When Lizzie walked into Ciel's study, she knew exactly what to expect. She knew Ciel would be sitting at his desk, and working without rest. But what she hadn't expected was to find Ciel sitting on his desk, a slimline cigarette holder nestled between his fingers, and exhaling the smoke of the tobacco stick slowly. He was staring out of the window of his study. For once, his eye patch wasn't on his eye, and rather, on the desk next to him. Lizzie was astonished to find that his eye was indeed intact, yet there was some sort of symbol in the iris. Which was much better than to find he had no eye at all.

"Ciel?"

The earl turned to stare at Lizzie, but his expression remained the same. He took the time to put his cigarette out, and beckoned the girl over. Of course, Lizzie hesitated, so he took the opportunity to speak up. "Close the door, and lock it."

And so she did.

She took timid steps towards him, ignoring the stench of burning tobacco mixed with the faint scent of lavender candles. When he nodded towards the empty chair behind the desk, the blonde took the time to walk around the desk and sit inside of it. Lizzie had so many questions, but she couldn't move her lips enough to voice them aloud. Ciel spoke first. "I realize that I can't fight my battles by myself." He began.

"B...battles?"

"That's right." He placed his palm to his cheek, so that I could see the marked eye through parted fingers. "I'm going to tell you. I'm going to tell you everything. And then, I'm going to ask you to do me a favor. But you have to promise to do the favor if I tell you, okay?"

Lizzie nodded slowly, dumbfounded. She wondered what the favor would be, and wondered what he was going to tell her. He's going to tell you that he couldn't ever love you as anything more than a cousin.

Trying to ignore that intrusive thought, Lizzie focused on Ciel. "Okay." He breathed. "That one month. You know what I'm talking about… when I disappeared." Lizzie nodded slowly. Yes, she remembered it vividly. He stared off and hesitated. After a long moment of silence, Lizzie reached out and touched his hand, then pulled it close to her heart and held it with both of her strong hands.

"You don't have to tell me anything if you're not ready, Ciel. But please remember that I will always be here if you do need someone to talk to." His gaze softened.

"Okay."

And then parted lips spilled a story that made Lizzie's heart squeeze and tears roll down her cheeks. Every detail, and he recalled them picturesquely, seemed to be even more horrible than the last, and eventually, Lizzie stood up and threw her arms around his body and pulled him close. As close as she could. Now she knew why her darling Ciel could never smile again. Why he could never be happy again.

And how selfish you were to think that you were the reason making him unhappy.

Instead of feeling sorry for herself because of that intrusive thought, she felt a rage boil within the pit of her stomach. Upon further inspection of the feeling, she found it wasn't rage, but rather, a thirst for revenge. To give all of those who did her beloved wrong, a taste of their own revolting medicine. He slowly wrapped his arms around her, and stroked the small of her back up and down to try and calm her. And it worked. She was so glad he'd opened up to her. Bottling all of those hideous thoughts up…

Must have hurt him so much.

He reluctantly pulled away and stared Lizzie deep in her eyes. She realized that she hadn't been the only one crying, though he hid his sobs extremely well. To the point where someone may as well have just dripped water on his cheeks. Lizzie swiped her thumbs over his rosy cheeks, wiping the tears on his skin away. "You're so strong, Ciel…" She whispered. "So, so strong…"

He looked away, exhaling slowly, and then looked back towards her. "Now, the favor…"

"Anything," she said. "I'll do anything."

He took her hand, and moved it so that her finger pressed at his bottom eyelid. "Gouge it out."

Lizzie went stone stiff.

"Gouge it out, Elizabeth. Please. I don't need revenge. I don't need it if I'm going to continue to lose the rest of the things that I love. I turned my back on you once, I'm never doing it again. Please." We were both crying again. "And don't take your time. Sebastian will know something is happening to the contract as soon as you touch it."

Lizzie nodded, and exhaled, mentally prepping herself for what she was about to perform. Just do it. He asked you to. He begged you to. She chewed on the corner of her lower lip. I can't do this. I couldn't-

He gripped her wrist as tight has he could, making her fingers fan out suddenly, and he stumbled over his words, before formulating the necessary sentence. "Do it, Lizzie."

He called you Lizzie.

She took in another sharp breath, and without thinking about it, jabbed her pointer finger beneath the eyeball in his socket. He bit down on his hand, giving a muffled scream of pain, to which Lizzie flinched. She wasted no time, knowing she had to hurry. Shuddering at the disgusting feel of fluid and mush, she swirled her finger around the eye and attempted to nudge it out. When that wouldn't work, she used the rest of her fingers to grip the eye and yank it out, throwing it to the ground and gagging. Blood and other liquids had permanently stained her and Ciel's clothing.

As soon as Ciel recovered, he gathered his whims and slammed his foot onto the disembodied eye, earning another horrified hack from Lizzie. Turning back to her and brushing her blonde bangs out of her eyes, he spoke softly. "Thank you."

He went on to hold Lizzie, and she held him back, squeezing their eyes shut as they heard the door slam open. Yes, they knew what this would entail.

But at least they'd be together until the end.