There will be a time skip for this ending.
Four years later:
"Happy Birthday Ciel!"
Bemusedly, you watched from the side of the bed as the person underneath the sheets shifted and soon the blankets were pulled down, revealing the young adult male who had been beneath them. Exhausted eyes, one blue and the other purple in color that had a symbol inside, tiredly pulled from the pillow to where you stood and seeing that they were focused, you gave the young male a smile.
"Happy birthday! You're finally eighteen Ciel!" You chorused, watching in amusement as the earl groaned before turning on his side and pulling the covers back over his head. Amusedly, you chuckled at this, leaning forward to grab onto the sheets and pull them back down to show the young adult who groaned once again and covered his face with his bare arms.
"Can't you let me sleep," he muttered, exhaustion heavy in his voice and you could only watch the boy in amusement from where you stood at the bedside. "Why must you wake me up today of all days?" Ciel shifted once again, pulling his arms down so that his face was on full display and ever so slowly, his eyelids rose to display the blue and purple color of his eyes once again. His eyes focused onto you, gazing up from where he laid sideways on his bed.
"Come on Ciel. It's your birthday and you're finally eighteen. Shouldn't you be more excited because of that?" You bemusedly asked, leaning forward so that you were closer to where the earl laid. He continued to stare up from where he laid beneath you, the hints of amusement swirling in those tired eyes of his. A small smile grew on Ciel's face, the male shifting so that he could sit up from where he laid, the covers shifting to fall lower on his figure.
You shifted back as he sat up, but remained near the bed watching as he rested against the headboard. Tiredly he reached up to brush away the strands of hair that hung over his eyes, the earl having let his hair grow out over the years. The earl had matured so much over the past four years; no longer was he the skinny boy that you once knew, he had grown to become a respectable young adult.
"Why should I be happy just because its my birthday?"
One would assume that he was being brusque and nonchalant in his reply, but for you, you could hear the slight amusement that hung in his tone and you gave him another smile, reaching over to ruffle his hair.
"Hmm, because you're now an adult and you're still here with us. Not to mention as adult, you can do all kinds of stuff," you reasoned, bemusedly smiling down at the young adult as you continued to ruffled his hair.
"Enough with that." Ciel caught your hand by grasping onto your wrist, preventing you from disheveling it up even more and you simply smiled down at him playfully. There was humorous smile on the earl's face as he stared up, your faces just mere inches apart. There was an indistinguishable expression in his eyes as he stared into your own, but he soon pushed away your hand and looked away for a moment.
"For an adult you still act like a child," he huffed, acting as if he was exasperated with your actions, but a smile coated his lips. He shifted in the bed, the covers sliding further down his lean figure as he moved closer to the side of the bed and you backed up to give him room to do so. "Besides, I was already taking care of adult matters when I was fourteen."
"True, but it's not like you could drink alcohol then," you light bantered, earning a chuckle from the earl.
"I think I'll stick with Earl Grey," Ciel humorously replied, sweeping his feet out from underneath the covers and stood up from the bed. This time you had to look up at him, the earl having gotten taller throughout the years something that always reminded you that the earl had significantly aged throughout your time living here at the Phantomhive Manor.
"That sounds like you," you laughed, watching as he headed over to grab several clothes from a drawer that was on the opposite side of the room. Seeing this, you sat down on the soft comforts of the bed watching as the earl walked over to the washroom that was connected to the bedroom to clean up for the morning.
As Ciel entered, he closed the door behind him and you took the liberty of waiting for him on his bed. Few things had changed in the last four years since your time at the Phantomhive Manor. Elizabeth had gotten married just months prior and Soma had left for his homeland two years ago so it had been a while since you had last seen him. You rarely saw the reapers as they were busy and Undertaker was no where to be seen. The only thing that remained consistent was those at the Phantomhive Manor. The servants remained their idiotic selves and Sebastian continued to follow orders as directed of Ciel.
The door to the washroom opened and out stepped Ciel wearing a pristine blackish-blue and white attire, the earl tugging at the collar of the top. Bemusedly, you ran your eyes across his figure, taking in the way it fit the earl.
"To think that all those years ago you couldn't put your clothes on correctly without the help of Sebastian or me," you chuckled, standing up from the bed and heading over to where the taller male stood.
Ciel's cheeks instantly reddened, his eyebrows narrowing ever so slightly. "That was years ago! I'm perfectly capable of dressing myself!" He deeply proclaimed, the hues of his cheeks clearly indicating that he was embarrassed. He rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes looking away for a second in a sheepish manner.
You lightly laughed at his reaction, finding it to be cute and you grabbed his eyepatch from the nightstand before walking over to stand at his side. "Still its cute remembering how you used to be like that," you said, looking up at the taller male and handed the eyepatch over to him.
His blue and purple eyes trailed down from your face and to the eyepatch that was in your hand. "Thanks," he said, reaching down to grab the eyepatch and he placed it over the eye that had the seal in it.
Pouting ever so slightly, you turned to stop at the door to his room and looked back over to find the earl approaching you. "It's be nice to see both of your eyes without one being covered by an eye patch all the time," you remarked, waiting for him to join you at your side.
"I got to cover it to hide the mark," he protested once he had reached your side and he reached over to open the door and together, the two of you stepped out into the hallway.
"I know, but it'd be nice to see them," you stated with a small smile one that made Ciel chuckle in response. "Any plans for your birthday?"
"I don't plan on doing a single thing for it," Ciel replied, looking down to where you walked on his left and you sighed upon hearing his answer, the same answer that you had heard for the last four years.
"There's really nothing that you want to do?" You asked of the young adult and Ciel simply shook his head in response.
"There's really no need to do anything. Besides I have work that I must do," he stated, continuing to head through the manor and you realized that he was walking towards his study room.
Immediately you slid in front of the earl stopping him from continuing in the direction and he curiously stared down at you wondering what you were up to.
"If I remember correctly the queen gave you the day of since it was your birthday," you teasingly remarked, causing the earl to look to the side with a disgruntled look on his face.
"Where are you going at with this?" He inquisitively asked, but there was a mirthful tone in his voice as he looked down at where he was standing in front of you.
"Which means that you don't have to do any work for the day," you playfully answered, giving him a playful smile and noted that a small one was forming on the earl's face. "I heard that there was a winter fair happening in town. I'm sure that it would be nice to go and check it out."
Ciel was quiet, but there was an amused smile on his face and he finally sighed before giving a small nod of his head, "Alright then. Since you're so determined on making sure that I celebrate my birthday."
"Really!" You proclaimed, your smile growing upon his words and Ciel nodded his head in confirmation, chuckling a little at your actions and he gazed down upon you fondly.
"Fine let's go tell the servants. If you hadn't insisted on me doing something, I'm sure they would have," he grumbled underneath his breath, clearly exasperated upon thinking about the servants and you could only laugh, this earning a fond smile from Ciel.
"I'm sure that they'll be happy to hear!" You merrily proclaimed and you grabbed onto his hand, the action making his eye widen for the fragment of a second before he bemusedly chuckled and follow after you.
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"Are you coming?"
You shifted in the seat and looked the the door of the carriage, Ciel having already stepped out once the carriage had come to a halt. After informing the others and Sebastian that Ciel had decided to go to the Winter Fair for the day; Mey-Rin, Finny, and Baldroy ecstatic upon hearing such while Sebastian had simply came on orders of Ciel.
"Sorry for the wait." You shifted to move closer to the exit, eyes widening for a moment upon seeing Ciel offering his hand up the stairs of the carriage to help you down. Blushing ever the slightly, you took his hand with a smile, the earl returning the gesture with one of your own and he helped you stepped down. "Thanks."
The others had already exited the wagon that they rode, already happily departing into the winter fair while Sebastian watched them with a shake of his head exasperated.
Even once you had stepped onto the ground, Ciel remained holding onto your hand, something that you didn't mind and you took the time to look around the winter fair. It was frigid cold, but with the warm clothes you wore, it was bearable for the time being. The Winter Fair reminded you of the Frost Fair that was held those years ago on the Thames river, the same fair where you had found the rest of the Kumo.
"I haven't been to a winter fair in such a long time," you remarked turning to look at Ciel who had been examining the fair before he turned to face you upon hearing these words. "Reminds me of the frost fair that we went to all those years ago. Now that was fun."
"As long as there are no ice statue competition then everything will be fine," Ciel amusedly replied.
"But we won that year though."
"It still was quite a hassle." Ciel exasperatedly sighed upon remembering the event from those years ago. "Well are we going to go around?" He asked, looking down at you and quickly, you nodded your head while giving the taller male a smile.
"Of course! I heard that there was food from the northern regions and I wanted to try some," you remarked, continuing to grasp onto Ciel's hand and soon you led him further into the fair, ignoring the people that passed by the two of you. Under the cool breeze that blew pass, you slightly shivered only to flinch upon feeling the hood of your coat be pulled over your head.
"If you're cold be sure to wear this. I wouldn't want you to be getting sick any time soon." Ciel lowered his hand, having been the one who had placed the hood further onto your head and he gave you a warm smile, a soft expression in his eyes that made you look away, warmth spreading across your cheeks.
"Thanks," you softly said and unconsciously your grip on his hand tightened while you continued to look to the side. Bashfully you looked back coming to find that Ciel was softly gazing down at you, that indistinguishable expression once again in his royal blue eye.
Ciel smiled and with that he begun to lead the two of you further into the Winter Fair, navigating around the people that transvers along the snow ridden path. The fair itself was lively. Booths had been set up along the pathway that the two of you walked along, vendors selling food, merchandise or even showing off small acts to draw in the attention of those that passed. You wondered where the servants and Sebastian had run off to, but you simply shrugged knowing that wherever the three were they were probably having fun.
"Is there anything that you were looking for here?" Ciel asked, gazing down from where he walked on your left, his hand still grasping onto your own as he led you through the fair.
"Not really actually. I'm just interesting in seeing what they have here." You answered the tall earl with a shake of your head, giving him a smile as your eyes drew ahead. "See, like those ice sculptures over there." With your hands still grasped together, you raised them to point at several ice sculptures that were just off in the distance. "Let's go check them out later in the day!"
"Just when I said that I didn't want to see any ice sculptures," Ciel grumbled under his breath though it was still loud enough for you to hear and you lightly laughed at this, the noise earning a sheepish, but amused smile from the taller male.
"Hey at least Viscount Druitt isn't here," you remarked remembering the blond hair male from all those years ago.
"That's the only thing that's good," Ciel responded from where he walked and he visible shivered something that made you laugh once again.
"If it isn't the young Earl Phantomhive and the lovely miss (Y/N)."
At the familiar voice, both Ciel and you came to a stop and you found that the two of you were standing next to a large lavish tent, the scent of exotic foods coming from inside. The flap of the tent opened and the familiar figure of Lau came out, Ran-Mao accompanying the man close to his side.
"Lau, its been a while," you greeted the Chinese nobleman causing him to look over to where you stood. It had been a while since you had last seen the nobleman and Ran-Mao and it was nice to that they were doing well.
"It sure has. I'm glad to see that the two of you are doing well," Lau remarked, turning from both Ciel and you as he stated this. Although Ciel would sometimes cooperate with Lau regarding a case that the Queen had sent him, this would rarely happen as Ciel mostly got cases regarding other matters. "So what are the two of you doing here at the Winter Fair together?" There was a intrusive amused tone in the nobleman's words and you noted the small coy smile that was on his face.
"Ciel actually decided to bring the Phantomhive Manor here for the day," you responded, warmth spreading onto your face knowing what Lau was hinting towards. From your peripherals you noted that Ciel's blue eye had turned to look at you, the hints of amusement in them. "Well I managed to convince and drag him here for the day."
"That sounds like what I had expected," Lau humored, turning to look at Ciel who glanced over to the side. "Oh, if I were to spare a few words with you my lord."
Seeing this you pulled your hand away from Ciel, the earl sharply looking over to you and he sighed. "I'll talk with him for a moment. You go on, I'll catch up with him once I'm finished."
"Alright. I won't be too far away." Giving the earl a smile and a small farewell wave to Lau and Ran-Mao, you turned and headed further into the winter fair.
With the two of them talking, you trudged down the snow covered path before stopping at a stand that was selling curry buns. "I'll have one," you said to the vendor who handed a fresh curry bun once you had paid for it. Thanking the man you continued to walk down the path softly biting into the soft bun as you walked.
The soft bun reminded you of the past, those distant memories from so long ago and a sense of nostalgic melancholy washed through you upon thinking about them. To think that it had been six years since you had lived in the Phantomhive Manor. You would never take that time for granted as you were grateful that you had found a place, a home at the manor.
A fond smile crossed your lips upon thinking this. Not only were you thankful to the servants and Sebastian, but to Ciel as well. Throughout the four years the two of you had gotten closer than before and at times, you found yourself relying on the earl, in fact caring about him more than you had before. And to see him become who he was today, a young adult at that made you proud of the earl and you were sure that Angelina would too if she was still here.
Stretching for a moment, you felt the way your shirt slightly rise up to reveal a sliver of your back and you shivered upon the cold breeze blowing onto it.
"So this is where you went."
At the voice you turned around to find Ciel walking over clearly done with his conversation with Lau. The smile that was on your face slightly faltered upon realizing that there was a disquieted look on his face and he was looking in the area where your shirt had risen up in. There was no doubt that he had caught a glimpse of the long scar that crossed your shoulder, the same scar that you had gotten when Malcom had slashed you all those years ago.
"It doesn't hurt or anything," you reassured, reaching forward to grab onto his hand as if to reassure him and Ciel's gaze trailed from the grasped hands and up into your eyes. You gave him another smile once the two of you had made eye contact and at this, the earl deeply sighed before giving you the slivers of a smile.
Not wanting him to worry anymore, you decided that it would be best to change the subject. "Abberline said that he'd be coming to the manor next week," you stated remembering that the Scotland yard member had told you this when the two of you had run into each other just last week.
"He's always adamant on visiting," Ciel mumbled underneath his breath though you could see the pleased expression that was on his face.
"But I can tell that you're always looking forward to when he does," you teased, this causing the earl to look to the side his cheeks tinted with the hints of a blush.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
You laughed at Ciel's protest before gripping his hand more and tugging him further into the fair still wanting to explore the rest of the winter fair.
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The day had flown by since all of you had arrived at the Winter Fair and it wasn't long before night had settled over the Winter Fair. From those that worked at the Fair you found that there would be fireworks later in the day and you were looking forward to seeing them. As the fair was coming to a close for the day, Ciel and you had headed to the area where the fireworks would be displayed, coming to reunite with the other.
Standing at Ciel's side you excitedly stared up into the dark night sky waiting for when the fireworks would begin. The servants and Sebastian stood in front; the servants sitting on blankets on the ground while Sebastian stood near them. However, Ciel and you remained standing behind them, staring up into the sky and continuing to wait.
A squeeze on your hand made you look to where the earl stood on your left and you gave him a smile, growing concerned upon seeing the contemplative expression that was on his face.
"Is something wrong Ciel? Don't tell me that you're not having any fun?"
Ciel shook his head, his long hair shifting in response and he slightly turned to face you. From here you noticed that his hand was in his pocket seeming to shift something in there and you trailed from his pocket to his eyes noticing that he was gazing down upon you tenderly.
"Everything's fine. Thanks for worrying about me though." Ciel lightly smiled this causing a smile to grow onto your own face and you lightly squeezed his hand.
The earl cleared his throat as it seemed that he appreciated the light squeeze that you had given to his hand. "I'm glad that you convinced me to come here for the day. It was enjoyable being here with you." He paused for a moment, the earl looking down to the ground before fixing his single blue eye into your own gaze. "Thank you (Y/N)."
"For what?"
"For keeping your promise all those years ago; for staying by my side for all of these years." There was a soft expression on his face as he stepped closer to where you stood. "Even after all these years, the feelings that I have for you have never changed. I'm eighteen now and I'm not going to suppress then anymore." He stepped closer, his figure hovering above you, however, you remained where you stood, watching the earl as a fond expression settled over your face.
"You're not the only one who's been waiting."
Ciel paused at your words, disbelief swirling in his eye before a fond smile settled on his face, one that reached his eye and he reached forward to place a hand onto your cheek. "Do you really reciprocate what I'm feeling?"
A small amused smile grew on your face as you nodded your head in response. "After all these years why wouldn't I."
That was all Ciel needed to hear as he leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on your lips, the action surprisingly gentle and you relaxed underneath the touch, closing your eyes in the process. The moment was over before you realized it and you blinked up to find the earl tenderly gazing down at you, the corner of his eye slightly pulled down in a fond manner.
He suddenly reached into his pocket taking out an object from it and curiously you watched as he held it out in his hand. You gasped ever the slightest upon realizing that it was a ring, the very same ring that Angelina had given you when you infiltrated Viscount Druitt's party.
"I won't ask you now since I'm sure that it's too soon for you, but at least think it over."
You were unsure about what he was talking about, but he reached to grasp your left hand, holding it up and in disbelief you watched as he slid it onto your ring finger.
"Ciel..."
"I told you once before that I can wait. And I don't mind waiting for your answer."
You opened your mouth the speak, but was cut off upon loud booms erupting from above and startled, you glanced up to find fireworks of versatile colors lighting up the night sky, the sight gaining excited exclamations from those around you. However, you turned from the sight focusing your attention back onto Ciel who had continued to watch you rather then the fireworks. With a sincere smile, you raised yourself up close to the hearing range of the earl.
"I'm glad that I'm here with you Ciel."
Ciel's single blue eye was wide at your words before they softly relaxed as a large, warm smile crossed his face, and for the first time you could say that this was one the happiest times you had ever seen the earl. "Thank you for staying by my side (Y/N)."