Authors' Note: I know the school/bullying theme has been done MANY times before, I just thought that I'd do one too (and I really, really wanted to try and write something cute for once just to prove to myself that I'm not that much of a miserable old cow – although I kinda am).

...

Tapping his foot incessantly, a slender boy with blond hair folds his arms around his waist as he stares at a sleeping figure in bed. Tossing his head to the side to shift a few stray strands of hair from his forehead, he leans forwards slightly.

"Ciel…" He whispers. "Ciel, wake up."

"Nnn…" Ciel groans, drawing up the sheets from his shoulders over his head. Sighing, the blond closes his eyes, shaking his head as he bends over and places both of his hands on Ciels' chest. Leaning in, he starts to shake him vigorously and with force to try and shift him but he doesn't stir.

"Ciel, seriously, you're going to be late, wake up right now." He demands.

"Go away Alois, I'm sleeping." He hisses as he turns over.

Agitated, Alois reaches out and grabs the sheets, Ciel fights against him, gripping them tightly and pulling them closer to his small frame. Their little tug of war goes on for a minute, until the sheets slip through Ciels' grasp causing Alois to fling them from off his body and onto the floor. Ciel curls himself into a ball as he whines at the sudden hit of cold air breezing over his skin.

"I would go away but you're going to miss breakfast."

"Ugh, fine!" Ciel slams his hand down on the mattress. He starts to shift himself up, rolling over onto his back and sitting up. His head rolls over to Alois who stands in front of him, adjusting the knot of his blue and white striped tie.

"You know you can't be late today."

"I know." He yawns.

"Not to mention that it's Sutcliffs' class and I don't know about you but I would rather not have her wrath this early in the morning."

"I know."

"And you've missed too many lessons this term."

"I know." He groans again, rubbing his eyes.

Alois looks around the room, his eyes land on a black silk eye patch on the desk next to a stack of books and scattered pieces of paper. Going over to the desk, he collects it, unraveling the loose strands of ribbon that were knotted together. Walking back over to the bed, he hands Ciel the eye patch, and he accepts it.

Ciel places the patch to his right eye; Alois smoothes down the hair at the back of his head and, taking the ribbon, ties the ends together in a neat bow.

"Come on and get dressed." He smiles as he pats Ciel on the shoulder tenderly. Drawing his knees to his chest, Ciel wraps his arms around them as he buries his face in the gap between his legs.

"What if I don't want to go?"

"Oh Ciel, you have to."

"But, what if-"

"Look, you can't let these people get to you."

"That's easy for you to say."

"I know," He grins. "I can't help it if I have been blessed with such good looks."

"If you think you're so good looking, then what are you doing in the Sapphire Owl dorm, why aren't you with the all of the other beautiful people in the Scarlet Fox dorm?" He snorts.

"Because God has given me both brains and beauty." Alois smirks. "Seriously though, if you let them get to you then they've won."

"Then let them win, I'm tired of fighting." He sighs wearily.

Alois sits down on the bed next to Ciel. After a moment, he scoots himself back on the mattress, leaning back, he lays his palms flat down and locks his elbows. Icy blue eyes trail over to Ciel who is still sitting with his face between his knees. Mutely exhaling and kicking his legs out; Alois dangles them up and down, rolling his head from side to side as he waits for Ciel to say something further but he doesn't. They just sit in silence for a moment, until Ciel finally sighs, lifting his head up and sliding his legs down. He stares at his feet, as he draws in a deep breath.

"Are you ready?" Alois asks curiously, keeping his head forward.

Ciel nods, "Yeah, I'm ready."

Pushing himself from off of the bed, Alois stands up and smoothes down his suit jacket as Ciel moves himself over to the edge of the bed. Hanging his head, he clutches the sheets tightly and exhales.

"It's just another day, you can do this." Alois tries to soothe him. Ciel lowers his head further and then gets up.

"Go on ahead, I'll meet you in the mess hall."

"But what about-"

"I'll be there, I promise." Ciel interrupts him. "Save me a seat okay?" He smiles wearily as he gets up from the bed and walks to the middle of the room.

Alois nods slightly and goes to the door. His hand hovers over the handle and he turns back to Ciel who is standing in front of the wardrobe. Listening intently, he can hear Ciel whimper softly as he rests his hand on a hanger with a white shirt.

"I can wait, I don't mind." Alois suggests.

Ciel doesn't reply, he just pulls the shirt from out of the wardrobe and places it on the bed.

"You don't have to wait for me."

"But I will."

"Thank you Alois."

"Whatever, that's what friends are for." He replies, watching Ciel unbutton his nightshirt, and then he smiles to himself. "Besides, you're going to need help; you can't even tie your shoes properly." He finishes with a sly smirk. Ciel drops his arms in frustration as he balls his hands into little fists.

"I can too!" He protests.

"Okay, okay, I believe you." He waves him off as he pouts. "Now hurry up and get dressed."

…

Weston College, one of Britain's oldest public schools, is situated alongside the river Thames.

It's a breathtakingly beautiful school with a spectacular gothic style chapel that stands sentinel at the front of the campus and the other five buildings that surround it. There are four buildings standing proud in each corner of the estate, which are the dormitories that separate the students based on specialty and status.

All students are to adhere to the regulations that value tradition and strict moral values above all else. Those who come here are all taught to be the new gentlemen of Britain and maintain the high standards of their high level educational curriculum.

As they walk through the corridor towards the mess hall, Alois can't help but look up and take in the grandeur of the campus and the school itself as it shines in the bright sunlight. Smiling, he links his arm around Ciels' and pulls him along through the quad. Ciel scowls at being dragged along and tries to break free from his grip, very nearly stepping on the main lawn at the side of the chapel.

Spotting this, Alois quickly snatches him back.

"Ciel watch it, you almost stepped on the lawn." He warns lightly. Ciel looks around and jumps back.

"Uh, thanks."

"You know if someone saw you that'll be like what, five Y's?"

"I know." He sighs as they continue along.

Finally making it to the mess hall, they look around and see that it's practically empty. Most students are just finishing up and getting ready for class, which starts in half an hour. Ciel and Alois make their way to the queue, picking up a tray each; they walk along and choose what to have for breakfast. Alois takes an apple from the stack and Ciel chooses a warm scone with butter and jam.

They take their trays and walk over to an empty table along the back of the hall and sit down. As they eat, a young man with wavy brown hair and circular rimmed glasses sits down in front of them.

"Wotcha?" He smiles.

"Morning McMillan." Alois practically sings out with a broad smile.

"You both are late this morning."

"Yeah, this one here wouldn't get out of bed, I practically had to drag him out."

"Alois!" Ciel hisses as the young boy laughs.

"You need to get more rest, I can't keep waking you up in class." McMillan grins.

"Yeah, I know." Ciel grumbles as he bites into his scone.

"Hey, how do you think you did with Spears' pop quiz?" McMillan wonders, opening a textbook and flicking through it.

"I think I did okay, I liked learning about the War of the Roses." Alois answers.

"I'm excited for my grade, I hope it's good, I love pop quizzes."

"You're such a nerd McMillan." Alois teases as McMillan pouts slightly.

"I'm not a nerd."

"Who actually likes pop quizzes?"

"Well, I do."

"See, nerd." Alois shrugs. McMillan sticks his tongue out at Alois who just giggles and then he turns his head to Ciel, who is licking the strawberry jam from his fingers.

"Ciel, how do you think you did?"

"I don't know. I think I did pretty well." He answers.

"Then you're both nerds." Alois mocks with a half smile, finishing his apple. He sits the apple core down on Ciels' tray and sits back in his chair, crossing his legs. Ciel finishes his scone and stares at the empty plate with a blank look on his face.

"What's the matter?" McMillan asks as he closes his book and leans forward.

"Nothing is the matter." Ciel replies.

"They've all gone to class now, there's nothing to worry about." He tries to console him. Ciel nods solemnly and pushes his tray away from him. Lifting his sleeve a little, Alois looks at his watch.

"Oh, we'd better go or we'll be late." He advises. McMillan starts to stand up, tucking his textbook under his arm.

"Well, I'll see you both in History." He waves as he heads off.

Alois' eye rolls over to Ciel who is still playing with the tray, moving it back and forth on the table.

"McMillan is right, they've all gone to class now, there shouldn't be anyone around."

"I know." Ciel sighs as he nods slowly.

"Then we should get going."

"Fine." He resigns as he starts to stand up.

Leaving the mess hall, they hurry back across the quad to get to their first class, double maths with Ms. Sutcliff.

As they make their way down the large stone hallway, Ciel suddenly stops for a moment.

"What's the matter?" Alois asks as he walks back to Ciel.

"Can we, um, can we go the back way?"

"But we'll be late." Alois shakes his head as Ciel looks at him with a wide eye.

"Alois, please?"

He sighs, "Of course we can." Grabbing onto Ciels' hand, "But we have to be quick."

Alois drags him diagonally through the quad and down the back of the chapel. Ciel follows closely behind him as they duck and dive through the other students who scurry on their way to their various classes.

Turning the corner, they walk into a large stone building and head down the hall. Finally arriving at the classroom, they both quickly straighten up their ties and adjust their uniform jackets. Alois runs his hands through his hair as Ciel draws in a deep breath and they both head into the classroom.

Walking in they both see their teacher standing by the chalkboard in the front, dressed in a white shirt with a black and red vest and black slacks. Tossing her long cherry red hair over her shoulder, yellowish green eyes land on the pair as they make their way to their seats at the back.

"Trancy, Phantomhive, so glad to see you both decided to make it this morning." She smiles as they sit down.

"Sorry Miss." They apologize in unison as they open their textbooks to ready themselves for class.

"All right, it looks like everyone is here, let's begin." She picks up a piece of chalk from the stand and starts writing on the chalkboard. "Open your books to page one hundred and twenty-eight. Today we are going to be learning about factoring in quadratic equations."

Resting his elbow on the desk, Ciel places his chin in the palm of his hand. He taps his pencil up and down on his notebook as he watches Ms. Sutcliff write out a complex equation. After a while, he sighs quietly, he is nothing but bored as his eye wanders around the room, watching his classmates frantically taking notes. Breathing in deeply, he exhales slowly as his eyelid becomes heavy. Struggling to keep it open, he lets it close as the pencil falls out of his hand.

"Ciel, wake up." Alois whispers as he pokes him in the side with his pencil. Rolling his head off of the palm of his hand, Ciel snorts himself awake as he looks around to see if anyone saw him wake but everyone was focused on their work.

His eye drops down to his notes and he realizes that he hasn't written anything down. Glancing at the chalkboard, he picks up his pencil as he starts to quickly scribble down what's on the board. After a moment, his hand starts to slow down as he begins to nod off again. Putting his arm down on the desk, Ciel rests his head on the side of it, making himself comfortable so he can drift back off to sleep.

"And then we have what?" Ms. Sutcliff asks, turning around to face the class, dipping her head down slightly. Sliding her rectangular framed glasses down the bridge of her nose as her eyes scan then room. She frowns as they land on a sleeping Ciel who is snoring lightly.

"Phantomhive!" Ms. Sutcliff raises her voice as she strides over to his desk. Ciel jolts up as the rest of the class sniggers in hushed voices.

"Yes miss?" He answers, as he looks around the room to see his classmates all laughing at him.

"Am I boring you?" She asks in a languid tone, placing her hands on her hips.

"No miss."

"So the falling asleep in my class is... what then?"

"I don't, um, I'm sorry miss, I don't have an answer."

"Oh honestly." She sighs, "Get up and go stand outside for the remainder of the lesson." She snaps, lifting Ciel up to his feet by his collar.

Marching him down the aisle, she drags him along to the door and throws him out, slamming the door behind him.

Ciel folds his arms across his chest in a huff. He remains standing with his back against the wall, fidgeting from side to side. Pulling at his uniform jacket to hold it closed for a moment, he then sighs and drops his hands, letting his jacket fall open again.

He stands for thirty minutes; his legs grow tired and achy as he waits for the lesson to finish. Ciel rolls his head back, resting it against the wall as he tries to stay wake, his whole body feels heavy, weighted, almost dragging him down. After a while, his eye starts to flutter as it slowly starts to close.

Breathing in deeply, Ciel starts to relax on the wall, letting his whole body sway back and forth as he begins to fall asleep. Unable to stop it, his knees buckle, sending him crashing towards the ground.

Ciels' eye bolts open as he braces himself to hit the ground but he doesn't.

"Hey, be careful." A voice warns kindly as two arms swiftly surround him, catching him just before he falls down. Looking up, Ciel sees two ruddy brown eyes smiling at him as he is lifted to his feet. "You fell asleep standing up, I've never seen that before."

"I'm sorry?" He utters as he wiggles out of the older boys' grip.

"You fell asleep and I caught you." He replies.

"Oh, well thank you-"

"Sebastian."

"What?"

"That's my name, if you're going to thank me for catching you, you should use my name, it's only polite." Sebastian smiles brightly as Ciel scowls at the comment.

"I didn't ask you to help me." He snorts, stepping away from Sebastian.

Sebastian stands aside, folding his arms across his chest.

"Well if I didn't, you would have fallen." He reasons.

"Next time let me fall." He mutters, pressing his back against the wall.

"Wow, you have a lot of attitude for someone so small."

"I'm not small, I'm-" His eye drifts over to the side and he spots a familiar face appear from around the corner. "Oh no." He breathes as his eye follows a young man who is coming towards them; his face is down as he stares at his mobile phone.

Ciels' heart pounds ferociously and his palms start to sweat. Keeping his back flush against the wall, he starts to slide across so as to not be seen. Sebastian watches him curiously as he side steps along with him.

"What's the matter with you?" He asks, following him closely.

"You have to go." Ciel whispers, keeping his eyes firmly on the young man with the mobile phone.

"What?"

"Just – never mind." He pushes himself off of the wall and starts to walk off briskly. He quickly weaves in and out of the other students who are just milling around so as not to be seen.

"Hey, wait!" Sebastian calls after him but it falls on deaf ears. Shaking his head, Sebastian starts to leave in the opposite direction. "What a brat." He sighs, running his hand through his hair.

In his haste, Ciel stumbles over his feet, tripping forward into a wall. Catching his breath, he turns around, holding his back right against the wall as his eye darts around searching for that familiar face. Still walking towards him, the young man looks up from his mobile, brown eyes land on Ciel whose shallow breathing starts to make him feel light headed and dizzy. He's been seen and now he's trapped.

"Well, well, Phantomhive, I haven't seen you all day." He smirks as he approaches him.

"What's the matter Arden, don't you have some socket to stick your finger in?" Ciel quips sharply as he gets closer to him.

"Look who seems to have grown a pair?" He replies with a smile.

"Leave me alone Derrick." Ciel utters as he tries to move away from him. Derrick puts his hand down against the wall blocking him.

"Where's your little blond bodyguard?"

"He'll be here in any moment and he'll kick your arse." He threatens.

"Seriously? That cocksucker?" Derrick grins as he leans forward. "I bet you two are a couple."

"No, we're not."

"I wish he was here so he could watch me thump his little boyfriend." He growls.

Ciels' eye darts around, desperately searching for Alois but he is nowhere to be found. He starts to panic, he's scared, there's no one around, no one to save him. He will have to take it, just like he has taken it all the other times.

As Derrick raises his fist towards Ciels' face, Ciel quickly ducks down and misses the strike, causing the clenched fist to hit the wall with such impact that the knuckles start to bleed.

"Son of a bitch!" Derrick curses, holding his hand to his chest. Without thinking twice, Ciel darts around him and sprints down the hall. "Come back here you fucking faggot!" Derrick shouts as he turns on his heels and chases after him.

Ciel races through the quad, turning left he jets down the corridor, constantly looking over his shoulder only to see that Derrick is gaining on him.

He's running out of speed, he's panting for breath and he's getting tired. Ciel tries to exert as much energy as he can but he's failing, he's slipping behind. Turning another corner and running through the back of the courtyard, his shoelaces start to come undone but he doesn't notice and he accidently steps on them, which sends him flying forward and he collapses on to the ground.

"Oh damn it." He pants, drawing his right leg up, grabbing his ankle. Derrick slows to a slight jog as he descends upon him.

"Got you now." He smugly smiles as he rolls his shoulders. Drawing in a deep breath, Ciel screws his eye shut, whimpering softly as he waits for the inevitable impact. "I'm going to enjoy this." He chuckles.

"You're going to want to stop right there." A voice states sternly.

Derrick whips around, to face someone who is standing with his hand in his pocket.

"Who are you?" He scowls.

"Sebastian Michaelis, who are you?"

"I'm no one."

"Well no one, what were you planning on doing to this student?"

"None of your business."

"Ah well, you see as he is a member of my dorm, it has become my business."

"You're from the Sapphire Owl dorm?" He chuckles, "Well I'm in the Green Lion dorm, so do you think someone like you can take me?"

"Do you want to find out?"

Derrick looks at Ciel who is still panting breathlessly and then to Sebastian. Crossing his arms around his chest, he snorts loudly.

"Fine, whatever. There's always next time." He grins to himself as he starts to walk past Sebastian, hitting hard square in the shoulder, sending him back slightly. Holding his shoulder, Sebastian rolls it as he squeezes it tightly.

"Are you okay?" He asks Ciel who is still shaking slightly as he holds onto his ankle.

"I'm fine." He replies.

"That's good." Sebastian smiles, bending over and extending his hand to him. Ciel looks at it but ignores it. "Let me help you up." He offers as he slides his hand under Ciels' elbow, tugging at him slightly.

Ciel swats his hand away as he recoils from Sebastians' efforts.

"Don't touch me." He hisses.

"I'm just trying to help you."

"I don't want your help." He dismisses him, holding onto his ankle tightly. "I don't need anyone's help."

Sebastian examines Ciel closely, from his red puffy cheeks to his ankle, it is clear that he is in no fit state to do anything by himself.

"You don't look like you can walk." He surmises.

"I can walk." He snips as he attempts to stand on his own. He pushes himself up from the grass but as soon as he places weight on his ankle, he topples over again. Quickly, Sebastian reaches out and catches him.

"Oh look, you can't walk." Sebastian says sarcastically as he holds him up. Ciel fights against him but Sebastian holds him closer.

"What is your problem? Let me go."

"What is yours? I'm just trying to help you."

"I don't-"

"I know, I know, you don't want my help but you're getting it anyway so just deal with it."

Ciel stops struggling, exhaling heavily, he holds on to Sebastians' arms for balance. They look at each other for a moment and Sebastian smiles at him, causing Ciel to advert is eye.

"Um, thank you." He mumbles.

Sebastian leans over, wrapping his arm around his waist and bringing Ciels' free arm up and over his shoulder, draping it around his neck.

"Okay, let's get you back to the dorms. We have to ice that ankle."

"Ice it?"

"To keep the swelling down."

"Great." He sighs.

The sun beams down on them as they silently hobble on their way back through the courtyard towards the dorms. Sebastian looks around as he thinks of something to say.

"So, you're a first year?" He wonders.

"Yes."

"How do you like Weston so far?"

"I like it just fine." He states dryly.

"Okay then." He falls silent again, thinking of something else to say to make things less awkward between them, after a moment, he finally thinks of something. "What's your name?" He asks.

"Do you need to know that to help me?"

"No, I guess not but-"

"Then I'm not telling you."

"All right." He mutters.

They carry on walking, finally making it to the front area of the courtyard.

"Ciel! There you are!" Alois shouts from across the courtyard. His eyes land on his limping leg and he drops his book bag and rushes over to them. "Ciel, oh my God, what happened?" He pants as he approaches them.

Ciel hangs his head as he glances over to Sebastian who is staring at the blond curiously.

"I'm fine Alois, I just hurt my ankle."

"I'm helping him back to the dorm." Sebastian interjects. Popping his hip out and placing his hands on them, Alois eyes him up and down.

"And who are you?"

"Sebastian Michaelis, forth year student." He rests Ciel on his side, extending his hand out. Alois looks over to Ciel, who nods slightly, and then his eyes travel back to Sebastian. Taking his hand he shakes it firmly.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Alois Trancy, first year."

"Nice to meet you too."

"Yeah, in fact, Alois can help me from here." Ciel suggests as he tries to push himself away from Sebastian, causing him to fall into Alois' chest.

"Are you sure, I can help, I don't mind." Sebastian offers.

"No thank you. We're fine." Ciel brushes him off.

"I got it from here but thank you." Alois smiles as he hoists Ciel up over his shoulder.

"Well, all right, if you're sure? I can-"

"We're sure." Ciel cuts him off.

Sebastian nods, "Well then, I'll see you around."

"Um, thank you again, Sebastian." Ciel smiles politely at him, causing Sebastian to smile back.

"Not a problem, Ciel."

Ciels' smile fades quickly at the use of his name but before he can say anything, Alois starts to usher him along. Sebastian stands for a moment, watching both of them leave with a wry smile on his lips.

Making their way through the courtyard, Alois goes back to the spot where his book bag landed and sweeps it up from the ground, slinging it over his shoulder. They continue through to the quad and down the corridor towards their dorm in silence.