Heyyyy. What is up?

I was wondering, do any of you know of a beta that is free, or want to serve as a beta for this story? At least until mine comes back? Mostly just to give suggestions, maybe address things that don't make sense, and of course, catch typos that spellcheck isn't smart enough to find. I am just getting sick of having to edit these chapters three times after I have already uploaded. Catching stuff after the fact is really annoying. Plus, I could really use a new voice of encouragement to keep me going… You get to read things ahead of time and influence the story and get to know me better! *waggles eyebrows* Any takers?

And yes, Hughes is a father, even in high school. That isn't uncommon nowadays, and it is such an integral part of his character, that I couldn't leave it out.

This chapter reminds me of that line from Despicable Me…. "IT'S SO FLUFFY!" Also, I didn't want to torture Ed with awkwardness because of his little 'escapade' the other day, so it wont be super prominent.

EDIT: I have published a new story! If any of you are interested in D. Gray Man yaoi, please check out Neptune's Call.

~0x0~

Tomorrow was Monday. My new favorite day of the week. So, it was with a heavy heart that I realized I was uncomfortable with the idea of seeing my angel again.

After dropping him off Thursday night, I had thought that everything would be okay, but when I had seen him in school the next day, he'd had that same dead look in his eyes again. I had tried calling him, but he always ducked out of any conversation I started with a lame excuse and hung up. I was getting seriously worried now. What could have happened? I knew that I had to ask him about it tomorrow, or it would drive me crazy.

~0x0~

I had texted Ed before coming to school this morning, telling him that I would pick him up and take him someplace special after finishing my homework today. Fortunately, he had actually replied and said that would be fine. Unfortunately, that was the only good thing that had happened thus far.

My Trig class was miserable, as usual. My Political Science class had a debate today, which normally wasn't a problem, but today we had been discussing laws on abortion which dissolved into a shouting match, just as I had known it would. Some people simply didn't have the capacity to take in a differing opinion and talk about it logically. During my Government Teaching Aide class, Alphonse had cornered me and asked me if I knew what was wrong with Edward. Apparently, he had noticed that the elder Elric was acting a bit off. When I told him I had no idea, he got this despairing look on his face, much like the look puppies in the pet store window like to give you when you pass by without going in. I had to spend ten minutes of note passing to cheer him up.

Lunch was horrid, as Armstrong had somehow picked up on my bad mood and proceeded to try and rip his shirt off to "blow away negative thoughts with a view of a perfect muscular specimen." I was now officially scarred for life. My Free Period had been boring as hell, and when Chem. II finally came, some dumbass had spilled acid on the floor before I could even say 'hi' to Mr. Bunsen Burner, and we had to evacuate the lab and spend the rest of the period going over formulas in an unused room.

I had rushed home after the final bell rang, eager to get my work done and spend some time with my boyfriend. Of course, my study time was interrupted by Havoc calling me to gloat about his new girlfriend and Hughes texting me with about 50 pictures of his newborn daughter sleeping. Christ, the child had only been in the world a few months, and I was already sick of seeing her.

Finally, I managed to put aside the distractions and get my shit together. I texted Ed and told him to get ready, and informed my mother that I was going out for a stroll in the park. Which was true. I simply neglected to tell her that I would not be taking this particular walk alone.

I got into my car and drove at a mostly normal speed to Ed's house, sighing in relief when I saw him waiting on the front steps for me. He seemed to be startled upon hearing the sound of my car, and quickly got in.

When he sat down, he was strangely flushed.

"Ed? Are you alright?"

"Huh? O-oh. Yeah. No problem." He went an even deeper shade of red and turned away, wringing his hands.

"Are you sure? We don't have to go, if you don't-"

"No it's cool." He gave a nervous laugh and waved his hand, trying to indicate that he was fine. I didn't quite believe him, but there was no arguing with him once he had his mind made up. So, I shrugged and started up the car.

"Where are we going?" he asked absentmindedly.

"You'll see." I turned my GPS on and told it to direct me to one of the few pre-programmed locations that I had bothered to put in there, as I wasn't used to going to my favorite park from this direction.

We drove along on the highway for a while, both quiet and absorbed in our own thoughts. I hadn't turned the radio on upon getting in, and now I sort of regretted it, as the silence was becoming deafening.

When I got into the right most lane for the exit we needed, a disembodied voice broke the quiet that had fallen over us.

"Turn right in one hundred feet."

"Shut up, Rosie, I can read the damn map." I muttered.

"Rosie?"

I glanced over at Ed and gave him a little embarrassed smile before turning back to the road.

"Yeah…I used to love old cartoons when I was little. So, I when I got this GPS, and set the program for its voice, I named it Rosie after the robot maid in The Jetsons…It sounds exactly like her."

Ed was quiet for a minute, then let out a little laugh. No, not a laugh. He giggled.

I very nearly slammed on the brakes and told him to get the fuck out of my car and come back with the real Edward, who never giggled, but it had been so damn cute that I didn't mind spending some more time with this imposter.

~0x0~

I pulled into a parking space and got out, pausing to close my eyes and take a deep breath while I listened to Edward grumble as he also exited the vehicle.

"Wow, Roy, this is really pretty. I didn't think we had places like this around here."

"Mmhmm." I opened my eyes and took in the quaint little park. It looked very…autumn-y. The trees no longer held the vibrancy that they'd had at the beginning of the season, but the leaves had not turned completely brown yet, and the few pine trees here and there really livened it up. When the snows came, this place would look like the proverbial winter wonderland, and during spring it would be covered in flowers. All in all it was just really nice, a quiet patch of semi-nature in the noisy suburbs.

"Yeah, I really like it. I come out here whenever I need to get away for a while."

I started walking down the little path that led to the man-made creek that was strategically hidden away in the trees and gestured for Ed to follow. After a couple minutes of walking, we came to the tiny foot bridge for crossing the water that was flanked on either side by a couple of benches and sat down. I leaned back and just enjoyed the sunshine until Edward spoke.

"It's been awhile…"

"Hmm?"

"Oh…It's just been a while since I have been somewhere like this. Around trees that aren't in pots and stuff. It's nice."

I nodded, and listened as he continued to talk.

"I used to live out in the sticks, and grew up playing in the woods. Me and Al would go out into the forest for hours and try to catch rabbits and play hide n' seek and shit. He always won. When we got home, Mom would always have hot chocolate for us…" He trailed off and I observed the nostalgic look in his eyes. He looked far older than he actually was right now.

"That sounds like something out a cheesy Disney movie. Must've been nice." He chuckled a bit and looked down, gazing into the water's surface as if he was seeing his memories being replayed there.

I decided to continue talking, if only to keep myself busy. "I grew up here…never lived anywhere else. The only real forest I've ever been in is the Redwood Forest, out in California…we took a vacation there once."

"Really? I've never been to the coast before."

"The ocean was nice, but the forest was boring. Yeah, the trees are big, but my parents wouldn't let me touch them. Guess they thought that a fourteen year old boy had the power to kill trees that have survived for centuries."

"Heh. If anybody could, it would be you."

"Thanks." I rolled my eyes and fell quiet again. Eventually, I decided that I had to say what I came here to say eventually, so I might as well do it now.

"Hey, Ed?"

"Yeah?"

"What…happened on Thursday?"

He stiffened and looked at the ground.

"I don-"

"Edward. You can't tell me nothing happened. I'm not stupid." He pursed his lips and I sighed. I put a hand on his shoulder and pushed lightly, turning his body toward me. "Listen. I understand if you don't want to give me specifics. But, I need to know that you are okay. You have been really off recently, and it is really starting to scare me."

"You don't have to worry about me…"he mumbled, still refusing to look at me.

"I know I don't have to," I put my fingers on his chin and turned his head to look at me. "But I do. You are important to me. I know I can't come swooping in to save the day whenever something bad happens, but I still want to help. Even if the only thing I can do is cheer you up after the fact, I want to do the best that I can. So, just…let me in a little?"

He looked into my eyes, and I did my best to hold his gaze, even though his irises were spinning again and I wanted to drown in them. I had to be lucid if I wanted to help, couldn't let myself be distracted by how beautiful he was. As I was mentally telling myself to get my Romeo-syndrome in check, Ed did something that completely shocked me, immediately cutting off all coherent thought.

He leaned into me, pressing his chest against mine and buried his head in the crook of my neck. I felt him take a deep, shuddering breath and let it out slowly.

"Somebody died on Thursday." He whispered.

"Oh, Ed, I'm so sor-"

"Don't be. I didn't know him. I just…" he shivered. "I saw him get killed."

I went cold at those words, my limbs immediately feeling numb. The way he said that told me that it had been horrible, that the image of that death would never be forgotten. Slowly, I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him closer, willing my voice to not crack as I tried to comfort him.

"God, Ed, I'm sorry, I didn't know. Do you need me to do anything for you? Do you want to talk about it?"

I felt him shake his head against my neck. "No. I'll be alright. Stuff like that happens all the time. I just…hadn't seen it up close before. To be honest…" He pulled away and looked at me. "I, uh…I wanted to thank you. I know that I haven't been myself lately, so it might not be obvious…but you really helped me out that night. So, uh…thanks."

"If you really want to thank me, you should let me hold you a little longer." I said, waggling my eyebrows, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Jesus, you really are gay, aren't you?" Ed leaned back even farther, and smirked at me. He looked a little more like himself now, as if the confession had lifted something from him. I was glad, so I went along with the topic change.

"No, I'm really not. I don't like men at all, actually."

He raised an eyebrow. "Then what is this?" He gestured to the two of us. "An experiment? Or a bet, like in that stupid teen movie?"

"Haha. No." I shook my head. "I just…find you attractive. You're my type, I guess. I don't really know why I feel that way, but I always have. I'm not really into guys, but I don't mind that you are a guy. What about you? Have you made any decisions on your sexuality?"

"No, not really. To be honest, I don't really care what gender a person is…I guess that makes me bi? I dunno."

"Haha…a straight guy, and a guy that may, or may not be bisexual in a gay relationship. Will wonders never cease."

"Heh." He leaned back against the bench with a laugh.

It was comfortably quiet for a while, both of us lost in thought. I wasn't really sure what drove me to ask my next question, but it just seemed to slip out.

"Hey, what do you think about sex?"

"Wh-What?"

"I'm not trying to get in your pants with this, I'm just…curious. I don't think I've ever met a teenage boy who doesn't want to get in the sack with whoever they're dating."

"Maybe I just have higher standards than everyone else? Does it matter?"

"No." I said quickly. I didn't want him to think that sex was an expectation for me. "It's obvious that you don't want to, which is fine…I guess I was just wondering why."

"I…I'm sort of sick of it, to be honest. Every time I've ever…I always just felt guilty afterward."

I looked at him, brain whirring as a couple more puzzle pieces clicked into place.

"You aren't a virgin?"

He let loose a humorless chuckle. "I'm about as pure as you are."

"Really? I could have sworn that—hey, wait, what do you mean by that? I have pure intentions from time to time."

"Whatever lets you sleep at night, Roy."

I mulled that over for a bit, unsure what to think about his opinion of my sex life. I decided that I didn't really want to know, and skirted around that issue in favor of a different one.

"Why did it make you feel guilty?"

"I felt like I was avoiding my problems with it. Plus, it was always one night stands with random chicks…never any emotion involved. I sort of wanted something a little more…real than that. And worrying about STDs all the time didn't help my mindset either, so I just gave up on it for a while."

"Wow…I suppose you really can't judge a prudish book by its cover…"

He snorted. "I'm not a prude, I just have the ability to think with my brain, and not my dick. Plus, who knows where you have been. For all I know, you might have syphilis."

"I don't have anything of the sort, thank you. I am always very careful. I don't assume you are riddled with diseases, just because you have had previous sexual encounters. The least you could do is extend me the same courtesy."

"Fine. I acknowledge that perhaps your man-whoring has not resulted in an STD."

"Thanks." I said with a roll of my eyes. I felt decidedly uncomfortable talking about this, wondering why I'd bothered to bring it up in the first place, so I tried a quick change of subject.

"So…are you gonna let me hug on you more or not?"

He raised an eyebrow at me and looked at me like I had three heads.

"You aren't really into cuddling, are you?" I asked with a laugh.

"No, not really," Then a sly smile slid onto his face. "I am into making out, though."

Well. Hard to complain about that.

~0x0~

Please Review! And be sure to point out any mistakes that I might have made, so I can fix them. ^_^

~0x0~

To My Reviewers:

cynder81- I am so happy you liked it! I wanted to give the fight a cool ending, the fire hydrant was the best I could come up with. XD

firedragonmaiden- It wasn't too bad for him, but I did make him squirm a little, eh?

Stereophonic Aftershock- Smexy Handshake…I like that. XD And Envy is a he/she/it. No better way to describe the little green-haired bastard.

RomiofAmestria- Hehe. I like Mudkipz….

shadowX101- Lol. Roy is pretty much always turned on when he is around Ed…

Shane- Ed is just cute in general. ^_^

black-klepon- I like Loa too…And Ed didn't do too badly with this encounter. XD

Wicked Winter- Envy is always heartless, because he is jealous of everyone that has a true gender. And yeah, turning a street fight into a water war = epic.