(A/N) Alright, chapter 4. I think I'll do maybe 1, 2 more chapters, wrap it up. I really enjoy writing this, just gotta find the motivation to. I'll post the next chapter on Monday. As always, thank you for reading, I seriously appreciate it so much. Anyway, read on!

Chapter 4

Ed had no idea just how much his life would be impacted by puking.

It'd been a little over a month since Ed had seen Nina and Tucker at the crime scene, one month since he'd started throwing up everything he ate. Honestly, it wasn't much. He didn't enjoy food, not like he use to anyway. Ed only ate if he knew he'd be able to get away later to relieve himself of it. He knew it wasn't right, but it made him feel so much better about everything.

Which is what led to him leaning over the toilet in his bathroom that night with his fingers down his throat.

Alphonse had gone out to feed the stray cats outside the command center, like he usually did at this time. Today, it happened to be after he brought Ed take away from the resteraunt down the street. Al had noticed how little Ed was eating, so he made it a point to make sure Ed ate at least once a day.

And Ed made it a point to make sure he could throw it up after.

After he finished puking the sandwich Al had gotten him, he cleaned up his mess and got in the shower on shaky legs. That was another thing Ed had learned. Afer he purged, he was always shaking and very tired. It was managable, he'd gotten use to it after all, but if he could he'd usually go to sleep after. Today he considered himself pretty lucky, and after he finished his shower he put on his pajamas and went diretly to bed, not waiting for Al to get back.

Al came back from feeding the cats to find his brother fast asleep in his bed. Al was worried about his brother, he'd been acting weird since the incident with Shou and Nina. He understood that grief was a horrible thing, and he felt it too, but Ed wasn't acting like he was grieving. Actually, Al was pretty sure he wasn't dealing with Nina and Shou's death. He refused to talk about how he felt, which was how Ed usually was, but most of the time he'd give in to his brothers constant questions and tell Al what was bothering him, but not this time. Ed had been more reserved and quiet than usual. He hardly ever ate, and Al could tell he didn't enjoy the food like he use to. He made sure to bring his brother something everyday, sometimes Ed would eat it then, sometimes he would wait until Al went somewhere to eat it. Al had voiced his worries to the Colonel, who told him he'd keep an eye on Ed but not to worry too much, after all Ed had been through a lot.

Al sat on his bed with a sigh and began to read one of his books, waiting for morning when he and Ed were to see the Colonel for work.

The next morning had been interesting to say the least,

Al had woken Ed up half and hour before they needed to leave, and Ed had spent most of the time going back to sleep, despite his brothers constant nagging. After Al had practically dragged Edward from his bed, Ed groggily dressed and started to head for the door.

"Brother, what about breakfast? You should really eat," Al had said as his brother neared the door.

"I just wanna get this stupid meeting over with, Al. Besides, I'm not hungry."

"Ed, you never are! Every time I say something about it you just say your not hungry or avoid me. You need to eat."

"Don't be over dramatic, I eat."

"Not like you should."

Ed clenched his jaw and walked out the door, not wanting to talk about this with his brother. Since he'd started purging, food always gave him anxiety, whether it was talking about it, looking at it, or eating it. Purging helped get rid of the anxiety that came with the latter.

"You know what, Ed? You wanna be that way, then fine! Ill leave you be and you can just do whatever the hell you want since apparently you don't care about what happens to you!" Al yelled at him, then slammed the door Ed had just walked out of.

Ed stood, eyes wide. Al had never yelled at him like that before. Ed sighed, then started on his way to the colonels office on his own. Al's right, Ed thought. All he's ever tried to do his help and all I've ever done is give him shit for it. But he can't know. It'll only hurt him, and he's been through enough. This was never meant to hurt anyone. Well, anyone but me. Ed gave a sad chuckle at that thought. I guess Al was right. I really don't care what happens to me.

Ed looked up to realize he was already at Roy's office. He mentally prepared himself for the lecture he was bound to get from Roy. Ed hadn't done much in the way of work in the past month. He was only really interested in Scar, and there had been absolutely nothing in the past month. He'd simply... disappeared. And Ed had been too busy with.. other matters to really work properly.

Roy looked up as his door opened, watching as Edward walked in. Roy was taken aback, he was ready to lay into Edward about his lack of work ethic when he arranged this meeting. He hadn't seen Ed in nearly a month, they'd only had short, one sided calls since. And Edward looked like hell.

His face was pale and thin, and he had dark bags under his eyes. He looked so fragile, much different from the Edward Mustang had grown accustom to. It was actually kind of scary how different he looked.

"Alright, I'm here Mustang. What did you want?" Ed asked, sitting on the couch in front of Roy's desk. He normally wouldn't be so rude to him, but he was tired and cold, more so than usual, and he just didn't feel right.

Roy sat and looked at Ed for a minute, not saying anything. Just looking. "What?" Ed asked. He couldn't tell what the colonel was thinking, and he hoped he wasn't thinking too much on Ed's state of mind. Ed knew he looked like shit, he just didn't care.

"We're going out," Roy announced.

"What?" Ed asked again, surprised at the sudden statement.

"We are going out. And no, you don't have a choice," Roy said, standing up and grabbing his coat. "Now come on, let's go," Roy said, making his way to where Ed sat.

Ed rolled his eyes, annoyed. He really didn't want to go anywhere, but he knew Roy wouldn't give him a choice if he was set on them going wherever the hell it is he wanted them to go.

Ed stood up, stumbling as his vision swam and he became dizzy. He would have fallen flat on his face if Roy hadn't caught him as he listed forward.

"Whoa," he said as he caught the boy in his arms. As Roy grabbed him, he could feel how skinny he was. He wasn't deathly thin, but he'd definitely lost weight. "Edward, you ok?"

"I'm fine," Ed had said, his voice rather airy. "I'm fine, Mustang, get off me," he stated, pushing Roy's hands off and away from him. The dizziness had gone and Ed started to walk out the door, not wanting Roy to question him.

Roy watched as the kid who had nearly just fainted walked out the door rather unsteadily. Something was definitely wrong. Al had told Roy about how Ed had been acting strange lately, about how weird he was around food. He'd chalked it up to grief, but now he knew something was off. People who were simply grieving didn't go around nearly passing out after standing up.

Roy collected his bearings, and went out the door after Ed, hoping he hadn't gone far. Thankfully Ed was waiting outside for him.

"Where are we going exactly? " He asked as Roy approached. Ed had wanted to run. He wanted to go back to his dorm, away from the prying eyes of his superior. But honestly, the dizziness had scared him a bit, and he was too tired to walk back. He knew he was damaging his body the way he was going, but it couldn't be that bad, could it?

"You'll see," Roy replied, and he ushered Ed into his car and began to drive.

Roy had a plan, of sorts. He wasn't stupid, he knew there was a reason for Ed almost fainting. He also knew that Ed most likely knows why he almost fainted, but won't say, for reasons Roy was find out about. He had a feeling Ed was falling, and he sure as hell wasn't going to stand by and watch.

(A/N) Thoughts? Id really appreciate your opinion, its hard to tell from my view if this story is coming across well and if it makes sense to you readers and if I worded it alright and all that. But yeah, I'll upload on Monday, and I'll probably only do a couple more chapters. So, see ya next week!