Alright. I'll not dwell on this little bit all that much because I want to get to the exams at the end of the year. We'll spend a few chapitras here and then move on.

I'm going to get Ed a little more involved though. I love Ed to death, but I never use him. I guess this is the 'sympathy for a character' I was hoping not to deal with. Oh well, just another bridge I need to cross.

Hope you like this one. I'm trying to be a bit serious now...lets see how it works.

Episode 23 - Trapped

One of the simplest tasks one could partake in during the course of the day, had turned into an overbarring and unenjoyable task. Al leaned against the wall next to the boys bathroom in the school, sweating bullets and slightly out of breath. Just using the washroom took an amazing amount of will power due to the fact it brought on excruating pain.

Not wanting to deal with it any longer, Alphonse had gotten up an hour earlier so he could turn in his appointment sheet before anyone was really at the school. Fortunatly for him, they had a cancelation, so they just penciled him in for after school at four thirty. He wasn't looking forward to it, but at the same time, he couldn't wait.

"Panting?" Breda said, approaching the open door with his team mate and friend standing next to it. "Should I give the bathroom a minute, or is it safe?" He said in a joking manner.

Al shook his head. "It's safe...I just, ran..." He lied.

"Oh, still not feeling well?" He said with concern.

Not wanting to say anything to anyone about his painful problem, Al nodded. "Yeah, breakfast just did want to sit."

Giving him a pat on the shoulder he looked for a teacher. "Did you want to go home?" Figuring that showing a teacher that his friend was in bad shape, would help his case if he wanted to go home.

Al shook his head. "I can't afford to miss school. I'll be fine." He composed himself. "I'll just drink some water...or I'll just wait for lunch." He knew he wasn't sick anymore, but he was way too proud to admit to something like this.

Two weeks is what they told him. They said that the results would take about two weeks to come in, and for the time being, he was told to abstain from having sex. Like that was going to be a problem. Not only was he not involved that deeply with anyone, but he didn't think that he could with the amount of pain he was in.

The day passed slowly, gym class was the worst. Once again, track was on the agenda. "Fucking friction." Al cursed unders his breath as he leaned down on his knees. "Almost done though." Running was not doing him any amount of good; it was at that moment he found out just how much track pants could feel like sandpaper on the more sensitive areas when you have a bladder infection.

"You OK Al?" Riza's voice sounded in front of him. Alphonse glanced up briefly. He could see Riza in front of him, her long blond hair tied back in a bun and a sweat band around her forehead, allowing for a few strands of her bangs to fall out as she leaned over to talk to him.

Al stood up, keeping eye contact with the pretty girl in his midst. "Yeah. Just a little tired. I guess I'm not one hundred precent yet."

Giving him a concerned look, she stood up straight. "Take it easy Al, you don't want to land yourself in the hospital." She smiled and continued her last running lap.

"Hmm..." He watched her run off. She had a really cute face and a nice body. 'I don't know why I didn't notice her sooner...' Alphonse was starting to get the feeling that Winry might not be interested in dating, so going to one of her equally as cute friends might suffice. He did however keep that idea on the back burner, he had more important things to worry about.

Al endured the rest of the day, and fortunatly for him, the clinic gave him some antibiotics to help with the bladder infection. A full forty-eight hours before he felt any significant difference. Amoxicillin was the drug of choice that they handed him at the end of the day. They had a small pharmacy for situations like this, so it saved him from shelling out money for a prescription. He was hoping that this was going to be the last of his worries, and that this whole 'STD' thing was just paranoia.

Al laid down in his bed, still sore from his recent trip to the facilities, turning the bottle of antibotics around in his hand, he sighed. "I hope this is it, I'm sick of this."

"Hey Al. Can I come in." Ed knocked on his door.

"Sure." He sat up and faced the door.

"Something just crossed my mind." He said, closing the door behind himself, and then, making his way to the computer chair, he rested. "Something should mention...Clause was with someone else at that party." He could see his brother become worried. "Yeah...she was with Carlo. And I heard through the grapevine that he's out sick. You don't think this could be anything serious. Did something else happen at the party that you're not remembering?" Ed folded his hands and leaned forward. "Maybe you did more with her than you thought?"

Al shook his head. "No. I went to the clinic today and they said it was just a bladder infection." He held up the bottle of pills. "See."

"That's good. Because I was going to tell you to drop a hint to Clause to go and get tested too. But if you're sure." He stood up. "All the better."

"Right." Al watched his sibling get up from the swivle chair. "Wait...where did you find that out?" He said rather on edge, knowing it must have been when he was over at Winry's.

"Grapevine, remember?" That being said, he left the room.

"Hmm..."

"What do you think about this one?" Reanna flashed yet another dress to her daughter. "I want to avoid white at all costs. Too overdone."

Aria tilted her head off to the side. "It's nice...but that's a hell of a lot of buttons." She pointed to the arms, from the wrist to the shoulder was nothing but buttons. "Not only would it be a pain to get on, but it would be a pain to get off."

"Yes. It's best not to keep your man waiting." She snickered.

"Ah, mom. I don't want to hear that." She burried her head in the couch cushion.

"Oh lighten up. You know it happens." She rolled the magazine up and tapped her daughter on the head.

"So, still doesn't mean I want to hear it out loud." She sat bak against the arm of the sofa. "Try not to go for anything too poofy either."

"I like poofy." She flipped to another page. "Like this one." She referenced a dress that was poofy to the power of ten.

"Oh god, I don't think we'd be able to fit you through the door in that one. Ech." She cringed at the overdone, gaudy wedding dress."

"We'll be in a church, the doors are huge." She smiled, still flipping through the pages.

"I know....but not that big." Aria smiled and pointed over her mom's arm. "That one's nice." She pointed to a dress that was relativley form fitting, a light lavender color and just a little bit of lift to it.

"Nice an expensive. I need arms and legs to wear a dress, and if I was to get that one, I'd have to pay an arm and a leg to get it." She did however take time to admire it though. "It is nice though."

"True." Aria was on top of the world. It wasn't too often that her and her mother got to spend time together, so she was cherising every moment. "But it still is a little early. I mean, you haven't even picked a date...or compiled a guest list." Aria dropped her first hint.

"That's right." She pulled her legs up on the coach and faced Aria. "First of all, let's think of where the wedding is going to be." They went over a few different locations that seemed fitting. They spent the rest of the evening, up till eleven, planning out locations, times, food and all the other decisions that needed to be made.

Jean had said that he wanted to leave most of the planning up to Reanna; not that he didn't want to do it, it was because he felt she would be more creative. If she wanted help though, he said he'd be there.

Everytime her mother would bring up the reception after the wedding, she would nudge at inviting her friends from school. From the feeling she was getting, it sounded like she was planning on inviting them all along. Now all that mattered was if Santisha was going to show up. The plan was almost in motion. It was then that she realized that she liked plotting; just like the race against Roy. She just crossed her fingers that this one went as smoothly as the last one.

As the days passed, Al's pain barely subsided, on top of that, new symptoms seemed to arise. He was having cold sweats during the night and even his vision was starting to blur from time to time. Whatever the test results were, he was hoping the cure was as quick and effective.

He took his ring finger and scratched at his neck right below his ear. It seemed that his right ear was itchy.

"Guess what I just heard guys." Kain said, coming over to the rest of the group. They had collaborated at the A&W at the mall for their mozza burger deal after school. "Carlo has Aids."

The guys from the basketball team cringed. "Seriously?" Bread said in disbelief.

"Yeah. His girlfriend has it too. They're both not coming back to school for a while." He said in a very darkened tone. "He said he had no idea where he caught it either. But he's thinking it was that girl from Claus's party."

The group mourned over the misfortune of their friend. Al too mourned, but only for his own fate. He knew the whole story of what happened at the party, and it was becoming more and more clear to him what was wrong.

Managing to hold it in, Al regreted not listening to his brother that night.

In the evening time, after all his friends had left the mall, he stepped out the back door, not really caring what sort of unmentionables may be lurking about. He was becoming tired and in a lack of better judgment, he declined the ride home his friends offered. The only reason the back door was picked over the front was becaue if he went out the front, he would have to go around the entire mall to get to the bus stop.

"What are you doing out here?" An gruff voice accosed him.

"Huh? I'm go to the bus stop." He really hoped it was just a bum asking for money, he wasn't looking forward to defending himself.

"Oh..." The figure sat up against the wall, a cigarette in his mouth and a cloud of smoke around his head. "Care to join me?" He said, extending the little stick to him, the red embers clinging to the tip.

"..." Al peered through the very vague amount of light he had to work with. "Wait a minute...your voice sounds familiar." He took a step closer. "Hey! I know you!"

Russell looked up through his faded green hair. "Oh it's you." He said with surprise. "Whatever. Join me?" He said once again, a rough tone to his voice, more than likely due to the smoke inhalation.

Al looked skeptical; but it was at this point, that he just stopped caring what was right and what was wrong, because by his knoledge, nothing else was going to matter after he got his test results back. No basketball, no dating, no kids, further down the line. Not anything.

He joined Russ for a puff that Thursday night, hoping to ease the pain.

*stabs little Al voodoo doll* ...what? You all have your hobbies, I have mine.

Kidding, but like I said, this one won't last too long. You people are reading, but I only have one reviewing. :( Come on, let's have a little feedback after my long break.