Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, or any of the characters thereof.

Why?

"Do you love him," Russell whispers.

Thoroughly startled, I stutter, "Wh… what?"

"You heard me." His voice is as cool as ice, and he's waiting for me to respond with a weird look on his face.

"Yes… very much, but that's why I can't, no… that's why I won't allow this to continue. He deserves to have a life free of the pain that this relationship will bring him….. Do you understand?" I place my head in my hands as images of Ed's lacerated body fill my memory.

"What are you going to do then?"

"Well… right now I'm going to make sure he's ok, then, I'll leave before he wakes up."

Russell nods slightly and then leans his head back against the wall to wait anxiously for news of his best friend's condition. Two hours later a man robed in white exits the operation room. Upon a quick glance I notice large splashes of crimson blood staining his doctrine clothes. Instantly, Russell pounces on him, demanding to know of Ed's health, but the doctor ignores him and walks stone-facedly up to me instead.

"Are you his guardian," he asks in a bored and unfriendly manner.

"Ed goes to a private boarding school. His parents live in America. I am his teacher and therefore I have responsibility of him. So, if you would allow me to see him and inform me of his condition it would be greatly appreciated." I say all this as politely and calmly as possible. Dr. Shmidt, as his name card says, irritates the hell out of me with his impersonal attitude towards my Edward.

Brushing past the doctor, I make my way into the hospital room that they had moved Ed to. My heart jumps in my throat as I look down upon his still form. His pale face contrasts sharply with his dark red lips. His sun-kissed hair seems to melt softly into the milky sheets, and his darker lashes rest gently on the soft hills of his cheeks. I want so badly to brush kisses across that silk-like face, but I restrain myself, knowing that it would only bring me greater pain later.

Gently, I reach out and whisk back a stray stand of sunflower hair. My hand tingles with slight pleasure as skin collides with skin. I pull up a chair and sit down while resting my forehead on his ghost white hand. Two tears manage to escape and roll peacefully down the slope of his fingers. As I feel his arm twitch I glance up sharply to see him starting to open his eyes. Quickly, I rush from the room, leaving Russell behind with the slowly awakening Edward.

Edward's POV

I feel something warm and wet run down the tips of my fingers, and I notice that there's a heavy pressure on my hand. Struggling to understand what's going on, I flex my arm slightly to make sure I can still move. Finally succeeding, I peel my eyes open in time to see the hastily retreating back of my beloved sensei. My eyes widen, and I try desperately to reach out to him and call his name as I realize that for the second time this evening… he's leaving me.

I feel as if I'm in a well, like the girl in that American film, The Ring, and Mustang-san is up at the top, locking me in. Locking me away from him forever, forever in the suffocating dark's grasp. I want to scream out to him. I don't want him to leave me here. I want to know what's going on, how I got here… why he didn't want me… I just want to know.

I lay back in the sheets in defeat. Staring up at the ceiling, I notice for the first time that Russell's in the room with me. His face is clouded with emotions of relief and sadness. I don't understand what's going on. I'm so confused.

"Rus… Russell," I manage to croak out.

I watch in amusement as his face begins to glow at my mention of his name. He rushes forward and sits down in the chair that is conveniently positioned next to my bed. Earnestly he ask, "Ed, are you ok? How do you feel? Do you want something? Can I…"

I place two feeble fingers over his rapidly moving lips, quieting him instantly.

"Russell, was that Mustang-san? How'd I get here? What… what happened?" I wait expectantly for his honest reply.

Russell's eyes dart around the room as he tries to think of a way to tell me without hurting me. I know, I've seen him do this many times before. Licking his lips with nervousness, he finally decides to answer me.

"Edward, you were leaving Mustang-san's house and you had a wreck… You crashed into the road's railing. Mustang-san called our apartment to see if you were ok and when I told him you weren't home he went out to look for you. He found your car totaled on the side of the road, and apparently you had been thrown through the front windshield and had rolled down the steep hill. He went down and carried you up to his car, and drove you here, to the hospital. He left before you woke up." He lets out a breath as he finishes his hasty explanation.

"I know, but why? Why did he leave before I could talk to him," I whine.

He glances away and looks anywhere but at me. I know he's hiding something from me and I'll do anything to know what it is.

"Ruussseelllll," I say warningly, "I asked why."

Sighing heavily, as a man does when he has been troubled by years of hard times, he stares at me with saddened eyes. "Ed, I don't know what to tell you… you'll have to find out yourself if you really wanna know, but… I think it'd be best if you dropped it. You're only going to get hurt and… I don't think… I can watch it anymore," he breaks off and drops his head in embarrassment as tiny beads of water fall to the floor and shatter like a broken pearl necklace.

Suddenly, a light clicks on in my head. I finally understand what Russell's been talking about all these years… He's in love with me and… I never cared or paid attention. I kept turning my back on him and reaching out for someone else. I've been doing to him every day, what Mustang-san's just done to me.

Reaching over, I gently pull Russell out of his chair and towards me. As I wrap my arms around him he falls to his knees and buries his face under my chin.

As I whisper into his soft hair, "Gomen, Russell, I'm sorry," the scent of watermelon fills my senses and sends me down Memory Lane to a summer in America when Russell and I had bought the biggest melon we could find and took it to our secret place in the woods of Seattle's most adventurous park. There we gorged each other, shoving handfuls of the dripping fruit into the other's mouth. Once we could no longer stuff any more of the sweet red delicacy into our bursting stomachs, we began to throw it at each other. As the melon was hurled through the air I'd dodge behind a tree or a bush before darting out to aim my own sticky missile back at my attacker. This continued until sunset, then, finally exhausted from our activities, we fell down beside each other on the luscious grass to stare up at the ever changing sky, and to daydream about the future we'd always share together.

'Why couldn't it have been Russell I had fallen for instead of Mustang-san? Everything would have been so much easier, but I guess that's just the way of life and love. The easy road isn't always the best one to take. I suppose it doesn't really matter, I'll never regret what I've done, or that I've fallen in love with him…Never!'

A/N: Ha! Well, that's done. Ed will never regret loving Mustang, but will they ever be together? I don't know… well actually I do, but I'm not telling you, at least not until it's time to. The next chapter is called, Not Quite Ready for Tomorrow. Well, Ed will get out of the hospital… only to find that Roy's taken! Ah, what's this? I can't tell you! (pure evil) Ha, Ha, you'll just have to read to see who's got dibs on Mustang's ass… not literally, well… maybe. (eyes glint) Umm, by the way, I've started school today, so, I'll be really busy from now on, but I'll still update every few days. And I'll also be starting a new story called Lurking in the Dark, it'll be a Weiss Kruez story… in case you like Weiss. I love them, Just LOVE writing fanfics with those characters. Well, I don't think I'll start it until I've finished with this story, but maybe. Arg, just look for it if you wanna read it, if not, no hard feelings, I'll just have to meet new readers. BUT I LOVE YOU GUYS! Umm… there's this website, , that has a ton of anime music. If you wanna download it for free you just gotta go there and sign up and then you gotta activate your account, but after that you go to the top where it says Anime Music and then scroll down to Download. There you go, free wonderful downloads. Have fun with that sight, and I also suggest watching the anime Tsubasa Chronicle, it's AWESOME! You can download a butt-load of anime at Well, hope you enjoy it! Oh, one more thing, I realize that I've got readers from Hong Kong, Canada, Massachusetts, and some other places. I just got a map of the United States so that I could mark all the places I've been, and now I'm going to get a map of the world so that I can mark all the places my readers are from! So if you review me or whatever please tell me what Country and , if you're in the U.S., what state you're from. If you're not like me, all private about posting personal information, then please leave the name of the town or city too, so that I can pinpoint the places! Thanks a bunch, this'll be sooooo fun!

Reviewers:

Fading Wind: Thanks for emailing me back. It was tons of fun reading it, and I'm gonna add you to my map when I get it. …. You'll understand what I mean if you read the author's note above. And yes, I killed Maes and I'm sooo sorry, I love him soo much, but it just fit with the story. I sincerely apologize! Thanks for reviewing!

Shingo-sama: It's ok, they aren't too bad off. I'll fix them up… well I don't think I helped their situation at all in this chapter, but maybe next one…. HA! Maybe not! Thanks for reviewing!

Kaori-chan: I know, love does develop fast here. I'm sorry, I don't much like it when other writers make their characters fall in love in like a day or two, but look at me going and doing that! BAD ME, BAD! But, yeah, I guess this is kinda like, love at first sight! Heh, I try, sorry if it bugs you, but it's too late to change it now. Thanks for reviewing and telling me!

The New Shinigami Hikari: Clarinet… cool! Clarinet's a fun instrument, my cousin plays bass clarinet… she used to play clarinet, but now in marching band they're making her play saxophone.. Don't know which one though, probably tenor. YES! Save Ed with your power of persuasion, I just want you to know that it's all because of you that Ed survived… heh heh, yeah right! (grin) thanks for reviewing!

Koolmint26: Of course Mustang loves Ed, it's just a matter of whether he can let himself be with Ed or not… but he always loves him. So, don't worry about that. Thanks a bunches!

Anonymous: Sorry about the EVIL CLIFFY, as you called. There, happy? I put up the new chapter and it's only been like 3 days, AND I'M IN SCHOOL NOW! But anything for my dear readers! Thanks for yelling at me about leaving it at the evil cliffy… I mean thanks for reviewing me!

AngelKelley17: Yes, Ed, wha! Just kidding, I don't quite know what you're saying, since you put three words, but I think you're upset about Ed crashing. Am I right? Well, if I am, it's ok, he's still alive, and Russell's there for him. YAY! Thanks for reviewin'.

Mirai Maxwell: yep, Roy told Russell the truth. Yep, Ed's ok, and you've already read what Roy's going to do. I hope I answered all your questions, and I hope you're happy that I didn't just leave it right there. I continued and I still have 3 more chapters left. AH ONLY THREE CHAPTERS! NO, YOU'RE ALL GOING TO LEAVE ME AFTER THAT! Wahh, I'm so sad now. (cries, and drowns in tears)

Ochibi-chan0- Oy, please don't kill me. I wrote more and I didn't kill Ed, ahhhhhh don't hurt me. (runs screaming down the street as Ochibi chases after laughing maniacally and swinging a bloody axe around) bloody? Already? Did you kill someone else before? (eyes wide with fright) AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! (dead silence… no more typing)

Just kidding, I'm still here, I persuaded her not to kill me by throwing Roy and Ed plushies at her, as appeasement prizes.

fire princess alchemist: here, here I put it up. Thanks for the cookie, I'm imagining it as a chocolate chip one, still hot from the oven, and a glass of milk along with it. I'm sooo glad that this is one of your all time favorite fics, that makes me soooo unbelievably happy. (sniff) Thank you so much. (sniff)

FullmetalFlamegirl: Thanks for complimenting my portrayal of the characters, I appreciate it and I'm glad you like the story thus far. Thanks tons and tons for reviewing me!

XImperfectlyX: Ummm…. Don't call yourself psycho, you like my story so you must be cool! Heh. I guess you know Ochibi-chan0, is she from Canada too? It's SO FRIGGIN' AWESOME that you like my story despite the fact that you don't like Fullmetal Alchemist. If I may ask, why were you reading Fullmetal fanfics if you don't like the anime? Not that I mind cause you picked a cool story, but I'm just overly curious. Tell me next time please! Ps. Sorry I didn't kill Ed for you/…. Oh well.

RejectedAndLoved: Yeah, I agree, I don't like it when people pair up Roy and Maes when he's married because he's an awesome husband and daddy. … I don't like my dad, he's a meany butt, so I just think it's sooo awesome how he is with his daughter, so I don't much care for it when people mess up and make him a cheater. But I'm glad you like it, and you believe in strong relationships… good. Me, personally, I love and care for my friends more than my family, of course there are exceptions to that rule. There are people in my family I'd die for, but that goes for my friends too…. Don't know why I told you that, but I did. Oh well, thanks for reviewing me!

NarutosGirl52: hahahahah! Lmao! I can't believe you're hanging on a cliff. I'm sorry I didn't mean to leave you hanging there, here, here's a new chapter just for you. Hope you liked it. Thanks!

Angel-of-music131: I didn't leave it there. There's some more, and I'll post more later. Thanks for joining me and reviewing! Welcome!