Disclaimer: This fic is inspired by the song "Lips of an Angel" by Hinder. The anime of FMA is NOT owned by me and I am not attempting to steal it in any way. So don't harass me.

(Hughes x Roy-supported)

-Hughes POV-

"There you are, daddy's little girl." I cooed at my beautiful Elysia, who was sitting in my lap and playing with blocks in front of us as we sat on the floor in front of our couch. The night sky was darkening quickly as I spent the night away from my military duties and remained at home as a father and a husband. Hugging my wonderful daughter in my arms, I distracted her from her play, but I could not resist; she was the cutest girl on the planet and I loved her more than anyone else. "You're so smart, Elysia." I continued, watching her (and helping when necessary) in stacking the blocks. So proud of my daughter, I called into the next room at my wife. "Honey, look! She can stack them higher than she is tall!"

Gracia laughed back at me. "Sweety, that's just you doing that."

"No it's not." I denied up and down, receiving only a I-don't-believe-you-one-bit-mister laugh from the woman I loved. "She is that brilliant."

"Look, sweety," she appeared in the archway between the kitchen where she was preparing dinner and the livingroom where Elysia and I sat. "I know our child is wonderful and very intelligent... but she is not able to stack blocks that high." As if to prove her point, she stared pointedly at the pile; it was tall enough to reach my forehead. I opened my mouth to object, but she cut me off once more. "At least not all by herself physically. You could have lifted her up... I don't know." I smiled meekly at her and she returned the smile with her own self-satisfied twist. "See?" Playfully sticking her tongue out at me, she then returned to making dinner.

Hugging Elysia in my arms again, I felt her back press gently against my chest. "Don't listen to your mommy, sweety. Daddy knows everything."

"I heard that!" Gracia called out causing me to cringe. Laughing softly, I kissed my daughters forehead and finally let her go so she could wander around the floor a little. Crawling behind the pile of blocks, she pushed them all over in one foul swoop. Looking up at me, she beamed as her eyes sparkled. Raising her hands above her head, she exclaimed: "BOOM!"

I laughed, joy leaking into my veins as I watched my adorable daughter. "Yes, sweety. Boom." Chuckling as I stood up, I walked over to her and picked her up from her place on the floor. Putting her inside her playpen, I began picking up the wreckage of blocks when I heard the phone ring. Once... twice...

"Can you get that, anata(dear)? My hands are full..."

"Sure." I replied. Walking past Elysia to get the phone, I pointed at her as a grin spread across my face. "You be a good girl while I answer the phone, okay?" All the adorable little eighteen month old did was smile back at me, her eyes sparkling. Taking that as a confirmation, I left the room momentarily to sneak into the hall and answer the phone. "Moshi-moshi(hello)?"

"Maes."

My heart lept into my throat at the sound of my name uttered from that familiar voice. "Roy." I responded, slightly startled. "What... what's up?" Trying to act cool, I shoved off what nervousness I felt in hearing the luitenant call my house and speak to me so formally.

"..."

After several moments of dead silence between us, I knew something had to be wrong. "What's the matter, Roy?" I asked earnestly. "Is something bothering you?"

"..."

Still the silence persisted. Not wanting to be overheard, I paced slowly back and forth in the hallway, peeping into the livingroom each time I made my way passed the entrance, just to keep an eye on my daughter. Finding myself not being able to withstand the silent treatment, I tried again to get a response from him. "Roy... seriously. What's wrong?" Still nothing. And then a sound came from the other line; a sound that startled me.

Roy sniffed.

"Roy..." Pressing with more urgency, I tried to figure out what was bothering him. Deciding to ask him directly, I inquired: "Are you crying, Roy? Is someone hurt?"

"...I want to see you." He choked out finally in the smallest voice he could manage.

My heart froze within my chest.

Feeling my mouth drop open, I stared dumbly at the far wall in disbelief. He... wanted to see me? Why? My brain seemed unable to function under any type of rational thought; all I could decipher from my thoughts were snippets of information; things that did not make any attempt at logical sense. The one thing that seemed to awaken me from this dysfunctional mindset was Gracia calling from the kitchen.

"Honey, whose on the phone? Is it something important?"

Clearing my throat to ascertain whether I could still speak, I replied: "It's only Roy, sweety. It's nothing serious. I'll be done in a few minutes."

"Alright..." My wife spoke apprehensively. "Dinner will be ready soon. Do you need me to keep an eye on Elysia?"

"Will you?" I asked as I retreated into our bedroom for some privacy with Roy. I had a feeling something would be said between the two of us that I did not want Gracia to know about.

Shutting the door of our bedroom behind me, I sat on the bed and relaxed before I sighed heavily and allowed myself to evaluate what I had heard uttered from Roy's mouth. Before I could speak. Roy cut me off. Sounding heartbroken, he asked, "Why did you say it was just me? Do I really mean nothing to you, Maes?" Another sigh escaped my lips as I cringed, knowing how much I had hurt him by saying what I did to my wife. Even so, I had to justify my actions.

"You know that's not what I meant, Roy. I just have not told Gracia about it... it's really not an easy thing to bring up."

"But you could if you wanted to." Roy countered in a depressed monotone. I twitched at this, but said nothing, for I knew there was nothing I could say in my defense. He had a point. "Do you..." He sounded as if he had jumped into his question before thinking, for his voice faded off. Alerting my attention and causing me to forget my petty annoyance, I leaned forward on the bed so my elbows met with my knees and I could rest my chin on the palm of my hand.

"Do I what?" I asked, interested in what he had to say; in what he was thinking.

"Do you care about me?" He asked in a soft, timid voice. I found myself in a state of shock once again.

"Of course." I replied honestly, my eyebrows knitting together in worry.

"I don't mean as a friend or a co-worker." Roy cleared up.

"I know that." I stated softly. "I do care about you, Roy. Very much."

"...then why don't you want to be with me?"

"It's not about that." I sighed heavily. "You know you mean a lot to me, Roy."

"But your wife is more important." I was not sure if it was the blatant way he said it or the way he sounded heartbroken that ate away at my heart. To make matters worse, I could not even reply to that statement. I was in love with both him and my wife. Neither was more important than the other.

But how do you tell one of them that?

Letting out a deep breath, my eyes remained locked on the far side of the wall as I struggled to think of something- anything- to say. "Roy," I finally started. "I need to ask you something: if I were to say I loved you" (my whole face heated up as I confessed my feelings) "would you believe me?"

"..." Sweat beads began furrowing on my brow, making me feel like a little schoolgirl having to wait in agony after confessing her love, and see if it was returned by the one she confessed to. When Roy spoke up again, all he said was: "It depends."

Ouch. Drawing in a deep breath, I felt definite tears swell up in my eyes. Was he rejecting me? Yet he continued on. "It depends... on if you were serious, or if you were saying it only to make me feel better."

I twitched. "Why the hell would I NOT be serious about something like that?" I demanded, annoyed.

"Because even if you were serious," Roy replied. "You would not be serious enough to leave Gracia; and certainly not serious enough to leave Elysia behind. And I know I should not even ask you to... but a part of me wants you to abandon your marriage and stay with me." Despite the situation, my heart began fluttering madly within my chest.

"Roy," My voice was so soft as I spoke; taken over by my emotions. "I love you. I'm serious about that."

"I love you, Maes." He responded in an equally quiet tone, causing my heart to skip another beat and subsequently caused my cheeks to heat up as those four words circled through my head.

"Is there anyway you could come see me tonight?" Roy asked hopefully, causing my heart to fall as I clearly recognized his emotions. Sighing, I replied,

"I'm really sorry, Roy. I can't. Gracia's cooking dinner and Alicia needs to go to bed soon. I really wish I could, but..."

"No, it's okay." Roy sounded crushed. "I understand." Letting out a prolonged sigh, I could hear the receiver vibrating through his jetstream of breath against the phone. "You have your family and all..."

"Anata," Gracia called from the kitchen.

"Hold on a second, Roy." I muttered quickly before pulling the phone away from my ear and placing it against my chest. "Yes, honey?" I called back to my wife.

"Dinner's ready. Will you be joining Elysia and I, or were you planning on talking to your friends all night like a high schooler?" I laughed.

"No, I'll be there in a minute." I assured her.

"Okay..." she called, trying to pull off sounding impatient, but I could tell she was smiling from the sound of her sing-song voice. "But it won't stay hot forever."

"Two minutes!" I called back, laughing. Placing the phone back on my ear, I was about to tell Roy the news when he said it for me.

"Need to go?"

"Yeah. I don't really want to get off the phone," I replied. "I'm sorry. I love you, Roy." Not allowing myself to have the privelge of hearing a confession in return, I hung up the phone and placed it on the bed beside me before returning to my wife and daughter for dinner.