. The sudden fingers against his face startled him, and he opened his eyes into an equally emotional emerald pair.

"Please don't cry young master." Ciel hadn't even noticed the other had moved. "I'm sorry for intruding." His gentle fingers caressed the skin and wiping away the clear liquid. "I'll just go..."

Seeing his young master so vulnerable stirred something within him, and Finny felt the sudden need to hold the Earl to his chest and tell him everything would be okay. The tears that streaked down his face made his own eyes water and for the first time in a while, the gardener saw Ciel as the child he really was. The gasping caused pain in his chest and before he was aware of it, he had stood in front of the Earl and was staring into his closed eyelids. His hand reached up and softly stroked away the tears that fell.

"Please don't cry young master. I'm sorry for intruding." Damn his curiosity! If he had just left well alone like he was supposed to, he wouldn't be in this situation and his young master wouldn't be crying.

"I'll just go..."

Finny's hand dropped heavily to his side and he turned, head down, back towards the doorway he had fallen through. Before he could move away, he felt a soft yet confident grip on his sleeve. Looking back, he noticed Ciel had grabbed him with one of his gloved hands. He had never noticed how small they were...

"You are not to tell anyone of this."

It would've sounded exactly like the Earl's usual emotionless tone, were it not for the softness underlying the words and the subtle cracks between syllables. Finny went to nod, before a sudden idea stuck him. It was stupid, immature and could possibly get him fired, but he knew he would never get another chance like this.

"I won't tell anyone... if you let me join in."

WOO! Finished the second chapter. Review and I shall make a third! Bet you're all wondering what Finny would look like as a girl.

PS- There is currently a poll running on my profile page. If you could input your opinion, that would be fab.