Open Up

Hey everyone, I hope you all like this chapter. I again want to thank everyone who has been reading and leaving me reviews. They are super encouraging and very helpful. I definitely want to thank hikaru1012 for catching a mistake I made in the previous chapter so I could go back and fix it. I also want to thank Lenne for pitching me really good ideas to add to this story. So thank you both, you're the best!

Typical disclaimer: I don't own FMA but I do own Cecelia and friends.

Cecelia was practically on cloud nine for the rest of the morning. Ed telling her about his past was exciting for her because he would never open up to her when she questioned him about it and the fact that he told her on his own was a gift in itself. Then making breakfast with her was like the cherry on top. She was as chipper as a kid opening presents on Christmas as she did her typical morning routine and she practically floated to the café where she was meeting Ellie and Gretchen for lunch.

"Why are you in such a good mood?" asked Ellie when she arrived.

"I had a nice morning, that's all." She answered, raising her glass of water to her lips.

"Oh please," Ellie snorts, "I had a good morning too but I'm not prancing around like some love struck teenager, so spill."

"You're awfully pushy this morning. Ed and I just kind of-"

Ellie interrupted her. "You didn't! You gave it up to him didn't you?"

Cecelia spewed her water across the table and stared at Ellie with disbelief written all over her features. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe you just said that in public you pervert! We just had a really good heart to heart talk so get your head out of the gutter." She cried.

Ellie shot her a sly look which only encouraged Cecelia's blush to spread. The waiter must have thought she was crazy or something because she was as red as a tomato and nearly dropped her plate when she went to grab it. Trying to direct the conversation away from her when the waiter left, Cecelia turned to Gretchen.

"So Gretchen, who was that good looking blond you were talking to you last night?"

Gretchen; who had yet to say anything, bashfully looked down at her plate and started moving her food around with her fork. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh yeah you do, I saw him come up to you while I was cutting the cake. He was smoking a cigarette."

"Come on Gretchen, spill the beans to your little sister." Ellie teased.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore." She mumbled.

"You know, he kind of looked familiar, you're not having an affair are you?"

"Ellie stop it please, I am a married woman. I'm not going to fool around with some guy I met at Ed's party." She snapped.

Cecelia and Ellie shared a skeptical look. Gretchen was usually so soft spoken and rarely shared her thoughts or raised her voice, so the way she snapped at Ellie made them both realize that something was up, but decided not to harass her about it for the time being. Cecelia's eyes narrowed in on the mark Gretchen had on her neck. Gretchen tried covering it up with powder, but the garish purple bruise was still visible against her pale skin. The three women moved on and chatted about the party last night. Ellie seemed to enjoy it a lot, she got to show off her piano skills and Gretchen didn't stay around long enough to enjoy it at all. Just as Cecelia was about to order dessert, someone called for Gretchen and the woman's face paled. A large chunky man made his way over to them and he did not look very happy. Cecelia looked back and forth between Ellie and Gretchen. Ellie was shooting man a terrible look while the latter looked like she was going to be sick.

"Gretchen where have you been?" he hissed when he reached the table.

"I-I-I've been here darling...I told you I w-was having lunch with E-Ellie." She said.

Cecelia looked up at him and frowned. Good Lord, that's Gretchen's husband?

"I told you to be home by two."

Cecelia looked down at her watch. It was only one twenty.

"I'm s-sorry Brent; I didn't mean to screw up."

"Why are you apologizing to him?" Ellie asked. "He doesn't deserve it and you haven't done anything wrong."

"No one asked for your help you harlot." The man; apparently named Brent, sneered.

His hand shot out and latched onto Gretchen's wrist and making her drop her fork. He jerked her up with enough force that it knocked her chair back and made her hit the table. At this point, everyone in the café was staring at them.

"Hey don't pull her like that; she's not some rag doll." Cecelia snapped.

For the first time Brent acknowledged her and he simply looked her as if she were lower than dirt to him. Stupid bastard. She stood up from her chair so she could better confront him.

"I don't know who you think you are little girl but you need to stay out of this. I know how to take care of my wife."

He jabbed Cecelia in the chest with two of his fingers before spinning on his heel and storming out, dragging a stumbling Gretchen behind him.

"Who in the hell does he think he is? Poking me with his grubby sausage finger, he could have broken my collar bone or something and did you see the way he pulled her like that? Gretchen is a human being, not some toy he can toss around. I bet he's the reason she has that bruise on her neck." She ranted.

"You're preaching to the choir Cecelia, I've hated Brent for as long as I've known him."

"Why is she married to that creep?"

"Because she didn't have a choice, our parents more or less sold her off to the highest bidder. Whoever offered the most valuable assets got to marry Gretchen."

"But he's such an awful man… how could they not see that?"

"Because he has status and money, the only things that matter to my parents. They tried marrying me off, but I raised hell, even spit at one of my 'suitors. So they tossed me out and Madame Christmas took me in. I've been working for her ever since." explained Ellie.

"Good grief, do your parents not have a heart?"

"Well if you consider money to be a heart, then they have big ones."

Cecelia silently thanked her parents for letting her control her own life. After the events at the café, she'd lost her appetite and slowly started making her way home when Ellie had to head in to work. The entire way home irritated Cecelia. Seeing the happy couples strolling down the street only saddened her, knowing her friend was stuck in a loveless and obviously abusive marriage. The moment she stepped into Ed's apartment, she called for him. He poked his head out of his door and Cecelia made her way over to him, taking her coat off and tossing it on the couch as she passed it.

"You won't believe what happened to me today while I was at lunch."

Figuring this would be a long story; Ed welcomed her into his bedroom and offered her a seat on his bed where he took a spot next to her.

"Okay I was at lunch and we were teasing Gretchen for a little but when her nasty pig faced husband came along and ruined everything. He started yelling at her in front of everyone and he accused her of being late when it was forty minutes until her curfew. Why does she even have a curfew? She's a grown woman and she should be able to go out for as long as she wants." Cecelia had to stop so she could catch her breath.

"Then he grabbed her arm so tight and just jerked her up so that she hit the table and knocked her chair over. When I tried telling him to cut it out, that idiot called me a little girl and then poked me really hard."

She poked Ed with the same amount of force that Brent used to poke her and it caused Ed discomfort knowing some man had basically pushed Cecelia.

"I'm worried about her Ed." she said when she finished telling her story.

"I wish there was something I could do Cecelia, I can't just go reporting him to the police because I don't have any evidence."

"But what if she gets hurt?"

"I hate that I can't do anything to help her, a man should never hit a woman ever, but for now there just isn't anything we can do. We'll definitely keep an eye on her though."

His response wasn't enough to soothe Cecelia's concerns because she sighs in disappointment and hangs her head.

"I'm sorry Cecelia."

"It's not your fault, you're right, but I promise I'm going to catch that guy in the act and he is going down."

"I know you can do it and I'll be with you every step of the way."

Cecelia liked the sound of that. Smiling, she kicked off her boots and scooted until she was at the head of the bed and patted the spot next to her. Ed crawled over and joined her. His legs are so much longer than mine. She wiggled her feet and he chuckled lightly.

"You know, I was almost as short as you are for the longest time. I was 5'4 when I first became a state alchemist."

"That must have been cruddy; I bet people teased you a lot. Did they call you names like shrimp or midget or short stuff or-"

He cut her off. "Now let's not get too carried away."

They both laughed and they spent the next half an hour talking about the disadvantages of being short until Cecelia began to doze off. When she finally fell asleep, Ed slowly eased her into a lying position and pulled his blanket out from under her so he could tuck her in. After he got her all situated, he couldn't help but smile. She looked so small curled up in his bed. Before he could change his mind, he leaned in and placed a light kiss on her temple. He went his bedroom door, shut the light and left, not noticing the small smile appearing on Cecelia's face.

And the plot thickens. Sorry for all the OC's, but I need them for my plot to work, because believe it or not, there is one. This story won't be all fluff, but I seriously do love fluff. Anywho, thanks for reading and please leave me a review if you can. See you next chapter!