You know, why do I even bother with these little paragraphs at the start of the chapter? They don't have any actual use. I'm pretty sure that they're just here because the writer wanted to fill up some empty space.
Yes, in case you couldn't tell, I'm feeling cynical right now.
The world is a shitty place and we're all going to live meaningless lives.
Deal with it.

"Roy-boy," She leaned closer, "You know that I'll love you just the same, don't you?"

"Yes, but I'm not…"

"Apparently you were yelling it out a few days ago."

"Please," I said, "I just don't want to talk about it, okay?"

"Alright Roy-Boy, but if you ever want to talk…" She said.

"I know, I know." Suddenly, I didn't want to be there any longer. I could feel her eyes on me, trying to work out what was wrong. I knew that she only meant well, but I didn't want the attention. I finished my drink and quickly stood up. When she looked at me anxiously, I had to turn away slightly. "I need some fresh air."

And then I left. I just walked out of the door to meet the night air. It was pretty refreshing, feeling the cool wind on my face. Maybe a night time stroll would make me feel better. It would give me a chance to think, at least.

By now, I could see that it had been a dumb idea to think that I could have hidden my sexuality for long enough to become führer. It would have come out eventually, whether I'd wanted it to or not. True, people had found out about it a little sooner than desired, but I wasn't quite giving up yet. Maybe everyone would judge me for being gay, maybe they would hate me, and refuse to make me führer, but who said that those opinions were set in stone?

You learn about these people all the time in school. The ones who went against the odds and changed the world; made people see things in a new light. Maybe, just maybe, I could be one of them.

It had been hard already, and it would only get harder if I wanted this. The shit that I would have to deal with could make anybody else give up. But not me. Not me. There was no way in hell that I was going to let go of my dream because of this. Maybe I'd make it, maybe I wouldn't, but I sure as hell knew that if I didn't, I would die trying.

I was feeling better about myself now. That little pep-talk in my head kinda cheered me up. If you think about it, change does have to start somewhere, so why not with me?

Who knew, maybe I'd become a role-model for gay males in the future. The first gay führer.

Okay, I was getting a little ahead of myself now. I wasn't quite führer yet. In fact, I wasn't even technically employed yet. It wasn't time for fantasies yet.

So I carried on walking through the night. It was fairly loud and busy, a typical Friday night. There were people everywhere, but that didn't really bother me. They all had their own lives to lead, and so did I. They were busy with their conversations about what had happened at work over the week, or what movie they were planning to see. They didn't have to care about what a random lone man walking through the streets was doing. We were on two different paths, almost. We'd pass but never meet.

Okay, I really need to stop with all this philosophical crap. It's getting out of hand.

"Hey, Mustang!" Someone called out behind me. I turned around and saw Havoc, cigarette in mouth with a woman on his arm.

"Oh, hello Havoc." It was pretty early on in the night, but he already looked like he'd had a little too much. "Enjoying yourself tonight?"

"Sure as hell!" He turned to his date. "Cindy, this is my boss, Roy Mustang. He's the shit." Havoc was very blunt with his words when he got drunk around women. Maybe that's why he never had any luck with them. Or maybe I was the fact that when he got very drunk, he'd just get very sad and cry about his feelings all night like a menstruating teenager. I really need to stop thinking of reasons why Havoc can't get women, I have this really bad habit of telling them to him later and getting him really mad.

"I'm going to take that as a compliment." I smiled at Cindy, "It's nice to meet you."

"We're going out for drinks," Havoc said. More drinks? I thought, Despite the fact that you're already having difficulty standing? "Why don't you come and join us?"

"Oh, no. I don't want to intrude on your…"

"No! It's not a problem at all. Besides, you look like you need a strong one." Havoc replied. It sounded like he wasn't going to let me get out of this, for whatever reason. Maybe now that he knew that I was gay, he felt that he didn't have to worry any more about me trying to steal his dates.

So in the end, I agreed, and we headed to a nearby bar. At this point, I started to think that maybe things would change for the better. I mean, take Havoc for an example. He wasn't strongly homophobic before I'd met him, but he wasn't exactly running through town waving a rainbow flag, was he? And then, after he'd learnt about me, he'd been accepting of it. He'd stopped making gay jokes and using 'fag' and 'gay' as insults. Once you thought about it, that was ideal. That was all I wanted from people.

Bravo, Havoc.

You are a role-model to all.

Lost in thought, I bumped into someone on the street.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Called out a muscly guy wearing a shirt with the sleeves torn off, surrounded by his muscly friends who also had their sleeves torn off.

"Sorry, sorry." I said, starting to walk away.

"Hey, wait, aren't you that Mustang guy?" One of them said, turning around and catching up with me without effort.

"Yes, I am Roy Mustang." I said, a little more sarcastically than I intended to.

"I heard about you," Another muscly guy said, they were beginning to gang up on me now. I noticed that everyone on the street had backed off already. Even Havoc was standing back. So much for role-model to all, I thought to myself. "My brother works for the military at Central and he told me about you."

"About me?"

"That you're a fruit." Fruit, I almost smiled. That was a new one. I quite liked that one actually. I mean, fruit's supposed to be good for you, isn't it?

"So what if I am?" I asked, getting a little braver.

"I don't care, but why are you going around bumping into people for?" One musclehead asked.

"Maybe he was trying to hit on you." Another laughed. I had to let out a chuckle too. As if I'd hit on a guy like that. The musclehead who probably now thought I was hitting on him didn't like that. I could see him getting angry, his little face going all red, which of course, only made me laugh more.

I wasn't laughing when he punched me in the gut.

The punch was a good one, and I hadn't been expecting it. I was knocked down on all fours. I head a mutter of something along the lines of "I'll show you who's boss", before he signalled to his friends to join in too.

I didn't have time to get back up, I didn't have time to defend myself. There were about five of them, I was no use on my own. I could do nothing but curl up into a ball as every part of me got hit.

I know that when you read fight scenes like this, people always talk about how much pain they were in, but to be honest, it didn't hurt that much. I'd passed out before I could feel the worst of it.

HEY! LLF here again!

Yes, I am still alive, this story has just been really hard to keep up recently.

But I swear on Ed's automail that I'll get it finished

FOLLOW/REVIEW/FAVOURITE!