Edward, half asleep, fought to keep himself from waking up. He was aware enough to know that he had been with Roy again, and he didn't want to wake up alone in his roommate's room once more. He didn't want that dejection of knowing he had given himself away, especially with his revelation of last night: that he loved Roy.

No, Edward couldn't face an empty, uncaring bed after that.

But sleep is not something many people can control, and the blonde found himself losing the battle. Knowing this, Ed figured he might as well get it over with.

He opened his eyes.

Edward was facing a window, curtains drawn. His still-naked body was warm, a blanket draped over him—along with an arm.

Ed, disbelieving, slowly turned over to find his face flush with Roy's chest. His gaze traveled upward to see that the man was still sleeping, his breaths disturbing the hair on Edward's head.

He had stayed.

Gloriously overjoyed, the blonde snuggled closer to his roommate. He tried to reign in his emotions; he couldn't expect much, even if Roy was here when he woke up. It didn't mean anything.

Edward dozed once more, content for the moment to pretend, but jerked awake when he felt Roy moving next to him. He shut his eyes as he heard a yawn, but his heart was beating too fast, giving him away.

"Morning, Ed. Come on, you can't fool me…" Roy's voice was rough with sleep, but not at all unpleasant. Obliging, Edward opened his eyes and looked into the smiling face of his roommate.

"Hi," he whispered.

Roy frowned. "What's wrong?" Before Ed could say it was nothing, he continued. "I can tell something's bothering you."

"I…we shouldn't have done that."

"Why not?"

The blonde felt a strange wetness on his face. He was crying? "I didn't want to do that again…not when it—"

"Didn't mean anything?" Roy guessed, a response to which Edward nodded miserably, averting his eyes. "But Ed, I already told you last night. It meant everything."

Stubborn to a fault, Ed refused to look Roy in the eye, until his roommate sat half way up and pulled his chin so that Edward was looking at him.

"You haven't guessed it yet, have you, Ed?"

Confused, the blonde shook his head.

"I thought it would be obvious." Roy smiled, a simple, bright motion. "I'm in love with you, Ed. That's why it meant everything."

Edward was silent, disbelief written all over his face. Roy tried to explain. "The first time we were together, it felt…different. I didn't know what it was that made me crave you again, but I did. I had no interest in anyone else, Ed. Surely you've noticed that I've been in the house more often lately? You're the only person I've been with since the first time."

His roommate's words didn't make any sense, but Ed could tell Roy was telling the truth. Like he said, he hadn't been going out…

"Then I started feeling different towards you. I kept trying to do little things to make you happy, like bringing Al here…and I realized it was all because I loved you. I set up our little date night to see how you would react, try to guess how you felt…and when you put your hair in this braid—" Roy tugged on the few strands of his hair that were still tied back "—I knew I had a chance."

Not knowing how to express himself, Edward pushed himself up, kissing Roy full on the mouth, lips curving in a smile. When they broke apart, he found himself laughing. "I can't believe you didn't just tell me! I didn't even know why I was so upset the first time, and I only realized it last night—I wanted to be more to you than a sex toy, because I loved you too."

Laughing himself, Roy rolled, pinning Ed to the bed and kissing him frantically. Neither man could stop smiling, both of them ecstatic to realize what they had found.

Finally Roy slowed his attack, breathless. "I love you." Kiss.

"Love you too, Roy." Kiss.

"I'll never leave you." Kiss.

"As if I'd give you the chance." Kiss.

Then silence as both caught their breath. After a moment, Roy smiled. "We need showers. I'll go start one up, if you want to join me?"

Edward nodded, his grin refusing to fade even once his roommate—his lover—left the bed and headed for the bathroom.

As happened every so often, Ed found his thoughts turning to alchemy, the art he had lost. Love was a lot like alchemy, he decided. You have to lose—decompose—some things, and understand what has happened and what you want to happen before you can get to the end, and reconstruct something better.

And when you did, well, it was the best feeling in the world.