If a broken heart had a smell, Maes' cologne was certainly it.

The scent hit Roy like a fist to the face the second he walked inside the house. It was deep and rich, reluctantly sexy, and infinitely saddening. There were quite a few instances over the years when Roy would catch a whiff of it on someone else, and he would find himself blindsided and overrun by the swarm of unwanted memories associated with it. So many happier days… and nights. Remembering those nights was the worst thing of all, especially at night while lying wide awake and hard as a rock in a barracks bunk with no proper way to ease the ache in his heart or the one between his legs.

He closed the door and forced himself to release his death grip on the doorknob. Far easier said than done. When he finally managed to do that, he turned around to face his former best friend and lover for the first time in years.

"Hello, Roy."

Unlike Ed and Al, there wasn't a noticeable physical change in Maes' appearance since the last time Roy saw him, but he still seemed different. The green eyes were still gorgeous and the face was still handsome and the body was still… damn… but he looked… older somehow. And not just because four years had passed.

After all this time, Roy had worried and wondered how he would react to this moment. He had dreaded it, feared it, and ran away to the Army to avoid it. However, now that the moment had arrived, he realized that the passage of time actually hadn't amplified his feelings like he thought it might. What he felt was hardly indifference, but it also wasn't nearly the overwhelmingly traumatic experience he had worked himself into believing it would be. Seeing Maes hadn't broken him, after all. And for that, he was thankful.

"Hi," he replied when he realized he had gone long enough without speaking.

"How have you b-" Perhaps realizing what a damn fool question he was about to ask (and not wanting to hear the answer), Maes shook his head and tried again. "You look good."

"Thank you."

Roy felt mildly dickish for not returning the sentiment, but fuck it. If this Maes was anything like the old one, then he stroked his own ego enough to make up for any lack of compliments. Besides, he really didn't want to engage more than required for the sake of politeness. Ten seconds in and he was already over it. He just wanted to get past this, get some fire and some alcohol, and think about

(Ed)

nothing for the rest of the night.

"I needed to drop off Elysia's flower girl dress," Maes explained apologetically. "If I didn't, she would insist on wearing it every day until the wedding."

He smiled faintly at that, and Roy's right eye twitched ever so slightly in response.

"I wasn't trying to see you," Maes continued. "I wanted to see you, but I wasn't trying to. I really meant to just drop off the damn dress and get out of here before you got back."

"Well, here I am."

Maes sighed heavily. "Roy…"

"Daddy?"

Roy's heart dropped to the pit of his stomach at the sweet sound of a little girl's voice. He tore his eyes away from Maes and looked at the child who had just exited the bathroom. She had pigtails and the biggest, greenest eyes that Roy had ever seen, and he suddenly wanted to scream when it hit him, really and truly hit him, that all of that cuteness only existed because Maes had fucked around on him.

Ah, there was the traumatic experience and impending break he had been worried about.

"Come here, honey." Maes picked up his daughter while keeping a concerned eye on Roy, whereas Elysia's expression was far more curious. "This is Roy. Do you remember who he is?"

After some contemplation, Elysia's face lit up. "Daddy's special friend!" she happily exclaimed.

"That's right. He's… he was Daddy's very special friend." Maes faltered a bit at that, and then, realizing that Roy was probably close to short-circuiting, he lowered the little girl to the floor. "We're going to leave soon. Why don't you go outside and see if Uncle Jean is smoking his nasty cigarettes?"

"Yuck!" Elysia said, scrunching her nose.

"Yuck indeed," Maes agreed. "I'll be there in a minute."

She smiled at Roy and ran out of the house with pigtails flopping to and fro. It was incredibly adorable and Roy very much wanted to punch something.

"You…" He swallowed hard and tried again. "You told her about me."

"I did."

"Why would you do that?"

"She saw a picture of us and asked who you were. So I told her." Maes pushed up his glasses, his eyes never leaving Roy's. "I said I would never lie about us. I meant that."

Roy laughed bitterly. "Are you fucking serious?"

"I didn't lie to Gracia. I just…"

"Creatively dodged the question?" Roy sarcastically offered, throwing Maes' long ago words back at him. Remembering that day added fuel to the fire of his growing anger. How could he forget? It was the day Roy had bought Omega Supreme for Ed, and the day Breda confronted them about their relationship and Maes had brazenly admitted that they were indeed a couple.

It was the day they first said they loved each other.

And it was one of the happiest days of Roy's life.

"Roy."

"What?" Roy snapped at him.

Maes heaved a soulful sigh that seemed to last forever. "There hasn't been a day that's gone by since you left that I haven't hated myself for hurting you."

"Good."

Maes nodded, knowing that he earned the retort. "The house is mine now since my parents retired and took off. If you ever want to… talk to me… or yell at me… or punch me… or all of it… that's where you can find me."

And with that, he walked out of the house, the scent of his cologne lingering in the air.

Roy went over to the couch and sat down. The encounter had drained him, all-he checked his watch-five minutes of it, and now that the anger was subsiding, he was completely exhausted in mind and spirit. He was even too tired to raise his head and look Jean's way when he came into the house.

Jean stuck one of his "yucky" cigarettes between his lips and lit it, then took a long, hard drag. "You start the fire and I'll grab the booze."

A weak smile of gratitude was the best that Roy could do. "Deal."

xxXXxx

"So how are the boys?" Jean reconsidered his question. "I guess they're not boys anymore, are they?"

Gazing at the fire pit, Roy took a sip of his Gentleman Jack before replying, "No, they are not."

He opted not to elaborate on that point since doing so might have forced him to confront some truths about his reaction to Ed that he wasn't ready to confront. After talking to Maes, Roy had done just about all the confronting he wanted to do for the day.

"What about their mom?" Jean asked. "Is she still MILF hot?"

Roy cringed. "Jesus, Havoc. You're about to be a married man."

"Married, not blind."

"You better not let Riza hear you talking like that."

"I think she would be perfectly fine with me inquiring about a lovely woman I happened to have a crush on back when I was sixteen." After a few seconds, Jean added, "Or she might shoot me in the dick."

"Exactly," Roy concurred.

The brisk evening breeze was a perfect contrast to the warmth of the fire. Kind of like the contrast of automail and flesh, and why the hell had that even popped into Roy's mind right now? Damn it.

He took another sip of his whiskey, savoring the taste of it. And then, partly because he knew Jean was dying to ask about it and partly because he was dying to talk about it, he decided to come clean:

"I was fine until I saw her."

Jean nodded but said nothing, and he waited patiently for Roy to continue.

"He told her about me. Did you know that?"

"Yes," Jean replied, lighting a cigarette.

"Is there anything else I should know?"

Jean began, "Maybe you should…"

"... ask him myself," Roy finished. "He did invite me over."

"Are you going to go?"

"I don't know." Roy stared at the flames as they arced and swayed and danced. "I don't want to take any of this out on a kid who didn't ask to be born because her father was a cheating bastard."

"You won't," Jean reassured him. "You're better than that."

"I didn't feel 'better than that' just now."

"That was also years of avoidance coming to a head. But you made it past the worst part. You saw him, and her, and you survived. It'll get easier. Slowly but surely."

"If you say so, Doctor Jean."

The two friends chuckled. For Roy, it felt like a thousand pound weight being lifted from his heart.

"Thank you," he said gratefully.

"Anytime."

xxXXxx

Because Ed didn't want to come across as overly eager for Roy's arrival on Monday afternoon (even though he was), it took every ounce of his willpower not to jump out of his seat and look out of the living room window every time he heard the slightest noise coming from outside. Besides, if he had done that, Russell would have never let him hear the end of it. Russell never let him hear the end of a lot of things, so Ed saw no reason to add to that fast-growing list. Instead, he settled for sitting there with a firm grip on the arms of his chair, his right foot shaking frantically.

"Keep your panties on," Russell casually muttered as he flipped through a book titled Flowers of the World. "He'll be here soon, and then you can take them off."

"Does it hurt being an asshole all the time?" Ed asked him.

"Not really." Russell closed his book and curled his feet under him, but not before taking off his shoes because although he went out of his way to annoy Ed, he liked Trisha enough to respect her furniture. "Do I need to go hide in the kitchen with Fletcher and Al when he gets here so you can have your alone time?"

"Fuck yes," Ed said. "I mean… no, of course not… but yes, please."

Russell rolled his eyes and regarded his friend, who was too busy being nervous to notice his contemplative stare. "Look, Ed," he started, his tone serious for a change. "Are you sure that you're not…"

Only then did Ed take notice of the teen's change in demeanor. "Getting my hopes up too much?"

"Yeah."

"I probably am," Ed admitted. "Guys like Roy are way out of my league. Shit, I don't even have a league."

"I'm sure there are guys who feel the same way about you."

"Russell…"

"Oh, calm down, I'm not talking about me," Russell interjected. "Just because we jerked each other off one time doesn't mean I want to be your boyfriend. Especially when it looks like we might end up step-brothers any day now."

Ed stared at Russell with wide, questioning eyes. "Did he tell you that he was going to ask her?"

"No, but he's been really secretive about something lately. And you know my dad. He's never secretive about anything."

"Huh."

"What do you think?"

"Well," Ed began, mulling over the idea. "They've been dating for years so I guess it makes sense that they would take that step eventually. What do you think?"

"I'm cool with it," Russell responded. "I like your mom. And I like Al."

"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Ed demanded to know.

"No."

Ed was just about to kick him when he heard the growl of a massive engine. He jumped out of his seat and then immediately scolded himself and sat back down. Then he did kick Russell for openly laughing at him.

"Ouch!" the teen cried, nursing his sore shin.

Ed was too excited to notice his friend's pain. He practically floated over to the door when Roy knocked, and forced himself to take a slow and deep breath before opening it.

"Hey there," Roy greeted him with a heart-stopping smile.

"Hey." Ed was surprised at how laid back he (thought he) sounded. "Come on in. You remember Russell?"

"I definitely remember Russell," Roy said as he entered the living room. "Hello, Russell. What's wrong with your leg?"

"I was attacked by a shrimp," Russell replied, glaring at Ed. "Hi, Roy. Welcome back." He stood and started hobbling towards the kitchen. "I'm going to see what the brats are up to. Sit down and stay a while, Roy. I promise there aren't any thumbtacks on the seats this time."

Ed was horrified and amused by the reminder of one of the more creative (and admittedly fun) ways that they had abused poor Roy back in the day. Fortunately, Roy just laughed off the comment… though that didn't stop him from thoroughly inspecting the sofa cushions before sitting down.

"How was your day?" he inquired. "Is high school as horrible as I remember?"

"It probably sucks even more now."

Ed sat down beside Roy, close but not too close. He regaled him with tales of his school day, from an assignment he was working on for his Computer Programming class ("I know that guy," Roy said with pleasant surprise when Ed mentioned his teacher, Mr. Fuery), to the gravy-covered brown brick that the cafeteria had attempted to pass off as meatloaf during lunch, to his interactions with Rose and Noa, who had shed all of their asshole ways over the years and treated him rather kindly now.

"That's good to know," Roy said upon hearing about the twins. "I hated them for the way they treated you back then."

Ed was honored that Roy would hate anyone on his behalf. "So did I. What about you? What did you do all day?"

"I-"

Roy was interrupted by a loud crash coming from the kitchen, followed by even louder arguing.

"I need to go kill people," Ed said through clenched teeth. "I'll be right back."

But just as Ed was getting up to commence murdering his brother and potential future step-brothers, Al poked his head through the kitchen door and gave Ed and Roy an apologetic smile.

"Everything's okay!" he promised. "Hi, Roy!"

A hand that did not belong to Al slid out of the partially opened door and waved wildly.

"Hi, Roy!" Fletcher yelled from behind Al.

While Ed silently fumed, Roy merely grinned and waved in return. "Hi, guys. Be careful in there."

"I was born careful," Al insisted before disappearing back into the kitchen along with Fletcher's hand.

Ed sat back down. He looked at Roy and shrugged. "Sorry about that. What were you about to say?"

"I spent most of the day trying on tuxedos with Jean," Roy continued. "It's about as exciting as it sounds. I don't remember it being so boring back when…"

His voice trailed off, and his expression soured. It only lasted for the briefest time, but Ed noticed it all the same. Maes was the reason for that expression, and Ed hated him more than ever for hurting Roy so deeply.

"Back when we all got fitted for Prom," Roy finished. "You'll know what I mean soon enough."

Ed snorted in disbelief. "Me? Go to Prom? That's hilarious."

"You never know."

"I think I know that much."

Not that it would stop Ed from adding a new fantasy of slow dancing with Roy to his mental bank. Because the thought of being that close to Roy, their arms wrapped around each other, their bodies pressed tightly together-

"Do you want a drink?" he asked suddenly. And not just because he was trying to keep from getting an erection right there in front of the object of his desire.

"Actually… do you want to get out of here for a little while?"

Holy shit.

"Y-Yeah, sure."

holyshitholyshitholyshit

"We can go and grab something to eat, and that way you're in the clear when they inevitably burn the house down," Roy explained, smirking.

"Sounds like a plan," Ed said with his mouth.

HOLY SHIT! Ed screamed in his head.

Roy got up. It took longer for Ed's blown mind to work out that he couldn't just sit there and holy shit himself to death, that he had to get up too. He went over to the kitchen door, yelled through it that he was leaving (far better that than open himself up to however that trio might have reacted in front of Roy), and joined Roy at the front door.

"Ready?" Roy asked.

Ed had never felt more ready for anything in his entire life. "Yep."

They walked out of the house and down the driveway towards that beautiful beast of a car. Roy unlocked the doors and they both got in, and Ed couldn't think of anything that topped sitting with Roy Mustang inside of a Mustang. His life was now complete. So far.

"Do you want anything in particular?" Roy wanted to know.

"It doesn't matter to me." In Ed's euphoric state, he realized that he had forgotten something. "Oh, shit. I need to get my wallet."

"Don't worry about it," Roy said as he started the car. "You can pay next time."

Next time? NEXT TIME?!

"Okay."

They both fastened their seat belts. As Roy turned his head around to back out of the driveway, Ed almost laughed out loud when saw three nosy faces pressed against the living room window. But then they were out of the driveway and on the road, and Ed forgot all about his audience. He forgot about school. He forgot about everything. All that mattered at that one glorious moment in time was roaring down the road in a kickass car with the man he loved.