Sorry for the late update; I might have been banned...XD

True to his word, Envy hadn't waited in Edward's room. Instead, he'd wandered all over the hospital, lingering in the courtyard.

Now, the following morning, he was no closer to solving the subject of his musings than he was the previous night.

Ed's problem was that he was in love? That's why he had been cutting? Of course, it went deeper; whoever he loved was apparently awful enough to make the pipsqueak hate himself for loving them. The thought was such a twisted one, it made Envy's head throb.

To think that the strongest person he had ever met was falling to pieces over love was…insane.

And then there was the fact that it was Envy who had caused this latest episode. It was Envy who had hurt the boy enough to make him break a doorknob and carve a hole in his skin. The knowledge was surprisingly painful. Envy had never felt regret like this, never wanted to take back his words…never wished Edward would ask for him to come back so that he could hug the boy again and apologize once more.

Envy shook his head, faster and faster until the motion made him dizzy. He couldn't do anything about what he had said, not now. But he might be able to find out what Ed had meant when he was talking about love if he asked someone.

And who better to ask than the shrimp's brother?

Now he was searching the hospital, concentrating his efforts by the pipsqueak's room, figuring Al would at least be nearby.

And he was right. On this third pass by the door that was, metaphorically speaking, locked to him, it opened and Alphonse walked out.

"I'll be right back with some food and we can talk about it, yeah?" he called back, shutting the door and turning to see Envy.

Meanwhile, Envy's heart was plummeting. What was this? Why should he care if the shrimp would talk to Al, but not to him?

"Oh, Envy." Alphonse's tone was carefully neutral, but Envy could see the murder in his eyes. Of course, no surprise there.

"I need to ask you something."

"Can we talk and walk? I want to get to the cafeteria before the lunch rush." Not waiting for an answer, Al began moving down the hall.

This was no problem for Envy, who had become rather wary of speaking outside of Edward's door, lest he say something stupid again. "Last night—with Ed—"

"After you shouted about not caring about him and then found my brother covered in his own blood?" Al asked scathingly, refusing to even glance at Envy.

"Yes," he whispered. "I—I didn't mean that, you know. I didn't know he could hear, and I was just trying to get Mustang off my back—"

"Save it."

Envy took a deep breath, half of him shrinking back at the reminder of just how badly he had fucked up, half of him wanting to punch Alphonse for interrupting his apology. "Anyway, I…I told him I was sorry and that I knew what it felt like, to hate yourself like that." Oh, Envy hated to say that to Al, but he had to in order to explain. "And he said something…strange."

"Strange how?" Alphonse seemed intrigued, despite his efforts to remain distant.

"Something about me not knowing how it feels to love someone but knowing they're a bad person, and hating yourself because you love them. I…don't understand."

Al finally turned, thumping Envy hard on the back of his head. "Are you really that blind?"

Rubbing his head and scowling, Envy just stared at Alphonse.

"It's so obvious! Why the hell else would Brother ever ask for you? Why would he want to see you? He meant just what he said. He is in love with someone, but hates himself for it. He's in love with you, Envy."

Al kept walking, but Envy froze mid step, his face slackening in shock.

Edward…was in love with him?

Now that the thought had been put out there, it made sense. That would explain why Ed had asked for him, why he had had so many positive things to say about Envy during their game, why Mustang had wanted to know how he felt about the pipsqueak…

Oh, fuck. This time, Envy knew, he couldn't run away, couldn't make anything up. He slid down the wall into a sitting position, considering the question: how did he feel about Ed?

He didn't hate him, that was for sure. Envy hadn't been lying during the game. He honestly found Edward to be an attractive person with a strong personality. It used to be that Envy would hide his admiration behind jealousy, but now…he was so tired of hiding. He had no one to prove anything to except himself. Everyone was gone; it wasn't like Father was going to come in and berate him for being too…human.

So then, if he didn't hate the shrimp…did Envy love him? Envy didn't even know what love was. Care, he knew that much. Did he care for the boy?

"Yes," Envy whispered to himself. Of course he did. That much was proven by his actions, even if he found it hard to admit. He hated to see Ed hurting himself, wanted to stop it, had done everything he could to make him feel better, had held the pipsqueak in his arms and wanted to do so again. Yes, he cared. More than he ever thought possible.

Was that the same as love? Real, romantic love? Envy balked at the idea. It was foreign…terrifying. But, could he be as afraid of the concept as he was if somewhere deep down he didn't think it was true?

Envy leapt to his feet. He had to see Edward. He had to see him now.

Edward jumped as Envy burst into the room, a rush of emotions washing over him. Not seeing the homunculus even for the night had been harder than expected.

"Ed!" Envy breathed, walking over to his bed. There, he seemed to find himself at a loss. The homunculus fumbled, before finally looking Edward in the eye. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said…what I said to Mustang. I know I told you last night, but…"

"It's okay," Ed whispered.

Gently, Envy ran his fingers down Edward's injured arm. "What are you doing here?" Ed asked finally, barely suppressing a shiver as the homunculus's fingers crossed over his newest bandage with a feathery touch.

To his surprise, Envy looked…almost embarrassed. "I was talking to Alphonse…about what you said last night, about hating loving someone…and he told me that you love me."

Edward paled, eyes widening. This was the end, then. Envy would be disgusted with him, and leave. Ed would be alone, and that wasn't something he wanted to face, especially not in light of the new hope Dr. Bandeau had inspired in him.

"Al," he hissed, letting his fear and humiliation be rechanneled into anger. He stood up and started towards the door, when an arm wrapped around his waist.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To teach my brother a lesson!" Edward muttered, fighting to get away. "Why would he do that? How could he tell you? That's not—not something I…" Try as he might to not panic, Ed felt his grasp on irritation giving way to hopelessness. He didn't want to give Envy up, didn't want to see the homunculus go, not now!

Envy's voice was soft, and so, so close to his ear. Ed shivered. "So it's true?" he asked, spinning Edward around to face him. "You love me?"

He couldn't lie, not with those purple irises watching him. "I love you," he admitted, forcing the words out.

"And you cut yourself because of that? It was my fault all along?"

"No," Ed insisted. "No, I just…"

Envy stared at him. "I'm sorry, Edward. You have no idea. I—the thought of causing you that much pain…I can't take it. I'm sorry."

Ed felt as though he was going to cry as the homunculus drew him into an embrace. Here it comes.

"Ed, I don't know how you can tell if you're in love," Envy whispered into his hair. Edward's hands grabbed at the homunculus involuntarily, trying to maximize the time and the contact before he left. "But I know I care about you more than I would think a homunculus would be capable of. I don't want you to hurt yourself, and I want to stay with you, if you aren't too angry with me. I want to help you. And…I might even love you."

Hesitantly, not believing what he had just heard, Edward backed away enough to look at Envy. "You…might love me?"

The homunculus nodded. "That's the best I can give you. I don't know. All I do know is that I don't want to leave, that I want to watch you heal. If that's love, then…I guess you could say I love you."

Ed laughed, and hugged Envy tight. Maybe he had changed, if he could even admit that he cared. And maybe Edward could make Envy sure that he loved him. Maybe everything would be okay. "That's all I needed to hear."