Ciel

Fran ended up spending the night and all I can say is that it was pure bliss to have her sleeping in my arms. What wasn’t pleasant was waking up to a burning smell and an empty bed. I bolted up in my bed as I searched for Fran, the worse situation played in my mind. Maybe Fran was on fire or trapped somewhere with fire either one sent my heart panicking.

The blanket got tangled with my legs so when I tried running out of my bedroom I fell face first to the ground. I groaned in pain as I pushed myself up and rushed out of the room. I expected my living room to be up in flames with a Fran in the middle shouting out for help instead I saw a panicking Fran in the kitchen. She seemed to be cooking, trying to cook at least.

Black smoke was coming out from one of the pans as burnt toast sat in the toaster. Her eyes were wide with fear as they darted all over the kitchen, she grabbed her hair in frustration. “Why is this so hard?” I heard her whisper.

I slowly walked towards the kitchen with a smirk on my face. She didn’t notice my presence so I cleared my throat. She gave a small shriek as she jumped and dropped the lid of one of the pots.

“Good morning Ciel.” she stuttered. I leaned on the counter and replied “Good morning Fran. May I ask what on earth are you doing?”

“Uhh…” she uttered as a cute blush covered her face. I smirked even more at how flustered she was getting. It would’ve been nice to see her cooking with just an apron on.

Once she noticed my smirk her cute blush quickly faded and was replaced with her infamous frown. She grabbed a spatula as she pointed it at me as if it was a deadly weapon.

“Don’t you dare make fun of me, I’ll burn you as well if that’s the case. If you haven’t noticed I’m actually cooking beef stew.” she announced proudly. I walked around the counter and peeked into the pot to see what seemed to be a lump of beef stew, I swear it had an evil aura to it.

“I’d understand if you don’t want to eat the breakfast I cooked.” she said. Knowing that Fran cooked something for me was enough for me. I shook my head as I started serving us each of her beef stew. “You don’t really have to eat it. I’m not much of a cook so I can tell that eating that would be bad for your health.” she explained.

“Nonsense! I’m eating it because you cooked it.” I said. I love that when I say something and she would blush. It made her look sexy. Her cooking might be not that pretty but one thing I did notice was the coffee in our cups looked absolutely delicious.

“If you’re not much of a cook then how did you manage with Fancy Cups?” I asked.

“I can bake and make a mean cup of coffee. I usually leave the cooking to either Angela or Stephen. They’ve been working for me since we opened.” she said.

“I know.” I said as I sent her a wink. We sat at the counter with the lump of beef stew, burnt toast, and a cup of beautiful coffee. She stared at her stew then glanced at her toast. She bowed her head and groaned “I’m such a failure at being a female.”

I chuckled as I shook my head. I turned her seat so she was facing me since she sat next to me. I leaned towards her so our nose were touching. “You’re definitely not a failure.” I said as I caressed her chin. “You’re just skilled in some other areas where some other women aren’t. We all are unique.”

I was about to devour her lips until the front door slammed open. Fran jumped out of her seat making sure there was distance between us as I turned around, completely annoyed with whoever interrupted our moment.

“Ciel, you don’t look too bad this time.” Ezra commented on my fighting injuries. “Can’t say the same thing about you.” I snapped at him.

“Good morning Ms. Blake.” Ezra greeted Fran as he eyed the shirt and sweatpants that she was wearing, obviously they were mine. She’s also mine. So it’s not a big deal.

“Good morning Ezra. Please call me Fran or Francesca.” she said.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your morning but I have some business with Ciel.” he explained his abrupt visit. I got up from my seat as I stood in front of Ezra.

“What?” I asked in an unfriendly manner.

“I’m going to France this Sunday. Mom and dad suggested to take you with me.” Ezra said.

“How long?” I asked.

“Half a year.” he answered. My eyes flicked over to Fran who looked worried. I smirked as I close my eyes. She should have more faith in me. I just promised her that I’d protect her so there was no way in hell I would leave her.

“Sorry brother but this time I’ll pass.” I told him. My brother frowned at me and said “They won’t be happy about this.”

“Since when have they ever been happy about my decisions?” I asked him as I sat down at the counter and slowly dug into the lump of beef stew. I could feel Fran’s eyes on me as I took my first bite. The stew had an overwhelming flavor of burnt beef, at first it was alright that’s until the taste started making me cough.

I gave out a violent cough as I felt a hand hitting my back for support. I looked up to see a worried Fran. “I told you we shouldn’t be eating this. It’s bad for our health… For all we know it could be poison.” she said.

“What the hell are you eating?” Ezra suddenly asked as he stared at our plates in confusion. I frowned at Ezra who wasn’t leaving yet. “Go home Ezra. My decision is final. I’m not going to France.” I told him.

“They won’t be happy about this.” he said once more then he turned towards Fran and said “Take care of him Ms. Bla… I mean Francesca.” I saw Fran gave him a nod and it made me happy that she agreed to take care of me. Ezra gave me another frown before exiting my apartment.

Silence enveloped the room. I was about to take another bite of the stew until Fran smacked the spoon out of my hands, it clattered on the ground. “Don’t you dare eat more of that or else we might end up in the emergency room.” she said with that cute frown upon her face.

I grinned at her and offered “Would you prefer to cook something else?” Her whole body tensed at the suggestion. She hastily shook her head and said “No, I’ll leave the cooking to you for now on. You can leave the drinks to me.”

“So that means we’ll have more mornings like this?” I asked. Her whole face instantly turned red. Just seeing her like that excites me in so many ways. It’s hard to always fight the urge to be near her. I craved the simplest of touch from her, it could be the brush of her shoulder or the touch of her fingers just to make my body burn with desire. Only she could stop my horrible decision making and bring me to my knees with just a touch.

Fran avoided eye contact as she sat back down in her chair as she took a sip of her coffee. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that I’m actually dating Fran and that she’s inside my apartment. I’ve always thought that she was something that’s too good for me that I could never have her.

Yet here she was. All mine.

I walked up behind Fran who was concentrated on her drink that she didn’t notice me. I leaned forward as I wrapped my arms around her and pressed my chest to her back. I buried my head in her beautiful red hair wanting to drown in nothing but the scent of strawberries.

Zen was right, I am whipped. I bet my parents and Ezra are laughing how a young girl can bring the Ciel Storm to his knees. I was notorious in the Storm family for rebelling against my parent’s wishes and breaking away from family tradition.

Following my own path has led me to Francesca, my Habanero.

“I love you.” I mumbled into her hair. I didn’t expect an answer back, knowing her she’d probably scowl or blush. That’s until I heard her small voice softly spoke “I… love you… too.” I could sense that she wasn’t sure if she should say it out loud. I’m just glad that she did.

I scooped her up into my arms catching her off guard. Out of happiness I spun her around the open area making her squeal in delight. She laughed as I kept spinning her round and round. Her laugh was the absolutely most beautiful thing I have ever heard.

I knew that I wanted to hear that laugh for the rest of my life.