Painting Myself Red (Grelliam)

Six

(Grell's POV)

I was awoken by a knock at the door of my apartment. I sleepily rolled over and looked at the clock; it was 10:30. Who could possibly be calling on me at this hour? My question was answered upon hearing an all-too-familiar voice from outside my apartment.

"Grell, I need to talk to you," Will said from the other side of the door. No. It couldn't be him. I didn't have the strength to face him.

So I curled up in a ball and laid there, silently willing him to leave.

"Grell, please, open the door," Will said. I continued to lie there in my fetal position, unmoving. Maybe if I didn't answer, he would think I was asleep and leave.

"Grell," Will said my name yet again, and yet again, I remained silent. After a moment I heard him sigh, then receding footsteps and the opening and closing of the door downstairs. I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding and scrambled for my razor.

I rolled up my sleeve and cut, drowning myself in the pain. Why would he pretend to care? I put the razor back on my bedside table and curled back up into a fetal position, sleep not finding me again until sunrise.

(Will's POV)

After several attempts to get Grell to open the door, I walked back downstairs and out the door, defeated. I sighed. I didn't want to have to talk to her about this during work hours, but it was inevitable. During work was the only time I could corner her, as she was clearly avoiding me.

Five blocks later, I walked into my own home and crawled into bed, not knowing what tomorrow would bring.

*Timeskip to a few days later*

(Sebastian's POV)

[A/N: Yes, you read that correctly. You can fangirl/fanboy now. Done? Okay, moving on...]

"Sebastian, go find Grell and bring her to me. As annoying as she is, she may be able to help us with this case." my young master said with a sigh. Clearly he didn't want to see the flamboyant, flirtatious shinigami any more than I did, but it was inevitable. My master's job as the guard dog was to dispel Queen Victoria's worries, and this was the only way.

"At once, my lord," I replied grimly. I turned and left the study, dreading my meeting with the red-haired reaper.

I walked into the Shinigami Dispatch Building and approached the secretary's desk.

"Excuse me, miss," I said calmly "is Ms. Grell Sutcliff here?"

"Who wants to know?" she asked sharply.

"I am Sebastian Michaelis, a friend of hers," I replied, almost gagging on the word "friend".

"Yes, she's here," she replied curtly "Would you like me to call her down here for you?"

"Yes, that would be wonderful," I replied, hiding my obvious disgust with a smile.

The secretary punched a number into the phone on her desk. She spoke to the person on the other end, put the receiver down and addressed me again.

"She'll be down in a minute," she said crisply. "You can wait by the stairs."

I thanked her and walked over to the stairs she had gestured to. I braced myself, anticipating a high-pitched squeal and a red flash bolting down the stairs. However, the expected did not happen.

A man made his way down the stairs toward me. As he came to the bottom of the steps, I finally recognized him and had to suppress a gasp. The "man" was Grell, though she didn't look like herself at all. Her vibrant red hair was cut short, and instead of her usual red attire, she wore a black suit with a black tie. She still had her red glasses with the skull chain, but the eyes behind them had a different look in them. They were hopelessly sad, though she kept the rest of her face placid. She reached the bottom of the stairs and her eyes widened in surprise as she recognized me.

"Michaelis, what are you doing here?" Grell asked, finally addressing me without that horrid nickname.

"The young master has requested your presence at the manor to interrogate you," I replied "He thinks you can help him."

"Help him?" she asked puzzledly "With what?"

"I will explain when we get there." I replied.

"I can't possibly take off now," she said adjusting her glasses. "I have work to do."

"Surely you could spare at least a few minutes?" I asked, taking a step towards her so that we were only a few centimeters apart. She took a step back.

"No, I'm afraid I can't," she said coldly. She turned away, but I grabbed her wrist, turning her back around to face me. I could have sworn she winced as she wrestled her arm from my grasp and glared at me.

"Keep your hands off me, demon," she said icily. I just stood there as she walked back up the stairs, too shocked by her uncharacteristic behavior to follow. After she had disappeared from view, I composed myself and walked out of the Dispatch Building.

As I ran back to the manor, I couldn't help but wonder why Grell was behaving so out of character. I pushed the thought away. I didn't care, and it was none of my business anyway.

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Sorry for the lame ending. I couldn't think of any other way to end it so...yeah. :/ This chapter is dedicated to _Cat_Face_ because she gave me inspiration to include Sebby and Ciel in this fanfic. ^-^ Please leave me a comment I do appreciate them! See you next update, my dear readers!

~Gracie