After drying his eyes, Alan finished his paperwork quickly, gave it to William, and left the Dispatch. He needed some time with the one person who always welcomed him with open and loving arms.
Fangurl Phantomhive sat beside Ciel at his desk coloring a picture while he did his work. "You know what we should do Ciel?" she asked.
"You're not having any sort of party in my manor, and that is that," Ciel stated, not even bothering to look up from his work.
"No, what I'm trying to get at is that tomorrow night is me and Ronnie's movie night, and I'd really appreciate it if you and Sebastian left for a while," Fangurl explained.
"Fangurl the last time we left you alone with that Shinigami, you two threw a party," Ciel reminded.
"Now that was all Ronald's idea. You know my Ronnie's a party animal," Fangurl said.
"I'll consider giving you two alone time, but no promises will be made," Ciel concluded. Then the two heard a knock at the front door. "Sebastian," he called. "There's someone at the door."
The demon butler opened up the front door and was surprised to see Alan standing there. "And what would be the reason for your being here today?" Sebastian asked the Shinigami.
"I'm here to see Fangurl," Alan replied in a whispering tone.
"Alright, please come inside," Sebastian offered. Alan gratefully walked in. "I will retrieve Fangurl for you."
The brunette Shinigami sat down on the stairwell and waited for Fangurl to come. Yes Fangurl was random, wild, and sometimes stupid, but a lot of times, when Alan or anybody needed help or just needed to talk, Fangurl would be the one to go to.
"Hey Alan, what's up?" Fangurl greeted as she walked down the stairs.
"Hi Fangurl, I came over just to talk for a little while," Alan said quietly as he stood up.
"Okay great, let's go up to my room and I'll get us some tea to drink," Fangurl replied as she led her Shinigami friend upstairs.
Fangurl watched as Alan walked over to sit on her chaise lounge and noticed something peculiar. "Alan, why are you limping?" she asked.
Alan stopped in his tracks and felt his eyes widen. He wanted to tell Fangurl the truth of what was really going on, but couldn't, out of fear of how she'd respond, and what Eric would do to him. So, on the spot he made up something. "Oh, Grell got into a fight with a demon and I had to jump in and help," he lied.
Fangurl giggled before handing Alan a cup of tea and saying "Well, that's Grell for you, always jumping the gun on things." She didn't catch herself brushing her hand over Alan's but he did. Her touch was gentle against the bruise on his hand.
She got herself some tea and lay down on her bed. "So how have things been with you and Eric? You two still together?" she asked.
Alan shivered slightly at the mention of his lover's name. But he looked at Fangurl and the smile that was on her face, and wanting to keep it there, answered softly "Yes . . ."
Fangurl lowered her eyebrows in concern. Something most didn't know was that Fangurl could read people's expressions like open books and she could tell that Alan was lying to her. "What's wrong Alan, you're not your usual self today," she noticed.
Alan gripped the tea cup tighter in his hands. "Everything's alright, I just don't feel good, that's all," he quickly responded.
"How come?" Fangurl got up and sat down on the chaise lounge next to her Shinigami friend. "Usually you're so happy and cheerful, but today you seem almost depressed."
The brunette Shinigami sighed and tried to think of a good excuse for Fangurl. "I'm just kinda worried about Grell, I mean that demon did hurt him pretty badly," Alan said quietly.
"I'm sure she's okay. If I know Grell, she's probably complaining about it to William and begging for him to make her 'feel better'," Fangurl replied smiling.
Before Alan could reply, there was a knock at the door. "Fangurl, Ronald Knox is here to see you," Sebastian announced.
Then the blonde Shinigami walked into the room. Fangurl stood up and walked away from Alan and up to Ronald. "Hey hun how was work?" Fangurl asked as Ronald hugged her.
"Slow as all get out, but now that I'm here with you, I don't mind time going by slowly," Ronald informed as he gave her a quick peck on the cheek. He then turned and saw his coworker. "Hey Alan-senpai what's up?"
Alan couldn't hold back his tears any longer. He stood up, set his teacup down, and then rushed over to Fangurl, wrapping his arms around her tightly. "I have to go . . ." he whispered into the girl's ear.
As Alan rushed out of the manor, Fangurl asked "Do you know what's wrong with him?"
"No, he seemed perfectly fine at work today. Maybe it's just stress," Ronald suggested.