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You and your fiancé had never really gotten along. Your families had decided that you two should get married, but that was before the incident. And even so, it was only for political and economic reasons, no feelings, nothing. You were an Earl/Countess in your own right, but your family wanted even more money and land, so it couldn't be helped. You two disliked each other, quite a bit. You were constantly bickering and fighting. And unfortunately you had to share a room every night, which tended to add to the annoyances.
Today was no different, you were out, since you both went to a meeting regarding Funtom Corporation, which you would soon be the co-owner of, at least technically. You specialized in other things, however, so you didn't care. But Ciel had been in a shitty mood the whole day. He'd usually be snarky, maybe comically insufferable, and sometimes you wanted to strangle him. But today he was just bitchy, and purposefully setting you off at any given opportunity. The entire day, you couldn't even manage to have a normal conversation with him, without him using a condescending tone or belittling you. You just about had *enough*. By the time the meeting was over, you were just ignoring him. It was less trouble than talking to him and enduring shittily disguised insults and bitchy remarks. He wasn't pleased, obviously, but it was better than you bashing his head against the pavement, which was what you actually wanted to do.
You got back to his manor in the late evening, after nightfall. So, it was almost time for sleep. Despite you being pissed at him, you still treated his servants kindly, as they didn't deserve you taking your grievances out on them. After a short and especially awkward dinner, while you either shot him death glares or looked away completely, you went up to your (shared) room.
You were tired, all you wanted was to sleep. All you wanted was to forget about this and for Ciel to be in a less rotten mood. You begrudgingly changed into your night garments behind a privacy screen, and went straight to bed, turned away from him and as far away as you could get without falling off the bed. He tried calling out to you a couple times, before falling silent. Maybe he felt guilty. Probably not. But you didn't care, you were still mad at him. You could talk about it in the morning, when the urge and strength to strangle him would be gone. Primarily the strength.
It was quietly raining outside, so it helped soothe your sleep, at least a little. Ciel gave up on trying to talk to you, settling on turning away from you as well and trying to get some sleep. The rain soon intensified, turning into an all-out storm. You could hear the thunder outside quite harshly, but it did nothing to disturb your sleep.
Your fiancé, however, didn't have such luck. Ever since he was little, he had always been afraid of storms, and he always went to sleep with his parents when they raged on outside. But now.. they were gone, and he was alone.
He was startled awake by a loud thunder strike, anxiously opening his eyes, now trembling a little. When not illuminated by lightning, the room was dark, almost eerily so, which did nothing to soothe his nerves. The shadows danced around the room, slowly inching closer to him making him even more scared. It poured outside, with the occasional thunder strike, which caused him to flinch. Despite all that, you were sleeping peacefully on the opposite side of the bed, unaware of his current predicament.
He was debating whether to wake you, to seek comfort from you, to ask you to soothe him. But he knew that wouldn't happen. He upset you, again. Like he did every other day. He felt bad for it, but.. it's what he was used to. To pushing people away.
But he couldn't take it. He simply couldn't. The thunder was too loud, the shadows were too close, and they were going to get him, they will. He won't even have time to call for Sebastian, he'd already be gone. He needed someone, anyone. He didn't want to be alone, not right now. And you were closest.
He shook you, his body trembling and his breaths shallow. You stirred for a few moments, before groggily opening your eyes. You couldn't see anything, it was pitch-black. You spoke tiredly:
"What..?"
Ciel froze. You were awake, sure, but what was he going to do now? Tell you that he woke you up because he was afraid of *thunder*? The Earl of Phantomhive, afraid of a little thunder? Utterly pathetic. He shook even more violently now.
"What do you want..?"
You asked, more annoyed now. First he was bitchy the entire day, now he woke you up in the middle of the night for shits and giggles? Your eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, now able to see his expression. But.. he wasn't amused, not even a little. He looked.. scared, and tired. Unlike what you'd usually see on the Earl's face. You sighed, before softening your voice a bit.
"What happened? Did you have a nightmare, or what..?"
He flinched a bit at your words, and at the storm outside. But he spoke, hesitantly.
"I'm sorry.. I'm sorry but I.. I didn't want to be alone. It's dark. And it's loud. And I'm scared."
He said the last part as quiet as possible, ashamed of himself.
"I'm sorry I'll just.. I'll just go back to sleep."
His voice was so.. weird. It was weak. Terrified. He was usually so calm, and cold. Not like *this*.
Unexpectedly, you spoke.
"Wait.. I'll stay up with you."
"Until you fall back asleep."
Your voice was awfully firm, perhaps you were still mad at him, he thought, but there was a hint of.. affection? No, that can't be right.
You silently pulled him a little closer to you, with a surprisingly gentle touch. He was now lying down next to you, tense and still shaking badly, with an arm under him, around his shoulders. Despite you being obviously still mad at him, and you not liking each other very much, he felt.. better. Still, he flinched every time thunder struck, and he still looked terrified.
You were gently rubbing his shoulder, keeping him close to you with a blanket over him. You reached over to cover his ear, pulling him closer with your other arm, his face now buried in your shoulder. He was completely and utterly confused. Why were you so.. nice, all of a sudden? What's gotten into you? Especially since you went to sleep without even talking to him.. why were you comforting him now?
Suddenly, you spoke, voice soft but still with a slight hint of your earlier anger.
"Just try to relax now.. I won't yell at you, I won't hurt you, everything's okay.."
"We'll talk about it in the morning.. for now just calm down, okay?"
He nodded hesitantly, but he did relax a bit in your arms, enjoying the sudden affection. He had never felt your affection before, hell, he couldn't recall you ever even hugging him. But.. this was nice, as much as he'd hate to admit it. In fact, he wanted to just stay here, stay like this. For morning to never come, and for you to not be mad at him again. But he knew that couldn't happen, so he should just enjoy the moment while it lasts.
Thunder struck again, but he didn't flinch this time. Between you shielding him from the noise, and your soothing touch, he felt safer now.. maybe even loved. An uncommon feeling for him. He suddenly realized that you were gently caressing his hair, your touch light and soft, and he blushed a bit, but thankfully you didn't notice. However you *did* notice the small smile creeping up on his face, but didn't mention it. Despite the earlier anger, you were glad he was calm now, after seeing him so scared earlier. Such thoughts baffled even you sometimes. You didn't care about him, hell, you didn't even like him.. so why..?
Even as the rain poured outside, his eyelids were beginning to droop, your soothing touch softly lulling him back to sleep. Now, you were both cuddled into each other, wrapped in the blanket, with Ciel's eyes barely peeking out of it, and with your head resting on top of his, with an arm around him and one shielding him from the noise outside.
Two kids.. Forced to be engaged and grow up before they were ready. Two kids finding comfort in each other, both broken in their own right. But this.. this was nice. Uncharacteristically nice, for the two of you. Neither of you wanted it to end, even as you peacefully drifted off to sleep.
But morning had to come eventually.
The first rays of sunlight peeked through the window, and fell right on your face, painting it in their soft glow. You almost looked like an angel. Or a demon, an enchanting and dangerous one. You shifted a little, before eventually opening your eyes to start the day. And then you saw him.
Your fiancé.. was still lying next to you, now resting his head on your chest, the soft rise and fall of his chest indicating that he was content and at peace. You couldn’t possibly wake him up when he looked like this. You almost couldn’t believe that he was the same person who was the cause of your anger yesterday, when he looked so sweet and gentle now.
You could talk about yesterday later. For now.. you would just enjoy the moment.