When class was dismissed, Ciel packed his books and joined the line of students making their way out of the room. He was proud of himself. Not only had he aced his assignments for the week and refrained from badgering his father about what he did on the weekends, but he had refrained from talking to Sebastian for over a week now. Thinking about Sebastian had led to a couple of inappropriate instances in the dark privacy of his bedroom but that wasn't hurting anyone. He was feeling good as he stepped out into the crisp Fall air.

He tilted his head back for the breeze to ruffle his hair. It was almost a shame to be going home and spend such a lovely day indoors. He was thinking of asking father if they could take the boat out that weekend when something caught his attention from the corner of his eye, and caused him to take a few steps backward. The looming figure was still there. It was not, as he hoped, a figment of his imagination.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he hissed.

Sebastian reached into his jacket. "I came to see you."

He was leaning against one of the pillars that supported the breezeway leading from the school but he was still in much too plain of sight. Ciel whacked him in the chest with a textbook. "Are you out of your mind? My father is coming to pick me up, don't you think this looks a little suspicious?"

"I thought I was blending in," Sebastian said, raising his arms to fend off the hardcover assault on his body.

"You're a million feet tall and perpetually dressed for a funeral, no you don't blend in!"

Sebastian lowered his arms when he saw Ciel grow tired of beating him. When he did, Ciel saw what he had taken out of his jacket. "What's that for?"

"I didn't come all the way here just so you could smell it. Here, it's for you," Sebastian said, holding out the single white rose.

Ciel looked around before he took it. A couple of people glanced at him as they walked by but no one that mattered. He rolled the thorn-less stem between his fingers, watching the white petals spin. It was real but it was the most pristine rose he'd ever seen. He looked back up at Sebastian, who smiled back. Damn it. Just like that, Ciel's resolve blew away like a pile of leaves, carried off by one cute smile.

"It's lovely."

"You're lovely."

Sebastian had started to lean down but Ciel put a finger to his chest and pushed him back against his pillar. "No kissing me in public, Romeo."

"But you want me to."

Ciel averted his eyes. "Maybe."

"Oh, undoubtedly."

Ciel laughed and shook his head. "You're insufferable, you do know that, right?"

"You seem to suffer me just fine."

He surrendered the verbal battle with another shake of his head. According to his watch, he had fifteen minutes before Vincent would arrive. He looked at the double doors of the school and entertained a brief fantasy of what Sebastian could do to him on one of the desks that would be empty by now. The daydream would be all too easy to make a reality, one that would get him into every brand of trouble, so he didn't think about it for long. Sebastian had radar for these kinds of thoughts and he was sure that some teacher and student roleplay was right up his alley.

"I should be going, you'll never get out of here if Alois shows up."

Sebastian kissed him before he could protest. "I will be seeing you very soon."

Ciel watched him walk across the grounds. He didn't know what that meant but it was exciting. As much as he tried to deny it to himself, he got a thrill out of seeing Sebastian in secret. He felt more wrong than ever now that he knew there was something going on that concerned his father that Sebastian seemed to be at the center of, but he couldn't bring himself to end things between them when they were just getting good.

The Maserati was pulling up when he joined Alois at the sidewalk. He called shotgun before his friend could open his mouth, and smirked at Alois' pouting as he slid into the passenger's seat. His father reached over and mussed his hair. "No snacks when you get home if you want any of the cake we're having after dinner."

"Deal."

When he got upstairs he took the rose out of his jacket and laid it on his nightstand. There were enough different types of flowers growing around campus that he could tell his parents he'd picked it for himself if they asked about it. He took his phone out of his pocket. Sebastian had come to the school to see him, which was risky but Ciel also kind of appreciated it. He opened his last conversation with S and tapped the icon to compose a message.

Hi.

A couple minutes later, his phone pinged with a message.

S: Hello, there.

Ciel started a response and erased it several times. The third time he did this, a new message popped up on the screen.

S: Are you writing me an essay, love?

Oh great, Sebastian could see that he was typing. He opted for the truth and hoped it didn't sound as bad as it did in his head.

It was good to see you.

S: Likewise. I never get tired of that uniform.

Ciel sighed. He knew he'd hit the nail on the head with the student and teacher kink. He laid his phone on the bed. Now that Sebastian had mentioned it, he remembered he was still in his school uniform. He changed and sat on the bed. His phone laid where he left it, with the open conversation staring back at him. He wasn't sure what to say. I can't think about you without becoming aroused? I miss you? Nothing he could think of was something Sebastian needed to know.

He finally typed, What are you doing tonight?

His phone almost immediately pinged. S: Are you an option?

Negative.

S: Very well. Come downstairs and find out, then.

Ciel dropped his phone and did just that. Sure enough, Mey-Rin was letting him inside and taking his coat. They looked at each other and Sebastian kept his face composed except his eyes, which looked to be undressing Ciel piece by piece. Ciel jumped when he heard his father's voice as if he was actually standing there naked. He clapped Sebastian on the back and guided him over to the living area, gesturing for Ciel to come join them. Ciel looked between them in confusion as Vincent dropped himself into an armchair.

Sebastian draped himself over the couch, smirking at Ciel's hesitation. "I'd be happy for you to sit here." He inclined his head toward the couch but he trailed his fingers from his belt buckle down the seam of his jeans. Ciel sat as far on the other end as possible.

"Father, you should have told me we were expecting guests, I wouldn't be dressed this casually."

Vincent waved him off. "This isn't business, just a gathering of friends. Sebastian doesn't have any family he actually likes here so I told him we would celebrate his birthday with him."

"His birthday?"

Ciel turned an accusing look on Sebastian, who blinked back as if he had no idea why Ciel would have wanted to know this. He glared the taller man down but Sebastian just smiled and said, "Yes, I am indeed another year older today."

"Happy birthday," Ciel said, surprised when acid didn't drip from his mouth and burn a hole in the sofa.

Sebastian leveled him with a smirk than said far more than his words. "Why thank you."

There was a knock at the door that Sebastian went to answer, but Mey-Rin tripped over herself to beat him to it. He resumed his position on the couch with a look of amusement. Ciel looked over and his gaze immediately hardened as it fell on Grelle. Sebastian seemed incapable of doing anything without his scantily dressed hip extension. He must have noticed Ciel's expression, for his own morphed from confusion to delight in all of five seconds. Ciel wanted to tell Sebastian that he wasn't jealous because he knew the bastard was thinking it, but that would leave him with a lot of explaining to do to everyone else in the room.

"Vincey!" Grelle shrieked, running over and hugging him when he stood up.

"Vincey?" Ciel said, raising an eyebrow at Sebastian.

Rachel swooped in like a bird of prey. She wore a bright smile, but her hands were talons as she peeled Grelle off her husband. "Grelle, aren't you looking...feminine."

Oblivious to the warning look in Rachel's eyes, Grelle took her removal from Vincent as Rachel wanting a hug, too. She threw her arms around Ciel's mother with a happy squeal. "It's been ages! I'm sorry I haven't come to visit since you all moved in, I've been terribly busy. Do excuse me, I've got to powder my nose."

Rachel watched her go with the same look as her son. When Grelle was out of earshot, she said, "Oh yes, busy. I'm sure all those estrogen injections are time consuming."

"Rachel," Vincent chided.

The comment confused Ciel but Grelle came back before he could ask his mother to elaborate. They sat next to each other on the loveseat, and the tension between them rivaled that of him and Sebastian. Grelle carried on about a boutique down the street from Underworld while his mother seemed to be counting how many utensils in the room could be used to gauge Grelle's eyes out. Ciel tried to maintain polite conversation and not to stare at the way Sebastian had stretched himself out on the couch.

"So, how did you and Sebastian get to be such good friends?" he asked.

Vincent handed his tumbler of scotch to Mey-Rin for it to be refilled. "We went to Weston together."

"You...you did what?" Numbers began appearing before Ciel's eyes, hovering around Sebastian's face, and none of them were good.

"We met when he started at Weston, he was quite a ways behind me, but we hit it off. Even though he was a wolf," he added.

Sebastian didn't meet Ciel's penetrating stare, one that had to be full of disbelief and shock. "Don't start, Vincent, we all know who would win in a fight between a wolf and a fox."

Baldroy announced dinner was ready not too long after that. Ciel sat between his mother and Alois, who had only come down when he heard there was food to be eaten. His friend seemed less than happy about their guests. Usually, he would be frustrated by Alois' unfounded dislike for Sebastian, but he was finding himself much in the same boat. He had Sebastian pegged for his early twenties but that was impossible if he had gone to school with his father. The fact they had been in school together made it hard to eat for his churning stomach.

"Tell me, young Mr. Phantomhive, what do you enjoy in your free time?" Sebastian asked, throwing a loaded look over the rim of his glass as he tipped it up.

Kissing you. Punching you in the face. Reading. Beating you to death with a book. "Oh, same as any other teenager, I would expect."

Sebastian let Mey-Rin refill his crystal tumbler, eyes never leaving Ciel. "Is that so?"

"Yes," Ciel said, giving him a warning look.

"He's lying."

Ciel's heart stopped, but Sebastian looked over at Vincent with amusement. "Do tell."

"He's the most mature teenager you'll ever met, at this rate I'll be able to retire early and hand the reigns to him in no time," Vincent said.

Ciel allowed himself to breathe again. "You flatter me, father."

"Tsk. Vincey doesn't hand out compliments that aren't deserved, I'm sure he means every word," Grelle said.

"There's no need to talk of retiring just yet, you're still young," Ciel said, eager to change the subject from himself.

"Maybe but compared to you, Sebastian and me are a couple of old men."

Oh, God, he should have left it alone. He grimaced as a fresh wave of nausea rolled through his stomach. By the time their plates were being cleared he had lost count of how many times Sebastian, Grelle, and Vincent's glasses had been refilled. Their laughter filled the dining room but not the growing hollow feeling in Ciel's chest. Their happiness seemed to exist to taunt him and remind him of the severe misjudgment he had made. It only made it worse the way his heart skipped at the slight color in Sebastian's cheeks from the drink, the melodious sound of his laughter.

Grelle's voice, louder than that of anyone else at the table, drew him back to the conversation. "Bassy, what was that song everyone was so crazy about when we first transferred? You know, the former prefects that formed a band!"

"It went 'You're a shining star, small though your light may be!'" Vincent sang, raising his glass.

Grelle made an excited gesture as she, too, remembered and joined in, "'You're a shining star! Take my hand! Do you see?'"

Sebastian downed his scotch and finished, "'We make a constellation – you and me!"

"Oh, how I miss when we would slay drunk karaoke in school," Grell lamented.

Ciel was holding on to his anger with an iron grip, but he couldn't help a chuckle at the three of them belting out some song from an old boy band. Alois was facedown on the table, shaking with laughter. Ciel had to remember that his friend had never seen Vincent relax or have fun. He would joke around, but he was always reserved and composed. Ciel himself had only seen this side of his father a few times but he had definitely never seen him this drunk.

"We should take this somewhere more fun," Grelle suggested as the cake was served.

Sebastian caught Mey-Rin's wrist before she could dish his slice of cake. "Excuse me."

"Yes, sir?" she asked, the cutting tools rattling together in her hand as she trembled.

Sebastian looked over at Vincent. "Forgive me if I intrude upon the rules of your house, but I can not partake in this if your servants are not welcome to sit at the same table and share it with us. They are part of this home, too, are they not?"

Ciel choked on the drink of water he had taken. Such a thing had never been suggested to a Phantomhive. He studied his father, whose face was suspiciously blank. Mey-Rin had turned bright red and was stammering an apology lest the master blame her for Sebastian's request. There was a long silence in place of the singing and laughter that had filled the room moments earlier.

Vincent cleared his throat and looked away from Sebastian. "Very well, I'll permit it for this evening."

"Thank you, sirs, thank you very much. I'll get Bard and Finny," Mey-Rin said, bowing until her head almost hit the table.

Sebastian smiled and his jovial nature returned in an instant. He moved a couple of plates to make room, seemingly unaware of Ciel and Rachel's gaping. Vincent relaxed again after a couple more sips of scotch. Ciel slid his chair to the side a bit to allow Finnian to sit next to him, noticing that the gardener looked as surprised as the rest of them.

"Young master," Finnian greeted.

Ciel raised his glass. "Please, if we'll be sharing a meal tonight, then it's Ciel."

Vincent looked over at Grelle. "Now what was this about going somewhere more fun?"

There seemed to be a collective exhalation from everyone at the table. Ciel had halfway expected his father to blow a fuse as soon as his servants sat down at his table while there was work that could be done, but Vincent was saving face for company's sake. Ciel regarded Sebastian when the bar tender wasn't looking at him. He didn't understand the gesture of wanting the staff to join them, Sebastian worked for a living but he was clearly well off, he couldn't have that much empathy for mere servants. He was just one mystery after another.

He wished he had paid more attention to Grelle's chattering instead of his own thoughts when he found himself being told to get his shoes. "If you want to join us, that is. I feel you're old enough to come have some adult fun," Vincent said.

"Sure," Ciel said, going to collect his boots from his bedroom.

He closed the door and sighed. He would rather stay home and finish off what remained of Sebastian's birthday cake, but when his father put it like that, he didn't want to refuse. Vincent was just now treating him like a man. He sat down on the end of the bed and began lacing one of his boots. There were footsteps in the hallway that passed his door, and a minute later returned. He didn't realize they had stopped in front of his door until it came open.

"Why is knocking so hard for...oh. It's you."

Sebastian closed the door and leaned back against it. "You sound disappointed."

Ciel glared up at him. "What do you want?"

"My answer to that never changes, love, I always want you," Sebastian said, coming over to stand in front of him.

"You're drunk."

"I might be slightly inebriated."

Ciel moved on to lacing his other boot. "How did you explain to my father that you were coming up to my room?"

"I said I needed the restroom." At Ciel's grunt, his voice took on an edge that made Ciel shiver. "He's preoccupied talking to Grelle, are you quite sure you don't want to take advantage of this time we have together? I've never even gotten to see your bedroom. It's lovely, to have an accurate image of your bed to imagine when I think about you splayed across it, begging for me."

Ciel stared at the toe of his boot, knowing if he met Sebastian's eyes the older man would see the arousal there, how easily those words had undone him. "Stop."

"Or what?"

When he finally looked up, Sebastian had started unbuttoning his shirt. Ciel's heart beat faster with every inch of bare skin that was revealed. "Sebastian."

"If you're threatening me with saying my name that way, I'm certainly not going to stop," he said, pulling open the last two buttons.

Sebastian braced his hands on the bed on either side of him, forcing Ciel to lean back slightly on his hands to put space between them. Ciel looked up into hazy eyes the color of deep red wine. "Why me? You could have anyone you wanted, why are you so hung up on me?" he asked.

"I find myself addicted to the taste of your innocence," Sebastian said, raising one hand to cup Ciel's cheek. "When we met I expected a chase but you practically fell into my arms, so curious, so naive."

Ciel bristled at being called naive. "I accepted your advances because this place is boring. You hear the way my father talks, I'll be up to my eyes in dealing with the company as soon as I'm old enough. I wanted to enjoy myself a bit before I lose the chance."

"There's still plenty of enjoyment to be had."

Sebastian tilted his face toward Ciel's but Ciel planted his boot on Sebastian's shoulder and pushed him down onto the floor. He hated how tantalizing Sebastian looked on his knees, shirt open across his muscular torso. Instead of removing his foot Sebastian rested his hand on it and smirked up at him.

"If control is what you wanted, all you had to do was ask," Sebastian said, and turned his head to kiss Ciel's boot.

Ciel grimaced. "Freak. I guess you want me to walk on your back in high heels, too?"

"Oh, no. If I wanted that I would ask Grelle."

"Why don't you go do that, then? I'm sure she would be happy to oblige," Ciel spat.

"There it is. That fire, that light that peaks through the cracks in the mask you've carefully crafted over your true self. I love the way it burns."

"Great, so you turn in to a poet when you're drunk."

Sebastian smirked, still on his knees at the foot of Ciel's bed and seeming quite happy to be there. "You didn't have this disdain for me earlier today." Underneath his smirk, he actually looked bothered by this.

"I didn't know you were a predator earlier today."

The words had barely left his mouth before his back hit the mattress and there was just over six feet of angry Sebastian pinning him down. His eyes widened as Sebastian pinned his wrists above him with one hand. The other grasped his chin, forcing him to meet the furious eyes boring down on him. Ciel didn't appreciate until that moment the difference in their size and how easily he could be overpowered. He tried to free his hands but Sebastian's grip was as strong as a vice.

"It's by no fault of mine you assumed my age, which I would have told you if you had asked. You should mind that tongue of yours. There is no daddy to hide behind, not from me." Sebastian kissed him hard, letting the weight of his body rest on Ciel and briefly taking his breath. Ciel gasped, unable to expand his lungs to breathe, drawing air only from the mouth claiming his own with bruising force. He had no doubt this was intentional.

Sebastian raised himself up and let Ciel suck in a deep breath. "If you want a predator, I'll show you one."

Ciel was surprised to find himself shaking. However, when his fear abated, he could see how much offense Sebastian had taken to his words. His anger had been well deserved. Their age difference bothered Ciel but he knew he had thrown around the suggestion of Sebastian being a predator far too lightly. He pulled his hands and, when Sebastian let him go, released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Sebastian still laid across him but the dangerous edge had gone from his eyes.

A knock on the door interrupted the nerve wracking silence between them. Vincent's voice rang out from the other side. "Come on, Ciel! I'm going to find Sebastian and then we're going to Underworld so you can hear my horrific singing skills!"

"Be right there," Ciel called back.

After his father's footsteps faded, Sebastian stood up. He offered his hand to Ciel. "Want to come see me destroy your father at karaoke?"

With his extended hand came a silent apology. Ciel took it and let himself be pulled to his feet. "I suppose."