Edward opened his eyes, the light not doing anything to help his blinding headache. It was almost like a hangover.

Unfortunately, he still remembered everything.

What had he been, delusional? "Probably," Ed whispered aloud. Most likely, he had been in some sort of shock-induced delirium. What he had thought he had seen…but the feelings were still all too real.

Edward ran a hand over his face, allowing himself to think it: Roy was cheating on him.

The reality of that fact sunk in, actually more painful now that he was lucid enough to come to terms with it. Tears sprung to his eyes, but now wasn't the time for that.

Now…he had to confront Roy. That was easier said than done.

Still, he couldn't do it from his—their, actually, that hurt to think now—bed. Ed sat up, pulling the blanket off him.

"What the fuck…?"

He was still naked. Edward wasn't sure he was angry that Roy hadn't bothered to dress him after he had been so humiliated, so hurt…or glad that the man hadn't put his free-roaming hands all over him.

Ed stumbled pulling his pants up. It was so hard to concentrate when everything came back to Roy's betrayal. Pain was written in every nook and cranny of the house they shared, now. Everything reminded him of the good times.

How would he manage to look at Roy and not fall apart?

Steeling himself, Edward walked down the hall, closing his eyes as he made his way through the living room, and into the kitchen, where the sounds of plates banging together could be heard.

"Oh," Roy said, awkwardly as he noticed Ed enter. He had been unloading the sink. "You're awake, Ed."

"Don't call me that," Edward whispered. "Don't say my name."

Roy turned back to the dishes, his face disappointed. What, did he think Ed would be fine? That he'd sleep and forget what Roy had done?

"I'm sorry," the man whispered, studying his reflection in a spoon. "I don't suppose you remember what I told you when you were…?"

"Out of it?" Edward finished. He shook his head, slowly sitting down in a chair. "I couldn't tell you what I was imagining and what was real. Enlighten me."

Roy spun around to look at him, leaning smoothly against the counter. Ed felt a painful wrenching in his chest. The man was so beautiful. He looked so trustworthy and kind and perfect…

Looks could be deceiving.

"I was…confused."

Ed stopped him right there, holding up his hand and trying to regulate his breathing. "No, Roy. Confusion is when you don't know where you're going and have to ask for directions. Confusion is meeting someone at the café at four instead of three thirty because you heard the time wrong. Don't even try to pass this off as being confused."

"But I was," Roy insisted. "Just hear me out."

Edward just about broke down then and there.

"I've never been in a committed relationship before. And let me get this part out of the way first; I used to have one night stands every night. Going that long without sex…it was weird."

"So you just fucked the first man you could find," Ed whispered, covering his eyes with his hand. He couldn't stop the tears now. "Damn it, Roy, do you have any idea…?" He couldn't continue, swallowed hard. "Didn't you wonder why I was home? Why I was naked?"

"Yes…"

"I was going to—to let you fuck me. For our anniversary," Edward managed, voice a mix of shame and pain. His eyes were burning, but he hoped against hope Roy hadn't noticed yet.

"Oh, shit, Ed…" Roy didn't say anything else for a long moment. Then footsteps as he came closer, sat down in a chair just by Ed. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Edward didn't respond. What was there to say? Roy had chosen sex over him, that much was clear. There was no coming back from that.

"That wasn't the…whole reason, though."

Ed looked up, realizing his mistake when Roy's eyes softened upon seeing his face streaked with tears. "I didn't—don't—know how to be in a relationship," the man continued. "I was afraid of the commitment. And it wasn't until I saw your face when you…when you walked in that I realized how badly I'd fucked up. I thought it would be better to not be with just one person. I didn't realize how much I loved you—" Edward couldn't help but let out a sob, biting his lip and looking away "—until I felt how bad it hurt to see you in so much pain."

"Bullshit," Ed managed, pulling his feet up onto the chair and burying his face in his knees. "Fucking bullshit. I loved you. More than anything. And I thought I knew the dangers of dating you but I loved you so much I could hardly breathe when you weren't around, so I ignored them. But I was wrong, this is worse than I had imagined. How could you? How could you do this to me?"

He'd blown it, his control. Edward was now crying into his knees, not wanting to look at Roy. This is the part where he had to leave, but he just couldn't. He couldn't imagine life without Roy. He loved him more than anything…

"But I do love you, Ed," Roy whispered, leaning in to touch his shoulder. Edward jerked away as though electrified.

"Don't touch me!" he shrieked.

"I'm sorry. You have no idea how bad I feel…" Roy let out a small sound and Ed whipped his head up, surprised to see that the man was also crying. Mass confusion. What if Roy meant what he said? No, Edward couldn't trust him. Still, Roy had to be one hell of an actor to be faking this.

"I swear, I didn't know. I didn't know how much I cared about you until I saw your face…" Roy choked up. "I'll never forget that face. I'll never be able to forget that I caused it, that I had to go and be a dick…" He brought a hand to his mouth.

It took everything in Ed's power to not just hug the man and be done with it. "How do I know you're not lying?" he murmured.

"I waited for you to wake up, didn't I?" Roy asked. "You really think I wouldn't have just walked out if I wasn't serious? That'd be a hell of a lot easier than facing what I did."

"But what if you get bored of me? How do I know it won't happen again? I—I can't trust you…"

"I know. But I also know, for certain now, that I love you. I don't want anyone else."

Ed's head was spinning. He wanted so badly to believe Roy, but…he didn't want to get hurt. Not again, not with this threat looming over his head.

"Roy…I can't. I can't know that you're telling me the truth. I love you more than you'll ever know." He broke off, interrupted by a sob. "But if you're going to do that, I need to just leave."

"No!" Roy was surprisingly insistent. "Please, Ed, please. I want to be with you. I don't care if I never have sex again. I love you. How can I make you believe me?"

"I don't know," Edward hiccupped. And he didn't. How could he ever trust the man again?

"I'll do anything. Honestly." Roy's face was certainly desperate enough to let Ed know he was serious, and that just set him to crying harder. He wanted comfort, but the only source of comfort he craved was Roy…he was all convoluted and twisted up inside.

He just couldn't take this.

Suddenly very familiar arms were wrapped around him. Ed squirmed, trying to block the image from his mind: Roy's arms around a different person…

He wailed, he didn't want this, but he needed this—

"Shh, Ed, shh," Roy murmured above him.

"Get—get off!"

"No," Roy responded simply. "I know you must hate this, and I'm sorry, but I can't sit here and watch you cry and not do anything."

Oh, and this was, on a certain level, just so welcome. Edward needed this. And so he let himself go, allowed his arms to snake out and cling to Roy, and just cried.

"Why?" he blubbered. "Why would you do this? How could you? I love you!"

"I'm sorry," Roy answered. "I'm so, so sorry."

It took Edward a long while to reemerge, gasping for breath, his chest heaving.

"Ed, please," Roy begged. "Let me try again. I don't care what I have to do—you can keep constant tabs on me, follow me around, anything, just—please. I know I messed up, but I want to do better this time. I want to make you happy."

Edward considered this proposition. It was dangerous, he knew. Roy had cheated on him and broken his heart, and there was no guarantee that it wouldn't happen again. But that possibility was a lot less frightening that the thought of a future without Roy at all.

"Okay," he whispered. "One more chance."

"I love you," Roy breathed, relieved.

Ed hesitated only briefly, deciding to believe. "I love you, too."


So I'm marking this as complete because I'm 99.9% sure I'm done.

I like it. I probably ended it with a lot more fluff than you guys wanted, but...I couldn't help it XD I had to fix everything ;A;

Please let me know what you think~ And if you do happen to have an idea for a fourth chapter...maybe I'll consider continuing this.

Even though I feel this is a good ending as is, I'm open to more.