Next Door

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

Joh: Writing that thing over and over is getting annoying.

Jessie: I know what you mean.

Joh: Haha I'm writing this chapter to the song Buttons –hums along- Hopefully it will help my writer's block.

Jessie: -rolls eyes-

Joh: I'm telling you loosen up my buttons babe but you keep frontin me sayin what you gonna do to me, but I see nothing. –Dances-

Warnings: Language, yaoi

0o0o0o0

"Why not?" I demanded, slapping my hands down on my teacher's desk. She gave me a sharp look but I ignored it, I was desperate to get out of doing this insane tutoring jig with Envy of all people…

"Edward Elric, you have made a commitment." She told me sternly, her thin lips pursed together.

What the hell is she saying? She forced me into this! "You've got to be kidding!" I growled, grinding my teeth together. "I can't work with him! You don't understand!"

She raised an eyebrow at me, looking skeptical. I knew what she was thinking. All kids think that no one could possibly understand them. But this was different! Of course…I couldn't exactly tell her that the reason I was uncomfortable working with Envy was that he just recently had his tongue shoved down my throat.

"Listen…I've got issues with him…" I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest.

Her eyebrows shot up as she gave me a polite smile. "I'm sure this will be a great opportunity to work them out then." Damn, I really wanted to hit her.

I scowled and tapped my fingers against the hard surface of her desk impatiently. "How about this? Can I trade?"

"You mean tutor someone else?"

"Yeah." I looked at her hopefully.

"No."

Twitch.

"Why the hell not?" I snarled, losing my temper.

The teacher scowled and shook a reprimanding finger at me. "Language Elric, language."

I glared at her for a moment before turning away and running my hand through my gold bangs. I just couldn't see myself tutoring Envy! Something bad would happen, something real bad.

I could practically hear the dooms day music blaring in my mind. I sighed and turned back to face the hag who sentenced me to this punishment. "He's two years older then me, do you really think I could tutor him?"

She nearly laughed. "Your grades are above the standard Elric. I'm sure you'll be able to help him improve."

She then proceeded to ignore my presence by shuffling her papers and rearranging them in a neat pile. I stood in front of her desk, staring like an idiot. I couldn't believe it; I didn't want to believe it.

The second bell rung warning me that I would have to accept things as they lay and get my ass to lunch.

She looked at me, her smile showing her annoyance. "You should hurry up and get to lunch now." Ms. Belle reminded me.

With one last shriveling look I stormed out of the room. I was tempted to slam the door but thought better of it and chose instead to rip my hair out of my skull.

"Bitch!" I cursed, swinging my bag higher up my shoulders and making my way to the cafeteria, which was thankfully close by.

"Edward!" a feminine voice called out, making me turn around.

Before I could even see who had called me a red bag came flying at my face. I screamed and ducked wildly to avoid it, but sadly I was too late. It hit me full in the face, causing me to stumble backwards, clutching at my face.

"Oops! Sorry Ed!" the girl squeaked.

I peered between my fingers to glare at her. It was Winry (of course, who else would have greeted me so violently?), grinning nervously at me. She clutched her bag in both hands, holding it close to her chest. "I'm sorry." She said softly, her baby blue eyes staring down at the ground.

I sighed. "One of these days you're gonna accidentally kill someone."

She giggled and shrugged, all signs of sympathy gone. "You going to lunch?"

I rolled my eyes as I continued on my way to the cafeteria. "Where else?"

She caught up with me, bouncing on the balls of her feet perkily, her long blonde locks swishing back and forth. "Why are you late?"

"Can you be late to lunch?" I grumbled.

"For you, no." she smiled and elbowed me. "Did you get in trouble?"

"No. What about you?"

"I was talking with my friends at my locker." She replied easily.

Oh, but of course. "Thrilling." I said dryly.

Winry pouted her lips and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well someone is in a bad mood today!" she huffed.

"You would be too if you had to tutor a homicidal freak." I grumbled, scratching my head.

She peered at me curiously, quirking an eyebrow.

"He's that new kid, Envy."

She looked at my blankly for a moment before recognition flashed in her eyes. "Oh! Him!"

"You know him?"

"Yeah, he's in my gym period. He's only showed up for class once though…" she trailed off then shrugged, unconcerned. "Eat together?"

"Whatever." I marched ahead of her into the cafeteria, grinning when she hit me on the back for being mean.

Winry, Al, and I had been friends since…I dunno…preschool. And I have to say, she hasn't changed a bit since our childhood.

I grinned as I took my place in line, waiting to be served my food.

0o0

Envy

I rolled out of bed and landed with a loud thump on the floor. With a curse I slowly got up, using my bed as a support. God I hate it when you wake up and your sore all over. Worst feeling in the world…well…excluding a hangover.

I licked my dry lips and opened my eyes reluctantly, hissing when sunlight blinded me. Why the hell were my curtains open? I've made it a habit to always close the curtains before I fall asleep, save me some pain when I wake up in the morning.

Irritably I pulled the gray curtains forward, blocking most of the sunlight out. I rubbed my eyes with my fists sleepily, yawning and grumbling.

I kicked the sheets off of my body as I fumbled about my dresser, searching for my alarm clock. The bright red numbers glared at me as I stared at them blankly.

"1:26" I read aloud, my voice dull. Slowly I put the clock back down and slunk over to one of my many boxes of possessions I had yet to open. I rummaged through a couple of them, searching for my clothing.

After a few minutes of cursing and dumping my shit out on the floor I successfully found my box of clothes. I do admit I'm a tad picky when it comes to what I wear so I spent another several minutes going through a heap of dark clothing.

Finally I pulled out a small black sleeveless and a pair of baggy blue jeans. I wandered out of my room, stripping as I did so. It didn't really matter if I walked around half naked (or fully nude in fact) because Lust had work early in the morning and as for her bratty son, he got car-pooled to middle school with a few of his crack baby friends.

So I had the whole house to myself.

I chuckled at this and stepped into the bathroom, which was conveniently placed right next to my room. The cold white tiles of the floor made me shudder so I quickly jumped in the shower, dropping my change of clothes of the floor. I turned the water on, hissing as a torrent of cold water hit me.

That's the best way to wake up, people.

An hour or so later I stepped out of the bathroom, pants half on and shirt thrown over my arm as I towel dried my hair. I dropped the white towel on the floor and shook my head wildly, letting small droplets fly this way and that.

I threw my head back, flicking my hair out of my face as I padded back into my room in search of a headband. Kinda girly but it was the best way to keep my long hair from falling into my eyes.

I found one easily, spotting it throw carelessly in the middle of the floor. I slipped it on, pushing it through my green hair.

Leisurely, I made my way to the door, pulling my shirt on in the process. Once I was fully dressed and in the hallway I decided to get myself something to eat. What time was it again? Past twelve? Isn't it a weekday?

Oops. Well ain't that something else?

I chuckled, figuring my alarm probably broke or something. Found that piece of crap at a garage sale so whatever.

The kitchen was neat and orderly, just how Lust liked it. I toyed with the idea of messing it up, just to see what kind of reaction I would get. I shrugged the idea of, as entertaining as it sounded. Lust is actually one scary bitch when she gets angry. Must run in the family or something.

I started myself some coffee and poured myself a bowl of Wrath's Lucky Charms. He'll go ballistic when he notices that I took some but I can deal with that.

I'm the type of person who eats while standing up so that's exactly what I did. Chew then drink, chew then drink.

As I eat I went over my options of what I could do with the rest of the day.

A)I could laze around at home and do nothing

B)I could go to school

C)Go to the mall or some such place like that

There really wasn't much to do here except sleep and watch T.V and I was starting to get hyper from all the sugary shit I was eating. As for going to school…what's the point? It's almost over. And I do hate going out when I don't have to.

I scratched my chin thoughtfully as I dunked my dishes in the sink, leaving them to Lust. She just loves cleaning so I'm sure she won't mind if I give her more stuff to work with.

Maybe I could just slink around the town, scare some little kids.

Like Eddy.

Now this idea did seem a bit more interesting then my previous three others.

0o0

I leaned against the gates of the school as the bell went off, announcing that 8th period had ended and students were free to go.

Soon teens began exiting the school, walking past me with curious glances. I ignored them, looking for a certain blonde…

I saw him. Trudging through the crowd of students with a sour look on his face. He was clutching a slip of blue paper in his fist and I assumed that was the reason of his expression. Once he passed the gates and was standing out on the sidewalk, shifting his bag and reaching into his back pocket for his cell.

I sauntered over to him, yanking 'playfully' on his braid. Ed jumped, dropping his phone. I laughed aloud as he turned to glare at me. He was too cute to pull off an effective glare.

"Did I scare you?" I cooed, grinning as he bent down to pick up his cell. He didn't answer me, preferring instead to flip open the phone and punch in a number.

While it was ringing he decided to speak up. "I'm walking my brother home today. I don't have time to talk to you."

I feigned a hurt look, pursing my lips into a pout. "Ne, that hurts me right here." I said, placing a hand over my heart.

"Bite me." Ed snarled, cursing and switching off his cell phone. The call must not have gone through…

"I'll walk with you and your dear little brother." I chirped.

Ed ignored me, walking at a fast pace. I matched his stride and snatched the blue scrap paper out of his hand.

"Envy! Give that back!" he yelled, reaching out to grab it. I giggled and held it high up, well out of his reach. Must suck to be short. My eyes skimmed over the paper with mild amusement.

"You're doing tutoring?" I glanced down at him briefly before returning my gaze to the paper. It appeared to be a schedule of some kind.

Wait a second…why is my name here?

I stared in utter shock at the schedule before a laugh erupted from the back of my throat. I flicked the paper at Ed, still laughing. No wonder he looked like he was ready to kill himself! I have to say, the kid has some pretty shitty luck.

"That's rich!" I sneered.

"Shove it." He grumbled, shuffling ahead.

I trailed after him staring at his backside appreciatively. He may be short but he's pretty well built. I'd like to see him in some tighter pants though…

I grinned and sped up my pace so that I was walking directly behind him, literally right on his heels.

He spun around when he felt my breath against his neck. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he hissed, amber eyes wide.

"Walking."

He put his hands on my chest then pushed me backwards until his arms were completely straight before him. "You can't come any closer than this." He said firmly, letting his arms fall back to his sides.

"Oh yeah? Who says?" I smirked.

"Me." He growled. Oohh I think shorty was trying to sound threatening.

I took a wide step forward, grinning from ear to ear. Ed took a step back, scowling deeply. He glared at me for another few minutes before turning back around and heading onwards, muttering angrily under his breathe.

"So, you're gonna be tutoring me, huh? That'll be fun, ne?" I watched his back sort of tense up for a moment. I could just imagine his face. Probably grimacing. "Have any plans? You gonna help me with my homework?" My lip curled into a sneer.

"Shut up!" Ed bit out, shoving his hands into his pockets.

I hummed pleasantly, pleased at the frustrated tone of voice Edward had used. I guess I was really getting under his skin. Well, well…

We stopped, having reached our destination (or should I say Ed's since I was just tagging along to annoy him) of Central Middle School.

It still had a few more minutes until dismissal so Ed resigned to hanging out by entrance, doing his best to pretend I wasn't there.

"I can't wait to meet your little brother! I wonder if he's as cute as you…" I trailed off thoughtfully, grinning madly.

Ed's eyes snapped up to meet mine. "Fuck off! Don't you dare do anything to my brother! Don't touch him, don't talk to him, don't even look at him!" he threatened me, fists clenched so hard that his knuckles shone white.

I wound a strand of my green hair around my pinky, looking utterly bored. So he had a soft spot for his little brother, huh?

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I yawned loudly.

He glared at me, not convinced. "Get out of here. I don't want you near him!"

"What if I'm here to pick up my cousin?" I shot back, narrowing my eyes. I hate it when people tell me to do. Hate it.

Ed blinked. "You have a cousin?"

I snorted. "Yeah, little shit." I usually liked to pretend that I was in now way related to Wrath but we did look a tad too similar for that to work.

The doors opened as kids pushed their way out, eager to get home. They ignored us for the most part, dashing off to their assigned bus or walking off with a group of friends.

Ed waved as an 8th grader approached us. The boy wasn't tall but nor was he very short like Ed. He had a messy mop of dirty blonde hair matching his dark golden eyes. He was grinning toothily at his older brother, chatting to him happily.

I watched the two brothers silently, comparing them. Funnily enough Ed's bro was a bit taller then Ed himself.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I repressed a groan as I heard that annoying voice. I glanced in that direction, spotting my dear cousin instantly. Wrath approached me warily, scowling. His long mane of black hair was in his face, covering his violet eyes. "I can walk home by myself." The kid growled at me.

I returned his scowl and grabbed his wrist, squeezing hard. "Are you telling me you don't appreciate me walking all the way over here to walk you home?"

Wrath winced and glowered at me. I could feel Ed's gaze on the back of my neck and I smirked. "Thought so." I hissed at Wrath, releasing his hand. "Let's go." I pulled out a stick of gum, pushing it into my mouth. Wrath noticed and I inwardly slapped myself for being as stupid to present anything mildly sugary in front of Wrath.

"Gimmie some!" he whined, reaching out with his grubby hands.

"No way kid." I slapped his hand away.

"Asshole!" Wrath narrowed his eyes, fuming silentl while rubbing his now red hand.

I chuckled softly, walking ahead of him.

0o0

Ed

I think I'm actually starting to hate Envy. The walk home was not pleasant. It was kind of interesting to see Envy's cousin. They actually looked a lot alike; I imagine that's probably what Envy looked like when he was a kid.

Al didn't seem to like the other kid at all, or at least that's what I presume seeing as how quiet and uneasy Al was the whole way home.

Envy did introduce himself to Al. The bastard; pretending to be all nice and civil…(grumbles) pshh.

But Al being Al immediately bought it and got mad at me when I attempted to rip Envy's heart out. I'll have to try that another time when Al isn't present...

I growled in frustration and turned off the T.V, throwing the remote at the screen.

"Nii-san!" Al frowned, poking his head out of the kitchen. "Don't throw things, they might break!"

"It's fine." I grumbled.

Al continued frowning at me before withdrawing back into the kitchen to finish up preparing dinner. Yes, my younger brother did the cooking. Not me. My excuse: he's better at it.

I rolled off the couch and padded into the kitchen, watching Al serve the food onto two separate plates. He smiled widely as he handed me my plate, which I took eagerly. Together we sat at the small kitchen table, digging into the rice and potatoes.

Al kept glancing at the phone hopefully and I pretended not to notice. He always got hopeful that Dad would remember to call at dinnertime. Every time before he left on a trip he would tell us that he would call every night before dinner. It's nearly been two months and he's only remembered to call three times.

I ate slowly, my eyes closed as I swallowed. Al was staring at his plate of food glumly, eyeing the phone out of the corner of his eye.

"He's not gonna call tonight." I finally announced rather bluntly.

Al jumped then blinked at me from across the table. "You never know…" he trailed off with a shrug as I got up with my dirty dishes. "You're done already?"

I glanced at my younger brother and my expression softened. "Yeah but I'll sit with you while you finish."

Al smiled widely as I placed my dishes in the sink before returning to sit with him.

0o0

That night, while I lay in bed trying to go to sleep, I heard screaming coming from next door.

I rolled over onto my stomach and pulled my pillow over my head, trying to block out the noise. Annoyingly enough I could still hear the fighting clearly. I groaned and lay still, reluctantly listening to whatever was going on in the house next door.

I could hear a woman cursing loudly over the sound of a boy wailing at the top of his lungs. And over all that came the sounds of crashing, as if someone was throwing something against the walls.

It was so loud that I knew it had to be in the room right outside my window. Envy's room.

0o0o0o0

Joh: That was really long! To me at least!

Jessie: Yeah it was, ten pages! I'm proud of you!

Joh: pshaw this is nothing!

ANSWERS TO REVIEWS

ash892
Thank you! Hope you like this chapter!

albino-yaoi
There wasn't much EnvyxEd action in this chapter but there will be plenty more in the next…-evil cackle-

Morena Evensong
Is Envy in character? I hope so! Doing his POV was really hard!

thoughtless dreamer
I'm probably going to keep the plot we discussed…but I forgot a lot of it…I'll have to ask you about that later…heh…

cheerful-pinkstar
We all want Ed molested. Haha! (Ed: -grumbles-)

Syao9
Ed has a weird screen name! I like it.

awsomealchemist
I haven't thought about where the tutoring will take place yet…maybe sometimes it will be in school other times at Ed or Envy's house. –Sniggers- either way…Ed will have some trouble getting Envy to focous.

Fishtank the Stephs
You're very sharp. You're about the only person who noticed that Envy's phone call had some meaning to it. Good job!

HolyMistress
I love the Host Club! I have all the books (so far)! It's so funny! It remins me a lot of Hana Kimi!

myself.kiki
Well, Ed tried refusing the tutoring but his teacher is a bitch. –sigh-

SexySpoonsWillRuleUsAll
Envy is kind of scary! Just think about how scary he is to Ed! Poor Ed…

Kuroi Kitty
Thank you! Did I update soon enough?

Madd envy freak
Now I'm just trying to figure out when Roy should molest Ed…

hetfan7708
They are a nice pair…a perfect pair..a handsome pair…-laughs-

Review please!