Alois' POV
Hannah wakes me Monday morning after a night of almost no sleep. I was too afraid that if I closed my eyes for too long Claude would come back.
"Highness," Hannah says, "Everything is ready for our departure."
"Thank you Hannah," I say, "We'll leave immediately."
"Are you certain?" she asks, "Do you want breakfast before we go?"
"No," I respond, wanting to just get away from here, "I'm not hungry. Let's just go."
"As you wish, your Highness."
Hannah leaves the room and I get dressed in my usual outfit. I run my hands over the blue-black bruises on my wrists. A haunting reminder of Claude's actions the previous night. I start to pull my plum colored coat on and Claude enters the room.
"You're up early," Claude says calmly.
"Shut up," I say, not wanting to hear him talk.
"It appears to me that you're going on a small trip," Claude muses, "However, I am curious as to where you're going."
I tense up, afraid of what he might do if he learned I was going to see Ciel.
"Whatever the case," Claude continues, "I do hope you'll have fun. I'll be waiting for you when you get back."
Claude leaves and I sit down on the edge of my bed. He's acting too calm about this, before if I ever tried leaving without him there was usually an argument. But his indifference, it's terrifying.
"Highness," Hannah says, entering the doorway, "Are you ready?"
"Yes," I say, "Let's go."
Hannah leads me out of the manor and to the carriage. As we depart, Claude's actions last night haunt me. What does he plan to do to me when I get back?
Ciel's POV
Alois arrives around the time for afternoon tea. Me and Sebastian go to greet him. It's no surprise to see Hannah with him, as far as I'm aware she's the only one Alois has trusted enough to know about our relationship.
"Hey Alleycat," I say when Alois comes out of the carriage. I waste no time in pulling him close and kissing his soft lips. He returns the kiss, but he seems to be distracted.
"Something bothering you baby?" I ask him and he shakes his head.
"It's nothing," he says, "I just didn't get much sleep last night."
He's hiding something, it's as if he's scared of something, but what?
"Well, Sebastian just finished preparing the tea," I say, changing the subject, "Would you like some?"
"No thanks Ciel," he says quietly, "Is it alright if I retire for a while? I'm really tired."
"Sure," I tell him confusedly, "Sebastian will lead you to your room."
"Thank you," he says, "I'll see you sometime tonight."
Sebastian leads Ciel into the manor and Hannah starts to unload the carriage. What the hell just happened? Alois is acting really weird, but I'm not gonna pressure him into telling me.
"Hey Hannah," I say and she comes over to me.
"What is it Lord Phantomhive?" she asks me.
"Did something happen to Alois after I left?" I ask her.
"Not that I know of," she tells me, "Claude did come back yesterday."
"He did?" That definitely caught my attention.
"Yes, it was strange too, he appeared as if he never left in the first place. He went straight to wake Alois and I thought nothing of it. It's like any normal morning. So I went to the kitchen to make breakfast and the stove exploded. The fire was too large for me and the triplets to handle so I went to find Claude. He was-"
Hannah stops talking and turns her head to the side. She's hiding something.
"I'm sorry," she tells me, "But my lord would be most displeased if I say anything more."
"It's fine," I tell annoyedly. It really isn't, but she's just doing her job, I can't blame her for that, "I'll talk to Alois when he wakes up."
Hannah gives me a slight bow and continues unloading the carriage. I walk into the house and start to walk down the hall. As I pass Alois' room, I hear crying. I stop and knock lightly on the door.
"Alois," I say, "Are you ok?"
After I get no answer I open the door and see Alois leaning over the edge of the bed with a knife in one hand, blood running off his other wrist.
"What're you doing?!" I yell as I run over and knock the knife out of his hand.
"Nothing," he says numbly. What happened to him?
"This isn't nothing," I say as I pull a strip of fabric off of my jacket and press it against the wound on his wrist. The dark green fabric becomes saturated with blood and I begin to see the bruises on his wrist.
"What happened?" I ask him and he turns away.
"I just wanted it to end!" he cries, leaning into me, "I want him to stop!"
"Who?" I demand, "Alois, who did this to you?"
"I told him to stop, but he wouldn't. He kept saying I had to learn who I belonged to. The only reason he stopped last night was because of the kitchen explosion!"
That's when everything adds up. Hannah didn't want to tell me what Claude was intending to do because she wanted to protect Alois' pride.
"Alois, that's enough," I tell him softly, "You're safe now. You're not going back there again."
"But, Orphan-" he begins and I stop him.
"I'll have Hannah go get him," I tell Alois, "But I'm not letting you go back just so someone can hurt you."
Alois starts to cry again and he wraps his arms around me.
"Thank you," he whispers.
"You're always welcome Alois," I tell him, "I love you and I will do anything to protect you."
I hold Alois as he cries and sigh. How can that bastard be so cruel as to put Alois through more pain?