School started, and my computer is a butt-licking piece of a junk! It keeps messing up! I need a new one, bad! Sorry for the long wait! I am almost finished with a chapter of Ace. I'll start on another chapter of D4S. Review and enjoy! Again, I'm sorry!

It is a struggle to keep my blush down and to keep my hopes squashed. This is just him joking. Always him kidding and messing with my feelings without thought. I must not fall for it. I can't allow for him to make me believe. I have to remind myself that his proposal is not real. His confession is not real. None of this is real.

But it feels like it is because of that ring. He has my ring that I had gotten from my grandfather. The ring that was stolen in our sophomore year of high school when we went to the beach. The same ring that I had panicked and yes, cried over, when I realized that I had lost it forever.

"How?" I ask softly as I reach out to touch it, but before I can, he moves the black box away from me. I glare at him.

"Say yes, and I will tell you." He smirks, knowing that I will do as he says.

"Yes." I hold out my hand, not for him to slide the ring onto my finger but because I want to hold it. He still keeps the box at of my reach.

"Yes, what? Hmm, Ciel?"

"You are an ass. You do know that, right?" He nods. "Fine. Yes, Sebastian, I will accept your proposal and enter into a fake engagement with you." His smiles falters.

"It needs work, but I guess it will do. For now, of course." He reaches out for my left hand, and he finally puts the blue gem onto my ring finger. I bring it up to my face, and I inspect it, seeing if it is the original. It is.

"How did you fi-" He cuts me off with a kiss.

"There has to be a kiss for becoming engaged." I wipe my lips.

"Just tell me how you got it!"

"It's a secret."

It irks me that he won't tell me how, but looking at my old treasure, sparkling when I twirl it on my finger, I can't really bring myself to be that angry at him. I can't even muster up a mean slur when I look at his eyes, which have a soft gleam to them. Actually, as I stare more into them, I notice that they are more dewy than they usually are. Is he sad?

Without a conscious, I cup his cheek and bring his face closer, and I am right about his eyes. They are wetter, and I frown at the idea of him being upset. Only because he has just given me a precious part of my past.

"What's wrong?" He closes his eyes, and he sighs. A tear slides down his cheek as he smiles.

Sebastian's POV

I read the question off his lips. I read his worry from the crease of his eyebrows and forehead. And though I can read so much of him, I am still baffled by him. Why did he agree to do this with me? Is there some hidden meaning to his acceptance? Or is it a whim on his part?

He asks what is wrong. There are so many things I can tell him, but no words come out. My emotions are in a frenzy. I am happy that he said yes to me. I am grateful to have the opportunity to just pretend to be his. I am glad he loves the present that I have kept with me for four years, waiting for the right time to give it to me. But like the cats I love, my happiness is fickle.

I cannot stop the stray tear. I have bared my soul for Ciel and for what? He doesn't believe me, and if he did, he wouldn't be as readily to accept my proposal. When this charade ends, will we go back to how we were? Seeing each other briefly and sporadically? I love him. It is the reason why I have sought him out after I recovered. I am so in love with him, but he does not feel the same. I suppose that is what is affecting me the most.

"You are just so beautiful that you are making my eyes water," I finally answer him. My statement is partially true, but as I suspected, he thinks it is not. He pushes my face away and turns his head. His cheeks suddenly are enflamed, and I look around. It seems we have forgotten that my family is still here. My face starts to burn as well.

Ciel's POV

Instead of giving me a serious response, he makes a cheesy joke. I am still wary about him, but if he chooses to not hide his feelings from me, I can't help that. I realize that we are a few inches apart, and I shove his face away, making space between us. I look to my left, seeing Dimitri and Claire smiling at us. I had been so preoccupied with Sebastian that I had put them out of my mind, and now, I regret it because they had heard what he said and saw our interactions.

"That was so sweet!" Claire claps her hands, as if she saw a magnificent spectacle, and in a way, she had. More embarrassment. "Why didn't you propose like that to me, Dimi?" She smacks her husband on his chest.

"There you go again, Sebastian. Making your father look bad," Dimitri complains.

"It doesn't take much," Serena chips in. I smother a laugh as she riles him up.

"I'll have you know young lady that I made your mother cry when I proposed," He smugly announces.

"What did you do? Yell at her?" Sebastian speaks. He somehow managed to quietly sit back in his original spot.

"No! You know what, it doesn't matter." Dimitri gives in. He focuses on me. He cups his hand to his face and loudly whispers to me, "He won't tell you how he got that ring, but I'll let you in on one important fact: the day you lost it was the day he never stopped trying to find it. Keep that in mind." He then puts his hand down and straightens up.

It seems Sebastian has missed his dad's confession as he is conversing with his sister. Which is alright with me because I need time to process what I had just heard. Though it doesn't make sense, it does. Because when I think back in the past, Sebastian had ditched me for weeks after school. I had assumed that he had gotten a girlfriend, and he was keeping her existence hushed. Was he really going to the beach every day to look for my ring?

I peek up at him. He is laughing like the idiot he is. He must have felt my eyes on him because his eyes meet mine, and he quirks his lips my way. How did an idiot such as himself manage to locate my ring in miles of sand? The part that confuses the most, however, is why did he even bother?

Why does he make me love him more and more?