Edward glanced at the clock, placing the finishing touches on his sandwich. One o'clock? He expected Envy to sleep this late—and he was right, the green haired boy was still passed out on the couch—but Alphonse…maybe he wasn't feeling well. Ed placed his sandwich on the table, heading down the hall to check on his brother.
"Hey, Al, are you alri—holy shit!" he shouted, catching sight of Alphonse lying, not sleeping but unconscious on his bed. Al's face was dripping with blood, staining his white sheets an alarming red. A bloody knife lay on the floor, and as Edward went to inspect it, rage rose up inside him.
The curved blade, black handle, red design…it was Envy's knife.
Ed had to beat down the urge to go kill the asshole. He needed to get Alphonse help first.
His fingers jabbed the buttons on his cell phone, suppressed anger looking for an outlet. "Hello, 911, what is your emergency?"
"My brother—" Ed broke off, weighing his options. Tell them it was Envy or take revenge himself…? "—someone attacked him. He hasn't woken up and his face is bleeding badly."
"We are sending you an emergency vehicle now."
"Thank you." Edward hung up. He took a deep breath, looking down at Alphonse. He searched for the wound—or wounds—and found two deep gashes, one down the side of Al's cheek, and one across his forehead. From what Ed could tell, they were deep, but not life-threatening. Alphonse's pulse was stable, and Edward could see his chest rising and falling. He would be alright—most likely, he would need stitches, but he would certainly live.
Assured, Ed stalked back into the living room. He debated for a moment, and then kicked the couch over, spilling the still-sleeping Envy onto the floor.
"Fuck!" the green-haired boy shouted, instantly awake. He looked up, and saw Edward. "The hell, pipsqueak?"
Ed wasn't in the mood. He pulled Envy up, and backhanded him. "Don't play dumb, asshole. I saw what you did to my brother."
Envy glared down at Edward, hands clenching into fists. "What the fuck are you even talking about?"
Edward dangled the knife in front of Envy's face. "You sliced his face up! Don't deny it, this is your fucking knife! How could you!?"
"You're a dipshit, why would I be all nice and cook you fuckers dinner and then pull some stupid shit like that the next morning?"
"I don't know why you do anything!" Ed exploded, throwing the knife down and punching Envy in the face.
"I'm not even fucking fighting back!" Envy shouted, purple eyes narrowing. "If I was going to cut Al up, I sure as hell wouldn't let you pull this shit and not even hit back! Besides, that's not even my knife!"
"Bullshit!" Edward yelled. "I can't believe you! We tried to help, fed you, gave you a home, dammit! And then you do this to Alphonse?" He heard sirens in the distance. "He was the one who wanted to help, you know! I got used to it, but Al was the one who convinced me to let you stay after you threatened me. I should've known better!"
Ed's voice fell to a whisper, his anger fading to hurt. "How could you?" he asked again. "Just when I was starting to like you…"
Envy's expression relaxed into disbelief. "What?"
Edward could have smacked himself. Face red, he once again resorted to screaming. "Nothing—it doesn't matter what I might have felt!"
The sirens blared louder and louder, finally resting as the ambulance parked outside the house. As Ed moved to open the door, he made sure his last words were just loud enough for Envy to hear. "Because I can never forgive you for this."
Alphonse slept in the hospital chair, fifteen stitches lining the side and top of his face. With the doctor gone ("You can take him home as soon as he wakes up, he's lost a lot of blood is all,"), Edward was the only one still watching over his little brother.
He wasn't much of a guard, though. Ed was too busy dealing with his own problems.
How could he have let this happen to Alphonse? It was Edward's duty as an older brother to look out for him, and he had failed. But how could he have predicted Envy would go berserk like that? Sure, a couple weeks ago, Envy had been a serious threat to consider, but now…he had improved so much. Edward had been able to convince the green haired boy he could be happy, and Envy had been so much nicer since the night they had talked. And then, suddenly, this…
Ed put his head in his hands. It was too much for him.
"Brother?"
Edward's head snapped right back up, and he jumped out of his own chair to hug his brother. "Alphonse! I'm so sorry!"
"Wait, what? Where am I?" Al looked around, and apparently that caused a twinge of pain in one of his cuts. "Ah!"
"You're at the hospital, you had to get stitches. I can't believe I'm so stupid, I'm sorry! I had no idea Envy would do this, I should have never let him stay…"
"Brother, what are you talking about?"
Edward looked at Alphonse oddly. "You didn't lose your memory did you? I went in to wake you up around one and your face was all cut up…"
"Yes," Al said impatiently, "I remember that. But what are you saying about Envy?"
"Alphonse!" Ed half-shouted, "You can't still defend that jackass after he did this to you!"
"Brother, that's just what I'm saying." Alphonse stared at Edward in disbelief. "He didn't do this! You know how I always sleep with my window open? I woke up to this little kid staring at me—he must have come in through the window. He's the one who cut me."
"B-but—" Ed couldn't believe what he was hearing. "It was Envy's knife!"
"Maybe he found it and used that," Al shrugged. "All I know is that it definitely wasn't Envy."
Edward was silent, struck dumb. All he could think about were his parting words to the green haired boy, about how he could never forgive him.
What had he done?
