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Sebastion--the epitomy of tall, dark and handsome--stepped into Master Phantomhive's office. "Yes, Master? You called for me?" he said properly, standing tall with his back straight.
Twenty minutes later, he was back in his room--the Head of Service quarters--burying his face in his pillow to muffle his squeal of happiness. Ciel was coming back home! His best friend was coming hom again after so long, and he was so excited. He sat up and straightened himself out again. Ciel hadn't written him in forever, though he had written him back the last letter he got...a few months ago. He sighed softly, looking down at himself. He was now head of the staff in the manor, and answered directly to Master Phantomhive himself. He had grown quite a few inches as well. Ciel was sure to be good and pissed off at him because of it. He smiled at that. Especially since he was just informed that he would soon be answering straight to Ciel himself. He wondered to himself how much Ciel had grown...as a person and in height. He reckoned he grew quite a bit, or he hoped so. "Oh, s**t," he mumbled, hopping up and rushing off quick as lightening to retrieve his Master's tea, thoughts of Ciel and that smile not leaving him once.

"I apologize, Master Phantomhive, I got a bit distrac--" The tray and cup hit the floor, shattering as Sebastian was down beside the man in an instant. "Master Phantomhive!" he cried out, checking his pulse. He sat back on his heels in disbelief after searching for a pulse and breath...and he found none. Silent tears rolled down his cheeks. This man was not only his Master, but he was basically his father as well... He raised him, gave him a place he always felt welcome, gave him a job, trusted him, praised him... He felt his breath choke in his throat before he reached up to wipe his face and eyes of tears. He glanced at his hand, seeing it holding the photo of his wife. Sebastian had to wipe a few more tears away once again. "At least you're together again..," he whispered mournfully, sniffling a little. He then noticed the paper and pen beside him...and picked it up. He read over the little piece of paper quickly, wiping his bleary eyes every few seconds, before sliding it into his pocket neatly for later use. Then he stood and said very clearly, "Tanaka." His face was set in an almost emotionless expression. When the older man appeared, Sebastian said quietly, "Please arrange for a burial. Lord Phantomhive has passed away." All of the happiness that was inside him before was gone now. What was Ciel to think? He would come home to find his father gone. Surely he would be prepared to take over the estate, though. And if not, Sebastian would be by his side to help him along.

Almost an hour later, the coffin had come and those connected close to the family had been informed--the servants, Ciel's aunt, Lau, and and Elizabeth. Sebastian lifted the photo frame off of the floor of the now-empty office. Oh, how beautiful Ciel's mother was. Now...now they would be together again for all eternity. He smiled only a bit at this and set the photo back on the desk. Now alone, he pulled out the paper with his previous master's handwriting on it and looked it once over again. His will and testament... He sighed softly and stashed it away before beginning to sweep up the scattered mess on the floor.

Sebastian sighed softly as he set up Elizabeth's meal on his cart. He wasn't sure why Elizabeth was letting him see her when she wouldn't even let her own mother, but he wasn't completely complaining. At least she was letting someone visit her. He began to think she was beginning to go mad in that room all by herself. He sighed once again and wheeled the tray out of the kitchen and down the many halls to Ciel's room.

Once he arrived, he wasn't surprised when Elizabeth opened the door immediately after Sebastian's first knock. She always seemed to know when he had come to wait on her. He calmly entered and uncovered her meal as she ranted at him, blaming him for apparently not telling her that he knew where Ciel was. "I've brought you some Earl Grey, Miss Elizabeth," he told her softly once she was done and the door was locked. He poured her a cup and held it out for her to take after dropping two cubes of sugar in it. "If I remember correctly, it is Ciel's favourite. He generally doesn't take sugar in it, but I imagine it may be too bitter for your tastes without it."

Frowning a little when he looked at her, he sighed for the third time in ten minutes. He set the cup down on the cart once again then turned back to her. He slouched down to be at her eye level and wiped the tears from her face. "Miss Elizabeth, please do not cry. It will not cause him to arrive any quicker, and it makes your face all red. I do not believe this is how Ciel would first like to see you when he does arrive. He would want to see your radiant happiness as always," he soothed her in a soft voice. Then he stood tall again and handed her the cup of tea.

"Please do not accuse me of such things in your conspiracies, Miss Elizabeth. I do care for him deeply, if not as much as you do. Now, I can assure you that I do not know the whereabouts of Master Ciel currently. Yes, I did correspond with him, but it was only a few letters. He did not anticipate any delay happening in his arrival back to this estate. I'm sure it's only an issue with the train and it got delayed or something of the sort. So don't you fret, alright? He'll be home soon enough. Please do not accuse me of such things in your conspiracies, Miss Elizabeth. I do care for him deeply, if not as much as you do." He nodded his head at her in a short bow. "Would you like anything else, Miss Elizabeth?"

Sebastian sighed softly at the question. "Miss Elizabeth, I must be strong for the members of this hou--" He was cut off by the exclamation from her, eyes widening slightly. He bolted over to the window, peering out of it to the person Elizabeth had seen. It was true... Ciel... Ciel was back! Something seemed...wrong, though. He was walking by himself and very slowly at that...almost as if he was worn down or had a limp. He frowned deeply as he glanced down to see Elizabeth running out to greet him. He could hear her shouts of rejoice from there. He bolted down himself to meet him, leaping over banisters and everything just to get down to his best friend he hadn't seen in months and months and months... As soon as he opened the front doors to run outside, he heard Elizabeth's scream for help. His heart dropped to his knees. He picked up speed, making it to them in record time and kneeling down beside them. One look at the male and he noticed he was completely unconscious. Terrified that he was dead, Sebastian hurriedly checked his pulse. When he felt one, he breathed a sigh of relief and gently guided Elizabeth off of the small male. "Let's get him inside," he told her soothingly. He scooped him into his arms and began to walk hurriedly to the house. "Grab his things, please!" he called back to her as he lugged the boy to the house. Luckily, the door was left ajar from the rush and he slid through the opening, almost jogging upstairs to Ciel's room where the bathroom was.

Upon entering the bathroom, Sebastian kicked the handle to the hot water, the spout immediately spewing water to fill the tub, who's stopper was already in the drain to make the tub fill up. He sat the male on the floor, leaning him against the tub, and began to undress him carefully. He frowned at the many bruises and cuts and whelps on the boy's body. Sighing, he lifted the nude boy into the tub and made sure he would stay upright as the water rose around him. He looked at the male's face, noting the bandage across his eye. He stood and closed the bathroom door, telling Elizabeth politely that she needn't see the male nude, whether she was his fiancee or not. The sight of his beaten body need not be seen by a lady no matter her status. He then returned to Ciel's side after the door was closed. He shut the water off and gazed at his face again. The boy had definitely grown while he was away. He had grown a few inches, Sebastian had to chuckle at the thought. His face had also grown out more masculine than it had been. He reached up to rinse Ciel's dirty hair, noting that it had grown a little longer than Ciel had usually kept it. "I'll have to give him a trim later," he told himself. His eyes settled on the bandage again, frown returning to his lips. Slowly, his fingers reached up to gently peel the thing off. He froze at the sight of the male's sensitive eyelid. It was red and swollen and it had seemed, and Sebastian almost shuddered at the thought, as though he had attempted to claw the organ out of its socket. It seemed a bit bloody and was scabbing over. "What happened to you, Ciel?" he asked softly to the unconscious boy, running long fingers through his wet hair. He opened a cupboard that was under the sink and pulled out a small sheet of gauze and some medical tape from a medical kit kept under there. He took a hand towel and gently dabbed at the skin around the eyelid, drying it before replacing the bandage with the new one. He proceeded then to finish cleaning Ciel of any dirt that remained before pulling the plug on the tub. He opened the bathroom door and walked out, closing it behind him. "He's fine, just a little scratched up," he told Elizabeth as he pulled a bath robe from the closet and took it off of its hanger. "Would you mind stepping out of the room for a moment? I need to bring him out to get him dried and make sure he needs no bandaging. Why don't you inform Tanaka and everyone of Master Phantomhive's arrival? I'll call you back once he's dressed and in bed," he asked of her politely, needing to get used to calling Ciel by his new title.

Once the blond was out of the room, Sebastian laid the robe on the bed neatly and moved to the bathroom, pushing the door open. He left it ajar as he lifted the young master from the tub and brought him to the bed. He laid him down gently and inspected his chest and stomach and legs. Nothing too bad. Not worth any severe medical attention. He rolled him over gently and examined his back. Still nothing major. Sebastian was very glad for that. He lifted Ciel's upper body up and dressed him in the bath robe before laying him back down and covering him with the sheets. "We'll have to get you a patch to cover that eye of yours until it's healed," he told him softly, swiping some hair from the younger male's forehead. He leaned down and kissed his bare forehead that bore a blue and purple splotch then stood straight again. "Rest well, Ciel," he whispered to him before heading out of the room. He felt his heart tug as he left the room. He had missed the male so much. So much so, that he had the odd urge to march right back into that room and curl up in bed with him and not leave his side until he was healthy again. Sebastian sighed, rubbing his forehead with stress. What the hell was wrong with him?

He bumped right into Elizabeth while he was walking blindly, eyes closed to the headache that was coming along. "Miss Elizabeth, you may sit with him now. He is still unconscious, but is clean and well. I must advise you to keep your voice down, though. He needs his rest," he told her politely and informatively and watched her hurry into the bedroom. His heart tugged again, confusing him more as he walked off to do his duties as Head of Service.

Sebastian sighed softly as he polished the silver in their leisure room. He was trying to think of anything else he could do to help Ciel. Granted, there wasn't much considering he was unconscious... He set the engraved platter back down on its display and plopped down on the couch, throwing the rag over his shoulder because he didn't feel like holding it in his hand any longer. "Perhaps another blanket," he mumbled to himself, knowing he was really just trying to figure out ways to go and see Ciel again. He was his best friend, and he hadn't seen him once in four years until now. He wanted to see him. Though, he would rather be able to speak to him if only to find out how much he had changed or if he was exactly the same. Nodding to himself, he stood and made his way to the closet in the hallway that held stacks of neatly-folded, fluffy blankets. He pulled Ciel's favourite out and headed down the hall to Ciel's room.

Upon entering, he saw something he didn't expect. Well, he expected Elizabeth to be curious and nosy, for the always had been. She didn't seem to change much in the past four years that Ciel was gone. But to go through her betrothed's suitcase while he was unconscious on the bed right beside her? "Miss Elizabeth! How could you be more disrespectful?" he scolded her, grabbing the journal from her hands and lifting everything back into the suitcase where it belonged. He fastened the bag and lifted it, moving it over to the corner of the room. He frowned at the blond girl in disappointment. "That is Master Phantomhive's personal luggage, Miss Elizabeth. You haven't a right yet to go through it, for you are not married. And you have no permission to do so. Please refrain from invading an unconscious man's personal objects," he told her in a "tsk tsk" tone of voice. He then proceeded to take the folded blanket that had been tossed onto the end of Ciel's bed and unfolded it, laying it gently over his young master and best friend. If he is still... He did stop writing me back, though that may have been a delivery issue. Hmm... He hadn't thought about that, and it made his heart sink to think of it. A small frown settled onto his face as he looked down at Ciel's resting features. He sure had grown to be a handsome man. Sebastian shook his head a little, turning away from him to look back at Elizabeth. "Please attempt to refrain from going through his things again, Miss Elizabeth. It is very disrespectful." He glanced over at the bag again. "Actually, I'm going to bring this down to the washroom and make sure his clothes get washed. Please behave in my absence. I'm sure he would delighted to wake up beside you after going through what seems like a lot," he told her politely as he lifted the case up into his hand. "Watch over him and get me immediately if something happens."

He then left the room, heart feeling heavy again. Why was it that he wanted to be in Elizabeth's position? He wanted Ciel to be happy to wake up in bed beside him? He shook his head again in disbelief. Maybe he was just tired from all that had happened in the past few days. He made it down to the washroom and set the suitcase on its side, opening it up to get his clothes out of it. What fell out was the journal Elizabeth had held in her hands as Sebastian walked in Ciel's room. He contemplated the thing for a moment before setting it aside and throwing the dirty clothes in a hamper to be washed later that day by Tanaka. He glanced at the book again, feeling like it was calling to him to open. He sighed softly and decided to just open it to a random page and read only that page just to sate his curiosity. It may have been a little hypocritical of him, but, hey, he had known Ciel for much longer than Elizabeth had and probably knew him way better than she did anyway. There wasn't much he didn't know about him. Though...it had been four years... He already had the journal open and was scanning a page before the thought even crossed his mind.

Sebastian...didn't know what to think about what he had just read. Apparently his emotions had taken over at some point because there were tear drops slowly crawling down his cheeks and splattering on the pages. He quickly shut the book, not thinking to check and make sure no page got folded in his haste, and replaced it into the bag before sitting down on a step stool that they kept in the room. He stared at the wall across the room from him, tears still falling. So Ciel...Ciel found him attractive? Ciel had feeling for him? Ciel loved him? How was he to act now that he knew Ciel's secret? And who the hell was this guy that molested his best friend? He felt anger boiling up inside him, but he couldn't react to the information... He wasn't supposed to read it. He had invaded Ciel's privacy and read his personal journal full of his secrets. Sebastian cursed softly to himself as he rubbed a hand down his face, still staring over at the wall. He was a terrible friend... How could he do that? How could he even be so hypocritical as to tell someone else not to do the same thing not minutes before? He sighed and stood, wiping his face and eyes before hiding the suitcase in a secret cubby in the wall he had discovered over his time working there.

Taking a steeling breath, he strode out of the room to continue with his duties, working double-time to try and distract him from the thoughts and the images of smudged ink and words running through his head. It seemed to work quite well for him...mostly. The visions of himself on top of Ciel, fondling him and kissing him and undressing him still flashed through his head every now and then, causing him to intake a sharp gasp of breath and shake his head to rid the thoughts from him. What was wrong with him?

Sebastian was busy polishing some silver idly since there wasn’t much else to do at the time. It was very slow at the estate since Master Phantomhive passed. He looked up to see who entered the room when he saw Elizabeth’s face. She was crying and looked very distressed. He frowned deeply and set the plate down, the rag on top of it, and listened to Elizabeth’s words. he sighed and stood from his seat. “I’m guessing he went to the graveyard?” he asked softly. He had thought about where Ciel may go once he was told about his father. The graveyard seemed the best bet. He would want to see the proof.

Sebastian began an idle pace through the halls and to the foyer before entering the grounds and heading over to the family graveyard. As soon as the small area came into view he saw Ciel crouched above his father’s grave. He paused outside the gate then decided to enter it and make his way to Ciel’s distressed side. He stopped behind Ciel and watched silently for a moment as the new master of the estate broke down over the grave.

After a few moments, Sebastian stepped forward slowly and kneeled beside his best friend of years. As they crouched over the grave, Sebastian felt tears of his own surface. He had been a father and a saviour for him as well. It was odd without the old man around. He gave a shake-y sigh and reached over to Ciel. He carefully pulled him into his arms and held him to his chest, rocking him slightly in his grasp. “Shh,” he whispered softly, not in a commanding way, but in a comforting voice to let Ciel know he was there for him. He really hadn’t been able to see him much since he’d been back. Just now and again, and he was usually asleep when he entered the room. The thoughts of what he had read still hadn’t gone away and were plaguing him, but he could live with it for a while. He held Ciel firmly in his arms, refusing to let him go even if he thought he wanted to be. Ciel needed someone to be there for him in his time of need and Sebastian was willing to be that person.

“It’s not your fault,” he told him in a soft voice. Sebastian was probably plagued by this as much as Ciel was. Sebastian, after all, had been the last one to see the man alive and could have hurried back to his side with his tea instead of stalling and going to his room to giggle about his best friend arriving soon. Maybe he couldn’t have stopped the attack, but at least the man wouldn’t have been alone in his death. He would have had a companion to stay there with him. Instead...Sebastian had found him alone and cold on the floor of his office. The butler sighed again shakily and held him tighter to his chest, resting his cheek on top of his head.