Chapter Eighteen

"The surprise"

October 14th, Afternoon.

Undertaker was restless. He was pacing the small, dark office he occupied when he wasn't posing as a stand-in teacher. A moaning noise, rather muffled, emerged from one of his strange cabinets on his right side. As he passed it, he kicked it and the moaning died down. Professor Abberline just couldn't keep quiet, could he?

Undertaker stopped pacing, and slid a long, sharp fingernail down the side of his cheek. He knew he couldn't keep the teacher locked up forever. For now, their plans had been crushed. He knew Claude was furious and that Alois had done his best to calm him down to no avail. Phantomhive had returned to school one day later than they had counted on. Now they would have to re-schedule and orchestrate the whole thing again. He sighed and brushed off some invisible lint from his black coat. They would try again, in a while. He was sure they would succeed this time.

October 29th, early morning.

Ciel woke up slowly, as usual cuddled close to his lover. Sebastian was wide awake and feeling rather restless where he lay. Ciel was resting his head on Sebastian's arm, his bluish locks covering his face.

As Sebastian was looking down at the peaceful face, Ciel narrowed his eye and muttered, "What's up? You look terrified."

Sebastian averted his eyes and swallowed. "I…I've been keeping a secret from you, nothing big, it's just-"

Ciel sat up slightly, "What do you mean?"

Sebastian bit his lip and gathered his hands in front of himself. "Really, it's just a surprise, but I'm not really sure now if-"

Ciel's face lit up with a wide smile, "A surprise?!"

Sebastian started feeling like all the butterflies in the world had decided it was a nice idea to move into his stomach. "Yes, but I really should save it for your birthday-"

"Oh, come on, you can't mean that! Pleaaase Sebastian…" Ciel leaned over him and pressed a light kiss in the middle of Sebastian's chest.

Sebastian realized he had no chance arguing against him and so he sighed, "Alright, get dressed and then I'll show you."

Leading Ciel in front of him, with his large hands covering the younger's face, he whispered conspiratorially into his ear, "No peeking, or I'll keep the surprise to myself."

Ciel shook his head seriously, his sleep ruffled hair sticking out on all ends.

Sebastian was wearing a goofy smile along with a rumpled shirt, just like his beloved. Only, in his own opinion, Ciel looked much better all ragged and with bed hair than he himself did.

His heart was picking up the pace as the closed in on the garage. Biting his lower lip, he really hoped that he had remembered correctly. With a deep breath, he pushed the button to open the garage door. Then he waited, until Ciel impatiently tried to reach his fingers with his tongue.

"All right, what's the surprise? You've kept me waiting long enough," Ciel jokingly complained, "It better be good, or I'll-"

Sebastian dropped his hands and Ciel fell silent.

When the young man seemingly didn't react at all, Sebastian grew worried and turned Ciel around to look at him. He felt a jolt of pain in his gut. His dear young man was crying. 'But why? I'm sure I got it right…'

"It's…it's a'68 Mustang," Ciel choked out between sobs, "A blue fastback…" he hiccupped slightly, "….with white stripes." He threw his arms around a shocked Sebastian's throat. "I can't believe you remembered that! You bloody wonderful dork…" He squeezed out a nervous giggle, "Can I ride it so school?"

Sebastian lifted him up, the younger wrapping his legs tightly around Sebastian's middle and they just held on to each other. Ciel was so happy he was afraid might burst. Sebastian carried his over to the gleaming car, decorated with a large red bow on the roof and dropped his lover in front of the passenger's seat. "Now, I know you're getting your Provisional License any day now, but until then, I'll drive you. Deal?"

Nodding and beaming like a lighthouse, Ciel caressed the door handle before he entered the car. The seats were the black leather pony edition with imprinted running mustangs. He sighed as he sat down, saw Sebastian looking happily at him and he couldn't help himself, he just had to, so he did. Ciel grabbed Sebastian's wrinkly shirt and pulled him down for a kiss. They only separated when they had to break off for air, making the younger gasp.

The very first ride with the purring Mustang of his dreams alongside the man of his dreams would be one of the memories Ciel would remember for the rest of his life. He had never felt more alive or more at peace as he was now.

The delayed breakfast they shared was spent mostly curled up in bed, intertwined with each others sheets and feeding each other pieces of toast. Ciel ended up lying across Sebastian's chest once more, resting his cheek on that strong chest, listening to his lover's heartbeat. "Thank you," he whispered. "For everything."

Sebastian didn't say anything at first; he reached up a hand to rest it in between those unruly bluish curls. With a sigh, he wondered out loud, "I love you, Ciel. Why on earth shouldn't I buy you a car?"

Ciel shook his head slightly, "No, I didn't mean that, although thank you, like a gazillion times for the car." He paused a second to kiss Sebastian's nose and gather some courage before he spoke again, "What I meant was that you've saved me. You saved me from choosing between my abusive Aunt and an orphanage. You took me in and you care for me, how am I supposed to repay all that?" His voice broke at the end and he stopped talking.

Sebastian nudged his lover's chin, "Love me, that's all you have to do."

Ciel felt an involuntary chuckle escape his lips, "You idiot, I already love you-" Sebastian grinned at him, "Then stop worrying, love. We'll be together forever."

Ciel hid his red face beneath a white sheet and Sebastian laughed at him, yanking at the end of the sheet, only to make the younger wrap them tighter around himself…