Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Fullmetal Alchemist nor do I claim to.

See chapter 1 for trigger warnings.

Chapter 14

What's in a name?

I must have fallen asleep without even realizing it, because after what feels like 5 minutes later I find myself being prodded awake by a smiling blonde.

"Hey, sleepy-head." Ed strokes my cheek as my eyes flutter open to focus on his face. I'm momentarily amazed that he's awake before me, until I realize it is a week day and he likely is getting up to get ready for school. Great.

I frown slightly, then yawn widely and wordlessly tug Ed back down with me in the bed for another minute. "Don't leave me yet." I half beg, half state as matter-of-fact.

Edward just giggles. "I gotta. I'm already late for class, En." He gives me a short kiss and my lips linger on his before he pulls away and begins to get dressed. I groan in disappointment. In a brief moment of melancholy, I wished I were his age and still in high school so I could go with him and see what he does when he's at school. I want to be a part of all aspects of his life. I feel so disconnected from him in this way, and I try not to let it bother me. Obviously I am failing miserably at that.

Ed looks back at me, smirking at my prone form still wrapped up in sheets like a cocoon. I give him a pouty look and it seems to melt him.

"I wish I could go with you." I admit to him quietly, making it obvious that I don't like being away from him while he hangs out with his friends at school.

Worst of all, now I know he's got a track record of sleeping with teachers. The thought makes me inwardly scowl.

"I know En. I think it'd look a little funny though if I were to bring my 20 year old boyfriend with me to class." He tried to make it in to a joke but I don't think it's very funny. I merely glower at him and he smiles weakly.

Here we go with the age thing again. No one would care if we were both in our 20s...

"I've only got about another year or two of this shit then you can have me all to yourself." Ed assures me. I kind of like how he presumes we will still be together in a year's time, so that lifts my spirits a little. I try not to think about how I will be able to go back to Japan to save my little brother and leave Ed behind. Who knows if I will even be able to come back if I left.

I give him a tiny smile and he seems to be satisfied with my response. "Sayounara." I whisper, and bury my face back into my pillow as he grabs his things and leaves for school.

This will pretty much be my life as long as Ed is still in school, I realize grimly. It's been more than 3 weeks and not much has changed. Ed comes over to my place a lot more now that Ling has moved in with them, but he still leaves every day to go to school and I am left wondering what he's doing when I'm not around. I haven't seen or heard anything about 'the other guy', so it seems like Ed must have broken things off permanently. I still go by his house every so often to check, just for my own sick curiosity. I know, I know, that's sort of crossing the line into stalker territory. Can you blame me for being wary, though? Winry seems to have accepted the fact that Ed and I are together and she hasn't stuck her nose into our business since the last time she barged into the apartment. I feel sort of like a complete leech on Ling since he's basically been paying all of my bills since he moved out, but he never says a word about it to me. To be honest, we barely see each other since he left. He never comes over, so I really only run into him when I go to Ed's house for band practice. He's too busy with work and Winry, and I'm too busy with Ed and music and well... music. I keep expecting him to randomly cut off funds for me, but somehow he hasn't yet. Somehow I think he knows I have a plan. I just need to make this work. I've only got one shot. I haven't heard from Wrath since the first time he called, and I am constantly wondering if he's okay. I don't dare call the house looking for him, though, that would just make things worse for both of us. I haven't told Ed about what's going on with Wrath, and I feel guilty about that but I don't want to burden him.

The hours of about 7 AM to 3 PM are pretty miserable and lonely for me, so I began to fill my time by writing music privately during the first half of the day, and going to practice with the band for the second half of the day after Ed gets out of school.

We've been practicing non-stop, and the competition is just days away. I have modified several of our songs with Japanese lyrics and things are looking pretty well. Oddly enough, our biggest problem now is coming up with a name for the band. It's required to submit an official band name to enter the local Battle of the Bands, but we can't seem to agree on a single name.

"Cryptic Cryosphere!" Len announced. What does that even mean?

"Dancing Unicorns! No, Pink Fluffy Unicorns! I want to incorporate rainbows in there somewhere, too!" Kira interjected, making her love of My Little Pony apparent once again. I give her a defeated look.

Ed rolled his eyes at both of them. My eyes turn to him, hoping he's got a better suggestion. "Obviously, we need a cool name. A name that says we will take the world by force with our amazing tunes. How about Ancient Prophecy?"

My lips form a thin line. Really, Ed? These are all terrible names, but I don't really have the heart to tell him.

"What about Fish Villains? Furious Sandwich? Raw Demons!" Len continues to spout off with weird names.

"No! Strawberry Kingdom. Why can't we have a cute name?" Kira pouts.

I sigh heavily, and they all look at me expectantly. "Well, you've been awful quiet over there Envy." Len states accusingly, raising his eyebrows at me.

"We need a name that sounds serious, but not too serious. What about something like: Physical Music." I suggest a one I think sounds nice. Not stupid, but not overly serious either.

They all frown at me. I guess they don't like it.

"That's pretty lame, En." Ed giggles at me and I flush red.

"Well, you come up with something better then!" I retort, feeling a little flustered. I thought it was clever, personally.

"I got one. Foreign Disorder." Ed looks straight at me and grins. Am I supposed to be the foreign disorder? I give him a sulky look, but notice Len and Kira's eyes light up. Ugh, they like it.

"That's a good one, Edo!" Len grins and slaps Ed on the back. I continue to sulk.

Ed comes up to me and takes my hands. "It makes sense. You gave us our new sound, and it's foreign. To us, at least. And probably most of the audience. But it's so great! We wouldn't have come this far without you, seriously."

I give a small lop-sided smile and feel really warm all over from the compliment. I look to Len and Kira, and they both nod in approval. "Well... I guess Foreign Disorder it is." I shake my head with a quiet laugh in slight disbelief as I write the name down on the form meant to be presented the day before the competition. Well, that's one thing out of the way.

We've got 3-4 songs under our belts ready and prepared for the stage, and we've been practicing until we are all blue in the face. I've literally got calluses on my fingers from strumming the guitar so much. I haven't felt so accomplished in my entire life, though.

From what I can see, the Battle of the Bands event in New York City is a pretty big deal. Dozens of bands flock to compete and only a few are actually admitted by interview and only one can actually win. The cash prize is $10,000 USD for first place winners. Second place is $5,000, and third place gets $1,000. That's if all goes well, anyway. Of course I'll have to split the money 4 ways so nothing but first place will do. Otherwise I won't be able to afford a ticket to Japan. Our chances at winning are slim, but my life is riding so heavily on this. There's no way I can save Wrath without this money. A flight to Tokyo from New York is around $3,000 round trip at the cheapest, so a fourth of the first price money would be the minimum I would need just to go there and get back by myself. I may not be able to return here, and I may just have to deal with that reality.

I begin to walk home once the sun starts to set, and I find Ed following me. I must have had a sour look on my face because he touches my arm and looks concerned.

"What's wrong, En?" He asks softly, and I pause to look at him. He always seems to be able to tell when something is bothering me. I was too busy doing math calculations in my head to pay much attention, but obviously he was observing me.

"I dunno. Just a lot on my mind." I deflect, and he knows it. He frowns at me knowingly.

"I can tell there's something bothering you. Spill it." He orders in his no-nonsense way.

I look around briefly, and decide I don't want to talk about it here. I motion for him to walk with me.

"You remember I told you about my brother Wrath, right?" I give a small sigh and he nods. I then begin to explain the situation with Wrath, and how it's imperative that I go back to Japan to get him away from Father.

Ed stopped in his tracks and stared at me, his large golden orbs full of nothing but concern and worry. I didn't think he'd care this much.

"So that's why you are so gung-ho about this competition. You want the money to go save your little bro. Envy... why didn't you tell me?" Ed seemed genuinely hurt that he was being kept out of the loop.

I look away, unable to meet his gaze. "It's my problem, not yours."

"Bull shit. Your problems are my problems now, En." He butt bumps me in a playful way, in the same way he always tries to cheer me up when I'm down. I find it hard to smile right now though, thinking about Wrath. I don't even know if he's okay.

"Yeah. I guess." I murmur, my eyes going out of focus as I stare at an object far away.

Ed takes my hands and looks at the side of my face as I stare off in to the distance, and suddenly gets a very serious tone.

"Envy. If we win that money, I'm going to give my share to you." He states in a very matter-of-fact way.

I turn to look at him with disbelief, but say nothing.

"I mean it. I've hurt you and I want to make it up to you... to show that I really care. What better way to do that than help you save your little bro?" He smiles and squeezes my hand in his gently. His words make me want to burst into tears.

"I was worried I wouldn't be able to come back, you know. I still might not be able to. I don't know how well it will go over if I try to kidnap my kid brother and bring him back to America with me." I force a humorless chuckle, and Ed's face falls.

"Then I'm going with you." He states solemnly. What did he just say?

"You're what?" I have to ask him out loud to make sure I heard right. He can't be serious. How would Winry or Alphonse ever go along with that?

"I'm coming with you. There's no way I would let you leave without knowing you'll come back. So I take back my previous statement. I'm not going to give you my share, I'm gonna use it to buy myself a ticket to Japan. It'll be like I'm going to school abroad." He looked rather smug with himself, and I scowl at him.

"It's not that simple, you know." I try to reason, but inside I am jumping for joy. He doesn't want me to leave. He's willing to drop everything just to come with me. My Edward.

"Yeah I know, but I'm gonna do it anyway. How am I gonna find anyone else who puts up with me like you do?" He grins toothily at me and I grab him with a kiss, pressing our lips together fiercely.

"Baka." I murmur against his lips and he hums in agreement.

Every day I find a new reason to love Edward Elric.