I just want to say that I love all the people who put up with my inconsistent updates and mediocre story lines. I thank you for staying with my stories, and I appreciate you all. Review and enjoy!

Ciel's POV

Breakfast is served, and we eat together while making small talk. It is nice. I have forgotten what it is like to eat as a family as I have moved out of my house at the age of eighteen. Usually, my mornings are spent on the rush or alone in my condo, so this is a pleasant change. However, I shouldn't get used to this feeling, and I definitely shouldn't get used to seeing Sebastian.

"Well, I must be going. I have to go change before my meeting starts." I get up, and Sebastian stands with me.

"I'll see you out." I thank his parents and start walking out. He is a little ahead of me. When we near to the door, I do the one thing I haven't willingly done since high school. I hug him. I wrap my arms around his stomach and press my face against his back.

"Thank you, Sebastian. I mean it." I snuggle into him, letting myself completely enjoy the moment. The walls that fortify my heart are lowered for this brief moment. I am vulnerable. "I…Thank you." I squeeze him and let him go. I don't look back at him, and when I leave, I return to being guarded because I shouldn't get used to loving him so freely.

Sebastian's POV

Watching him interact with my family brings forward the past and also a smile to my face. It has been too long since Ciel has eaten with us, and to witness them laughing together now, I almost start to believe that the love of my life is in love with me, but as he excuses himself, I wake up from the dream-like daze my happiness had put me in.

When I open the door to let him go, I am hugged by Ciel, and I am once again thrown back to the past. I think the last time he has held me this close without alcohol was when we graduated. Before my accident.

He doesn't hold me for long, and once he is done, he rushes away. I don't know why he did it, but at that moment, I am tossed into a spiral of complete bliss. And confusion, but I am trying to focus on the lingering heat that clings to me rather than the coldness that tries to replace it.

I return to my family, and they are all in festive moods. "My boy! You are engaged! About damn time."

I chuckle at my dad's words. "Fake engaged, but engaged nonetheless."

"Oh, Bas. Let's celebrate the small victories! You finally, after all this time, let him know your true feelings. I say that is enough of a reason for celebration!" My mom finishes with a clap as she approaches me to place a kiss on the top of my head.

"Fine!" I relent to her demand with a small laugh. "But we have to celebrate later. I need to be heading out as well. I have to oversee the design team." I give them a long look in case they were going to say something, but they don't so I make my way to my room. Then I remember a part that bothered me earlier and turn back to the table. "Dad. What were you telling Ciel? You blocked your mouth, meaning that you didn't want me to know what you were saying."

"Don't be paranoid, Sebastian. I didn't say anything." But he covers his mouth, and I can tell by the way his face moves that he is still talking.

"You are a piece of work, dad. A real piece of work." And because I might really by late for my meeting, I quickly get dressed for work.

Ciel's POV

It is strange knowing that all eyes are on you. I mean, I usually draw attention by my good looks, but today, everyone's gaze is physically making my skin burn. I subtly glance down, checking to see if I have my suit on right, and I am toilet paper free. Nothing is noticeably wrong with me, but their eyes have yet to move away from me.

"Finnian, why is everyone staring at me?" I whisper as I walk across the lobby to the elevators.

"Well, I think they know about you and Sebastian. And they are freaking out." He predicts my response before I can say it aloud. "Because everyone knows that he is not…your most favorite person in the world, so they are quite stunned to find out that you two are engaged." Now that he mentioned it, my workers do look shocked and are gossiping among themselves. "If I may, can I say something to you as your best friend and not assistant?"

"Of course. I can't believe you actually asked. It's not like you," I remark. He presses the button to the 52nd floor, and he waits for the doors to close before he starts.

"You are a fucking asswipe!" I blink at his outburst. Good thing no people are in the elevator with us. "Do you know how I feel to find out that two of my best friends are going to get married through the media? Why didn't you tell me, you bastard?" He sounds hurt. I feel instantly bad.

"Calm down, alright?" He does. He now only has a deep frown on his face. "Fin, I didn't tell you because it is not true. It started as a cruel joke made by our fathers and then it escalated to a publicity stunt. You know we are not like that." I trail off.

He sighs. "I know but…I still felt hurt that you guys kept it a secret from me. Though, I have to admit that I was happy too. I thought that you finally got over it. I thought you confessed."

"Like that will ever happen. Anyways, you have to not tell anyone the truth. Sebastian and I, to the public, are really, truly engaged. Okay?" I give him a pointed look.

"Sure. My lips are…What is that on your finger?" He grabs my left hand and brings it closer to him. For some unknown reason, my face boils with blood. I try to pull my hand from him.

"It's nothing." I lie, uneasily. Because it was something. A very important something to me.

"Is that your ring? How did you find it?! I haven't seen it in, what, twelve, thirteen years?" I bite my lip. "He got it? Sebastian did? Wow!" He whistles. "Now I know where I stand when it comes to Sebastian, and you, for that matter."

"What do you mean?" I toy with the ring as I wait for his answer.

"Come on, Ciel! You can't possibly think he would go through so much trouble for a friend. I think the most sentimental gift he ever gave me was a laptop since my broke, and I am one of his closest friend," Finnian peers into my eyes, as if he is trying to convey his point through his gaze.

"So?" But I don't know what he is trying to say. In fact, it kind of sounded like he was gloating about him being so close to Sebastian.

"You are so damn dense! I am trying to tell you that maybe he likes you more than you think he does." His words makes me grimace.

"Doubt it." We both enter my office by then, and when I sit down at my desk, he stands and paces.

"Okay. Okay. Okay. Ciel, I promised him I would keep this to myself, but I think you should know. But you have to swear not to get mad. You swear?" I hesitantly nod. "When we were seventeen, Sebastian and I were hanging out. Just the two of us because you had a thing with your parents, and Bard and MeyMey had a project to finish. So we were drinking, and one thing led to another and"

"Stop it. Shut up. Get out. I don't want to hear it." I hurry up and interrupt him. I swivel my chair away, so he couldn't see the tears my eyes threaten to spill.

"No. We didn't have sex. I kissed him." I turn to face. "I was drunk, and I kissed him." The sudden pressure I felt in my heart lessens. "Now, the part that he didn't want me to tell you was what happened next." I lean forward in my chair. "He pushed me away and said that he couldn't do that with me because he was in love with you."

"Huh?"

"I don't know if he still feels that way, but he could and I think he does. I think he is still in love with you!"