A/N: Just to get everyone in the same boat, this has nothing to do with the manga/anime, for instance, alchemy is not included (sorry), and there's a different reason Ed loses his limbs. I also added some more technology, as in, computers, internet, cell phones, night clubs, etc. Also Central is considered the party capital of Amestris. There are three main clubs in Central, which are owned by Edward, Mustang, and Kimblee. This is mostly a romance, but there will be some mystery/drama. The story is written in POVs of different characters (mostly Ed) and for the most part it's as if the character is speaking to you.

Oh and another important snippet, Dreams are written in Italics without quotations, inner dialogue is written with italics AND quotations.

The rating is M because: sexual reference, sex scenes (later), strong language, use of drugs (alcohol).

Disclaimer: Oh yeah, and all hail Hiromu Arakawa for being a badass and creating Fullmetal Alchemist, because I obviously didn't.

CHAPTER ONE: My Club, My City

ED'S POV-

It was just another day. Money was easy, business was booming, and the annoying girlfriend was off somewhere probably driving someone else crazy. I smirked taking another swig of my beer. Living in Central was good; the people were lively, the night-life even livelier. My eyes gazed over the crowd of people moving together like waves on the ocean called the dance floor with the energizing sounds of techno music encircling them. It was a nice sight, to know that I created this. That these were my people, my own ingenuity, my own night club, Steel. Although I'd rarely admit it aloud, Alphonse does most of the paperwork. But then again I was putting him through college with the money I was saving on hired help from him working for me. "Equivalent Exchange," I had subconsciously thought. That's not completely true though, the amount of money I am banking off this establishment is enough to put three Alphonses through college without struggling financially. I looked over at Alphonse to see him looking longingly at the dance floor. Al loved to dance, like the fruit he was, but I knew who was down there. She was down there somewhere. I didn't want to run into Rose. She had only become clingier over time, like calling every hour of the day asking me where I was, yeah that kind of clingy. I was beginning to think I might break it off with her soon, but knowing her, I really don't want to know how she'll cope with it. She's overly obsessive, and she's probably going insane down there looking for me. As mean as it sounds, I had to sneak up to V.I.P and hide out in one of the booths with Al. Funny huh? Hiding in my own establishment…

"Brother," Al said, breaking my thoughts, "if she's really this bad why don't you talk to her about it?"

"Talk to her about what?" I snorted, "What Al? Tell her to change everything about her because everything she does pisses me off?" I took another swig of my beer, "Besides, people don't change."

Al thought I had some sort of relationship disorder. For some reason he has it in his mind I push people away.

Al, who was looking at me, took his eyes off me and gazed at the dance floor again, "Al, don't let me ruin your fun, I'm comfortable up here," I gave him what I hoped was a reassuring smile, "Go ahead and go find yourself a girl and dance."

"Are you sure?" I answered with a nod, "Alright brother, I'll be back in a little bit."

With that, I watched him leave his beer on the table and practically half run half dance down the stairs to the dance floor as a new powerful techno anthem started up. I smiled as I watched him throw himself into the crowd. He was so bad with girls, well, they loved him, absolutely adored him. But he was awkward about taking steps towards sexual relationships. Having looked away for a second and my eyes finding Al again, I watched as two other girls danced with him enthusiastically. It really made me smile, to see my brother so happy. He was the sole purpose I followed my dream, and the sole purpose of even living. A black figure stepped in front of me breaking my line of sight and I felt my stomach drop. "Shit," I thought, "here she comes…"

"Eddy! Where have you been?" she screamed across the second floor of my club as if she had lost her child. I cringed at the used of the nickname, not so much that I actually minded the name… it was just… her. "I've been looking ALL over for you," she overemphasized the "all" part.

I forced myself to smile a little, "Oh," I scratched the back of my head, "I was looking for you too, and then I figured I'd stay in one spot so you could find me." Man I was pretty good at lying when it came to her.

"I know! One second you were behind me dancing and then the next I turned around to find some pervert grinding his junk on me."

She had dragged me out on the dance floor earlier, I didn't want to dance. But like I said before… dancing really wasn't the problem… Well you know by now what is the problem, anyways, when she had turned her back to me to dance on me I casually moved back allowing some horny dickhead to step in front of me and take my place and then I just fled the dance floor in search of Al.

"Yeah I got shoved out of the crowd." She looked a little upset but I think it's what I didn't say that made her upset. I think, as far as relationships go, as the boyfriend I should be reeling about that horny dickhead rubbing on my girl, but I was getting tired of lying, so I didn't comment.

"Oh," she said her eyes looking down at her feet, "Oh yeah!" her face shot up now looking angrily into mine, "What's up with the security at the stairs, they wouldn't let me up here! I had to sneak up here! And why aren't you answering any of your texts?"

I gave a small nervous laugh. "My phone died earlier tonight," She was looking at me like I was a child who wasn't doing what he was told, or a dog that pissed on the carpet. Well I probably shouldn't have told them to not let her up here, but I just couldn't stand it anymore. "Really?" I said trying to sound surprised, fuck, this lying shit was getting old, "I'll have to have a talk with Zampano and Jerso later."

She looked satisfied with my answer and sat down in the seat opposite of me, "So I was thinking," she said batting her eyelashes and letting her fingers twine around each other on the table top.

I knew her well enough to know she was going to ask me to do something that she knew I didn't like… I held my breath.

Her fingers were now tracing invisible lines on the L.E.D. table top, "It would really make me happy if you came to church with me…"

She looked up from the table and into my eyes attempting to show me how much it would mean to her. I wasn't a man of "God," I believed in circulation of all things in the universe, I didn't believe in a single omnipotent being controlling everything. It didn't bother me all that much that she was into her religion, it's just when she would try to drag me into it.

"Agh Rose," I said putting my hand to my forehead, "You know how I feel about that; I don't like that Cornhole guy either—"

"Reverend Cornello, you mean," she gave me that glare again.

This time I didn't attempt to hide my eyes rolling around in their sockets, obviously annoyed, "Whatever," I took another drink of my beer feeling like I needed a little kick, "I don't try and push my beliefs on you, plus there's definitely something fishy going on with that Cornhole guy."

She looked pissed, but hey, I was only trying to be real with her. She stood in front of me for a moment and screamed, grabbing half of V.I.P's attention, "HIS NAME ISN'T CORNHOLE! IT'S CORNELLO!" If I wasn't being yelled at I would have laughed at that outburst, and also if I was a dick. She took a deep breath, "I'm just trying to show you God's light!" she said.

Look, if she wants to believe in some Cornhole—Cornello, whatever. But the sad fact is, she's a hypocrite. She talks about the wonders of God but barely abides by her religion. It's as if she felt that if she repented for her sins she could live the life of a slutty party girl, well until I came along. She was just a puppet when it came to things like this. She simply did what she was told would be best. She didn't stop to question what the world really was. "Rose, I'm not going to go to some church that I don't believe in, with some sketchy guy trying to control my thoughts." I said calmly.

She just made a sound of annoyance and stormed off in the direction of the stairs.

As she bolted down the stairs I watched her bump into Al, who had a pretty blond and a cute redhead on either of his arms, he looked like he had said something to Rose as she huffed passed him, but I couldn't hear it with the booming speakers around me. Truthfully, I didn't care either; the music was a comforting distraction to the drama taking place. Al looked like he was trying to be polite to the two girls he had strung around him but was blushing furiously. I watched as the two girls smiled and waved, realizing Al probably told them he had to leave.

He approached me, his blush disappearing. Instead of confronting me about the situation like he usually would he simply said, "Are you ready to go?"

I nodded standing up, we walked down the stairs and I checked with my bartender, Maria Ross, for her to close up at 3 A.M.

AL'S POV-

The car ride to the apartment was quiet but short. It was midnight when we arrived at the apartment and we were both exhausted. We walked into the lobby and entered the elevator, Ed pressed the button to the 25th floor and when the door's closed I figured it was a good time to ask him.

"So," I said, "What happened this time?" I looked down towards my feet, feeling as though I didn't want to see the glare that he might be giving me.

I heard him sigh, and glanced up to see his fingertips were placed between his eyebrows, she really was driving him off the deep end. "She's trying to drag me down to that bastard's church again," he was shaking his head as we hit the 12th floor; "I tried to explain it to her, that I'm not going to change my beliefs because someone just said 'Hey there young man? Would you like to live forever? Well try our new solution! God!'" Ed said in a goofy voice.

I started laughing and couldn't stop myself, instead of Ed punching me he couldn't help but laugh too. When our laughing died down I had retraced the million fights he and Rose had.

"Well I mean you guys have been dating for six months now," I said with the smile still on my face from laughing, "Maybe she's just not right for you."

When we were kids, after our mother died and father had abandoned us, our guardian, Izumi, had encouraged we see a therapist to bring closure to the tragedies we experienced at such a young age. Ed didn't like it one bit of course, but I think… I think what I learned from the therapist then had stayed with me. Ever since Ed was a kid, and even now as an adult, he has always pushed everyone away. Relationships never really got serious, or he didn't care, he had friends but no one he would trust to completely to watch his back. The therapist had said that Ed hadn't come to terms with his father abandoning them. After the… accident, I had lost my memory of the first 9 years of my life, so I don't remember our father. Ed didn't like our father and encouraged me not to as well. But anyway, I always scolded him when he tried to run from relationships, although I really can't say I've formed many myself, but I guess that's just my shy personality. I've watched Ed run and run and run, but this time, I saw him give this relationship his all. I know for a fact though that he wasn't trying for Rose or himself. He was trying for me, worried that I was worrying too much about him and not my own life and relationships.

Ed looked at me, shocked I wasn't trying to convince him otherwise, "Really? You think so?"

I looked up at him and smiled at his expression, giving him a pat on the back, "I know you tried to make it work Brother, so whatever your decision may be I fully support it." I said, divulging my honest feelings.

We were now out of the elevator and approaching our penthouse apartment. Ed unlocked the door and immediately threw himself face first on the couch. I closed the door behind me and watched as he awkwardly kicked his boots off with his face still planted into the seat of the couch. When the boots hit the ground and he wiggled both his automail and flesh toes he let out an over exaggerated groan. I shook my head as I strode over to my laptop, opening it up to check my e-mails before bed. I heard the TV flick on behind me and the sounds of Ed shifting on the couch.

I filed through my e-mails deleting some spam, and finally I got to the two e-mails I had been itching to read. The first was a letter from Central University.

"Brother, this is it," I said gulping before clicking on the e-mail. I clicked on it and closed my eyes.

"What is it, Al?" Ed asked curiously but not curious enough to tear his eyes from the T.V. screen.

My lungs filled with air and felt like they were going to burst with strings of confetti and glitter. The first seven words of the e-mail made my heart flutter. "I'VE BEEN ACCEPTED TO CENTRAL UNIVERSITY, BROTHER!" I screamed joyously, without even realizing the words that came out of my mouth.

Although Ed didn't jump for joy like I did, and his words definitely didn't sound that surprised, his facial expression said differently, "Oh come on Al, we both knew you'd get in…" he said smiling brightly at me.

I jumped around for five minutes or so barely able to contain myself. I didn't realize that I was jumping on the couch until Ed stood up and pushed me off the couch muttering "Jeez you tell the kid he's going to go to college and he turns into a school girl." I didn't care though; I would finally be able to start my degree in the medical field. Sure, taking care of business at Steel was alright, but it definitely wasn't what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Once some of my excitement had fled my body I calmed down enough to remember I had another e-mail to read.

Ever since I was twelve I had a pen pal that lived out in the West in a city called Risembool. In grade school we had all been assigned pen pals from sister schools in different cities and for some reason we just never lost touch. The last letter I had sent her I was telling her about my hopes for getting accepted to Central University to begin my degree in the medical field. I smiled as I read her newest letter,

"Hey Al,

Wow, you never told me you wanted to go into the medical field! That's awesome! My parents were doctors when I was younger. That's so awesome! Well I'm sure you'll be accepted, I can't imagine with your intelligence and ambition they could possibly turn you down. You're so lucky! Your letter got me thinking though. I've always been a great engineer, and I don't mean to brag, but it's true. But I've noticed a lot lately that with the times changing just because I have a reputation as a great automail mechanic or great mechanic in general doesn't mean as much as it did when I was younger. I was thinking about possibly moving to Central and maybe getting a degree in Automail Engineering. If I want to continue to hold up the Rockbell name, I gotta change with the times, right? What do you think?

Love,

Winry"

If I thought I couldn't get any more excited I was definitely wrong. Winry Rockbell, practically my best friend, aside from Brother, moving here. All kinds of thoughts flashed through my head at the idea, I wondered what she looked like now. I hadn't seen a picture of her since we sent our first ones when we were twelve. What if we took the same classes? OH, or if she lived in the same apartment building? My eyes turned to mischievous slits and I turned around to look at Brother's head. "Oh brother…" I said not getting a response.

"Brother!" I said bolting up from my seat and jumping over the back of the couch softly landing beside Ed's feet.

"Um, yes Al?" Ed said still staring at the T.V. clicking through the channels looking bored as ever.

"Alright so, hear me out on this first, you remember my pen pal Winry?"

He looked confused for a second and then he realized, "Oh yeah… the gearhead right?"

I rolled my eyes but still had a happy grin pasted to my face, "Yeah that girl, well I just got a letter from her and she's saying she wants to move to Central so she can go to college here."

Ed turned off the T.V. as he stretched and yawned, "Okay, so?" he said now getting up from the couch.

"Well," I stood up following behind him, "she's gonna need a place to stay… and I was wondering, well…" I stopped behind Ed as he stopped and turned to me now in the doorway of his room, "if I could offer for her to stay with us?" I asked, but then quickly added, "I mean you know… she might not even wanna..."

Ed yawned again and turned back around to walk into his room, "Sure, we've got two empty rooms, why not?" he was now stripping all his clothes off save for his boxers, "As long as she can pay her share of the rent." He plopped down onto his bed rolling over so his back was facing me.

"Really?" I said gushing with joy, but then stopped, "Wait how much would you charge her to stay here?" I now felt a little worried that he was being so easygoing just to tell me he was going to charge her a ridiculous amount.

"I don't know, Al" he said waving his hand in the air for me to let him sleep, "like 200, 250 or something?"

I practically bounced off the walls with joy, feeling like a pinball, I ran up to him and took his automail hand in my hand and kissed it 3 times, "THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU."

As I was running out of the room I heard Ed groan "Fucking school girl," under his breath.

He could have called me anything and I wouldn't have cared. I was too excited to care. The sound of my fingers banging on the keyboard rang in my ears until I was eventually lulled to sleep.