Ciel's rough coughs were what woke him from his dreams abruptly. He continued to cough as he opened his eyes, his chest aching painfully with each jolt that electrified his body. His vision was blurry and he felt disoriented and confused when he did not see the familiar navy blue canopy hanging above his four poster bed. The breaths that escaped from his mouth were hoarse and raspy still and he was shaking, his face burning up despite the cold towel that was stuck to his forehead. 

It was clearly very early in the morning as the tent where he lay was still hidden in the semi-darkness that came just before the Sun peaked over the horizon. There was not a sound to be heard, yet Ciel could feel something against his back. Shaking himself awake a little more he tried to determine what he could feel. He soon identified it as the slow and methodical thumping of someone's heartbeat. 

"Sebastian?" he called subconsciously in a hoarse whisper as he turned over to face the direction of the heartbeat.

Upon turning over, he found his nose gently pressed up against the nose of the person who lay there. Opening his half-closed, sleepy eyes he soon found that it was not in fact Sebastian... It was Doll. 

Yelping out in fright, he quickly sat up and shuffled backwards away from the sleeping figure. The towel that had been on his head flopped onto his leg as his breath quickened and he gripped the blanket within his tightly balled up fist. She had told him she didn't like sleeping alone, but he wasn't aware that she would even sleep with him when he was in hospital. 

He looked back at Doll's sleeping figure curled up directly next to where he had been laying and he felt his face burning up intensely. His heart was beating hard and he wiggled about at the strange, fluttering sensation blossoming within his chest. 

"This damn asthma attack..." he muttered, trying to brush this off as he turned his face away from Doll.

His eyes soon found themselves back on Doll and he couldn't help but lay his head on his shoulder, admiring the girl who lay before him. 

The first time he had seen Doll had been during the show when she had given her tightrope performance. He thought of how she had looked then... As light as feather as her body bent and curved beautifully on that thin piece of rope. From where he had been sat, it had been difficult to see the rope she had been  balancing on so it looked as if she were walking on the air itself. Dressed in the most beautiful shade white she had looked like an angel as the whole crowd fell silent, watching her breathtaking figure. Her visible sapphire eye sparkled in contrast next to the white roses that she wore around her head and Ciel remembered the way each of her body parts arced, forming beautiful curves that had been highlighted in the spotlights surrounding the tent. She had already received her round of applause and was beginning to make her way off the tightrope, yet Ciel couldn't seem to stop staring at her.

He looked at her now, completely differing to the way she looked when she was on stage but still just as beautiful. Her short, brown hair was spread against the white sheets she lay against, showcasing each strand curled gently from the messy style she kept it in. Her eyelashes were short but seemed to be accentuated now beneath her closed eyes against her somewhat pale complexion. The only brighter shade on her skin would be her gentle pink cheeks that highlighted her youth and childlike innocence in her complete vulnerability before Ciel. Her lips were rugged, but still painted with a slight pink tint that made them slightly more plump than Ciel would have imagined. There was a small, unconscious smile stuck to her mouth and Ciel found his face heating up once more when he saw this.

Ciel lay back down once more, still facing Doll. He spent a while simply lying there, admiring every little crevice of her face in its subtle beauty. Whilst he lay there, the Sun had begun to rise and so Ciel was allowed to see more of her face than when they had both been in the dark. He saw her familiar freckles that scattered across the bridge of her nose and the tops of her cheeks, making her seem all the more cute. Despite being somewhat dimmed by the walls of the tent, the Sun still illuminated Doll in an almost angelic light, making her otherwise dark hair shine and glow with life.

All of a sudden, Doll began to fidget and Ciel could see the signs of discontent on her face... She was having a nightmare. 

Shuffling forward so that he was closer to her, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. He stroked the back of her short locks gently, trying his best to soothe her as he of all people knew how frightening nightmares could be. She soon began to settle down once more, that smile coming back to her mouth as she subconsciously nuzzled into Ciel's chest. 

Ciel could feel the warmth of her body so close to his own and he couldn't stop the smile that was so very rare for him. She was so cute when she slept... In fact, she was even pretty cute when she was awake. He admitted, she was a pesky, annoying brat to say the least but there was something so innocent and pure about her that he couldn't hate a fiber of her body even if he tried. If she could see the good in someone like him, she must be special after all.

He noticed her sweet smell whenever he breathed in and was pleasantly surprised. He hadn't expected someone who lived in a circus to smell so nice. Burying his face within her mess of brown hair, he pulled her into him a little tighter as he became intoxicated from her scent alone, his heart beating that little bit faster again.

"Smile...?" she muttered in a low tone, her voice slightly muffled by Ciel's chest. 

Once again, Ciel yelped in shock as he quickly released her from his arms and shuffled backwards from her. 

"D-Doll! I-I was, erm..." he quickly rambled, trying to formulate an excuse.

Doll looked at him and could see his face had turned bright red in embarrassment. She simply smiled at this, giggling slightly as she sat up and leaned over to him. Not allowing him to speak another word, she pressed her lips against his and kissed him sweetly.

Ciel was taken aback at this sudden expression of passion from the tomboyish girl before him, but that wasn't to say it was not a pleasant surprise. 

Doll eventually pulled away from Ciel, still with a smile stuck to her lips as she looked up at him with her blue gaze. She laughed upon seeing his flustered expression, only ever being given a vision of his normally stern face. It was nice to see another insight into this mysterious boy, finding out his secrets being part of the fun of being his friend. 

"You're funny, Smile," she giggled, that familiar cockney accent wrapping itself around her words. 

"At least give me a warning before you do something like that," he huffed, still red in the face. 

"Why? It was only a kiss, nothing to fret over!" she teased, poking his red cheek.

Ciel didn't respond, still refusing to look at her. She smiled once more at this, laying back on the bed. The Sun was already on its way up to mark the start of the morning, yet she found herself still feeling sleepy after the shock of the previous night. 

"You know something, Smile? I think Joker gave you that name because you're good at making others smile," she said, reaching up and stroking Ciel's hands with her fingers gently as she closed her eyes.

She soon fell back into the depths of sleep, her hand still positioned on top of Ciel's. He looked at her with a sigh as he interlocked his hand with hers, lying down next to her as he did so.

"I beg to differ..." he muttered, casting his eyes downwards.  

The two lay a nose length away from one another so Ciel could feel Doll's slow, gentle breaths dance across his skin. He found himself falling back asleep, lulled into his dreams by Doll's methodical breathing. Their hands remained tightly locked together as they both slept, unaware of the lives they had both lived that would one day drive the two so far apart they would hardly recognise each other in the new light they found themselves in. 

A little while later and a flash of black appeared in the room, manifesting itself into the shape of Ciel's tall butler, Sebastian. A smirk crossed his mouth when he saw his master intertwined with this girl, both sleeping soundly. 

"Oh dear, my lord. What will Lady Elizabeth say when she finds out a noble such as yourself shared a bed with a girl from the circus?" he teased, speaking to himself. 

He walked over to their bedside table and placed upon it a vase of flowers. They were stunningly bright, white roses that shined in the light of the morning Sun, Sebastian having washed them before placing them here. They were the exact same flower as the kind Doll always wore when she was performing, this being no accident on Sebastian's part. 

After he had adjusted the roses so they were exactly to his liking, he picked up the towel that had fallen from Ciel's head and placed it back there gently. He pulled the blanket from the bed so that it was sufficiently covering the two before smiling at the both of them.

Turning around, he walked back towards the entrance of the tent, leaving the two alone in their silent euphoria together.