Note: I am not responsible for any nosebleeds and/or fainting this chapter causes :P
~Basketcase
Havoc was released from the hospital sooner than expected. The next day, in fact, he was back on his feet, although his legs were slightly wobbly.
Clarissa was sitting at the kitchen table with her laptop, working on one of her essays when she heard the front door fling open and Felicia raced over.
"Oh-my-god guess what movie is playing in the campus auditorium this Friday."
"I dunno, what?"
"That new anime movie Lovely Tissue! It's only my favourite anime series ever!"
Clarissa continued typing on her laptop.
"Want to come with me?"
"Mmm, no thanks."
"You're coming with me," Felicia said with a glint of pure evil in her eye. Carissa nodded vigorously in compliance.
The front door to the apartment opened once more and Rachelle ran over to them.
"Guess what, guys!" she said.
"You saw the poster for Lovely Tissue, too?" Felicia screamed.
"What? Eww, no. I just signed a contract to do modelling here in East City!"
"That's great!" Felicia said and they hugged and jumped up and down. "Wait, what did Mom say about that? And where are you going to live?"
Rachelle waved her hand through the air. "Oh, you know Mom. She doesn't care if there's one less person living at home, there'll be five boys at home for her to take care of, including the twins. And, get this...Havoc asked me to move in with him!"
"What does your mom think about that?" Clarissa asked.
"She's a complete romantic at heart, so it's fine with her. I told her all about Jeanie anyway."
Clarissa nearly gagged at the nickname.
"That's wonderful!" Felicia said. "I have some good news too...Ed asked me to go steady with him!"
Both sisters squealed and began jumping again. Clarissa closed her mouth, for she realized it had been open this whole time.
Am I the only sane one here? Clarissa asked herself. Then another thought crept into her mind. Am I the only single one here? She immediately banished the thought. I don't need a boyfriend to be happy.
That Tuesday in poetry class Clarissa thought Al was acting rather strange. He didn't speak to her before class, and throughout class he didn't give her any of his usual smiles. In fact, he never even looked at her!
Have I done something to make him angry with me? she wondered.
As soon as class was over Clarissa was determined to find out what was wrong.
"Hey, Al, I – "
"Do you want to go to the club with me this Friday?" he blurted.
Clarissa blinked and noticed his cheeks were rosy. "Wait, so you're not mad at me?"
"Mad at you? Why would I be mad at you?"
Clarissa realized he'd been nervous to ask her out to the club, and didn't want to embarrass him any further.
"Never mind. About Friday...I'm afraid I can't. Felicia is forcing me to go see some dumb anime movie."
"Oh, I see," Al said rather quickly. "Okay, see you next class."
"Wait!" Clarissa said, for he had turned and was already hurrying out of the room. "Come with me to the movie!"
"Eh?" he said and turned around.
"Felicia said this morning that Ed's coming with, and I don't want to be a third wheel. Besides, if I'm alone with them there's no promising I won't beat up Ed. Please come? Then...then we can go to the club after..."
Al's face lit up. "Alright!" Then he cleared his throat. "I'll come along so you don't beat up Ed, that is."
The movie was to start at eight o'clock on Friday. That morning Felicia told her that Ed had asked her to go to the club.
"Al asked me to go after the movie, too," Clarissa said and blushed, as she had not told her roommate.
"Really? That's so cute! It can be, like, a double date!"
"Yeah..." Clarissa said.
"Okay, so after the movie," Felicia explained, "us two will come back here and get ready for the club, and we'll meet Ed and Al there. Sound good?"
Half an hour before the movie started, Felicia called into Clarissa's room, "Are you all ready for the movie?"
"Yup," she said and came out of her room wearing her Tinker Bell pajamas.
"That's what you're wearing to the movie...?"
"Yeah, what's wrong with it?"
"Nothing, I guess...me and Ed are cosplaying, though."
They set off for the campus auditorium, and met Ed and Al at the front doors.
"Wow, you look great, Ed!" Felicia said and gave him a hug. He was dressed up as Felicia's character's love interest.
Al stood by the door wearing light grey sweatpants and a black tight fitted t-shirt. Clarissa walked up to him and poked him in the ribs.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"I thought we agreed to wear pajamas," she said, her face reddening from embarrassment.
"Well..." Al said and scratched his cheek.
Ed began laughing. "Alphonse doesn't wear pajamas to bed – or anything else for that matter."
"Ed!"
"Oh," Clarissa said and her cheeks grew hot. "Well, then, I guess what you're wearing is fine. C'mon, let's get this movie over with."
She stormed up the stairs and into the auditorium, everyone else following behind her.
"Let me get that for you," Al said as Clarissa was about to pay for her ticket.
"That's okay," she said. "I couldn't ask you to do that."
"You didn't ask, I'm offering," he said and winked, paying for their tickets and some popcorn. "Besides, the tickets are only two dollars."
Clarissa blushed. "I guess you're right."
Felicia gave her a look as if to say, Oooooh he's paying for your ticket. She glared back at her.
Felicia and Clarissa picked some seats as far away from the screen as they could and sat down, Al and Ed trailing behind them. Felicia and Ed sat down in the row in front of Clarissa and Al.
"So why are Rachelle and Jean not here?" Al asked.
"Oh, they didn't want to come," Felicia said flatly.
Clarissa felt like screaming. She'd dragged her to the movie, but not her own sister?
"Oh, no, my popcorn!" Felicia said as the bag seemed to fall out of her hands of its own accord. The contents of the bag flew out in front of her and all the way down the stairs. Clarissa couldn't resist laughing at her, and Felicia began laughing, too. When she was finished throwing out the popcorn she sat back down next to Ed. "I'm sorry for wasting your money like that."
"No problem," he said and grabbed her hand, causing her to blush. "Now there's more room for my hand in yours."
A girl with long black hair, who Clarissa didn't recognize, approached them.
"Hey, there, Alphonse," she said, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "Came to see the movie?"
"Yeah," he said. "Heard it's supposed to be good."
"Doing anything else tonight?"
"We're going to the East City Club after the movie. What are you up to?"
"I didn't have anything else planned tonight." The lights began to dim. "Oops, looks like the movie's about to start. Catch you later." She walked back to her seat and folded one slim leg over the other, in direct sight of them.
Clarissa didn't ask for an explanation, even though she wanted to know who the girl was.
"That was Jacqueline. She's in a few of my rocket science classes."
So she's pretty and smart, Clarissa thought. "Oh."
"You can have some popcorn if you want."
"Thanks."
A few minutes into the movie Clarissa watched as Ed draped his arm over Felicia's shoulders, and Felicia snuggled close. Clarissa smirked at them.
"They make a nice pair, don't they?" Al whispered as the movie played.
"Yeah," she replied back.
She dipped her hand into the bag of popcorn, but jerked it back out when she felt warm skin.
"S-sorry about that," Al said hurriedly. "You can have the rest."
I touched his hand...Clarissa thought, her cheeks flushing. Al's arm brushed against hers. She shoved some popcorn in her mouth and choked on a kernel, receiving a worried glance from Al.
After a few moments, there was a tenseness about them that she couldn't seem the shake. She tried to alleviate it by making fun of the movie.
"What a stupid character," she said and laughed.
"I know, right?"
Clarissa laughed whenever the characters did anything stupid, and constantly mocked the plot. Halfway through the movie, she and Al were laughing hysterically.
Felicia spun around in her chair and glared at them. "Can you two be quiet back there?"
This caused them to laugh harder.
"Look, there's us!" Felicia said to Ed, pointing to the screen and then snuggling up to him.
At the end of the movie, Clarissa was wiping away tears of laughter. "Ah, that was good."
They left the auditorium and parted ways.
"Let's meet at the club in, say, half an hour?" Felicia asked the boys.
"Alright," Ed said and gave her a peck on the forehead. "See you then."
As Clarissa and Felicia walked the short distance back to their apartment, Felicia said, "Rachelle texted me during the movie and wanted to help us get ready for the club."
Rachelle and Havoc were waiting for them outside the apartment.
"I wish I could go to the club with you guys," Rachelle pouted when they went inside. She was only eighteen years old.
"I'll take you to the club next year, I promise," Havoc replied.
Rachelle wanted to dress up, too, even though she wasn't going out. She changed into a slim red dress, curled her long blond hair, and applied some red lipstick. Then she waited for Felicia and Clarissa to change, before demanding doing their hair for them. Havoc lounged on the couch the entire time.
Clarissa knew exactly what she was going to wear. Her favourite dress ever was hanging in her closet, and it was about time it was put to good use. It had been expensive, but worth every penny she put into it. It was strapless and asymmetrical. On one side there were white ruffles that travelled from her waist to the floor, and a black cover curtained the rest. As she put it on, she felt like a princess. She decided against heels, because it would be a ten minute walk to the club.
That's not the only reason... her mind pestered. You don't want to be taller than Al.
Felicia came out of her room wearing a simple thin-strapped black dress with purple flower designs. She was wearing a pair of stylish flip-flops, and was only wearing enough makeup to accentuate her brown eyes. Felicia then fought with Rachelle, because Rachelle demanded to do her hair, but Felicia said her hair was too short to curl.
"Fine then, let me gel the tips to give it some volume."
Felicia mumbled, "Fine."
Moments later Rachelle was chasing Clarissa around with the curling iron.
"Don't even bother trying to curl my hair!" Clarissa shouted. "If you do then we'll be here for hours!"
Somehow Rachelle – with Felicia's teamwork – cornered Clarissa in the bathroom and began curling her hair.
"I'm telling you this is a waste of time..." she grumbled. To everyone's astonishment, Clarissa's hair was accepting the curls for once.
"It doesn't even need that much hairspray," Rachelle said, shocked.
"This must be an omen!" Felicia declared.
Clarissa rolled her eyes. "I think we're ready to go now."
"Aren't you going to wear any makeup?" Rachelle asked.
"Wasn't planning on it..."
"You have to wear makeup!"
"Yeah, you have to wear makeup!" Felicia copied her sister.
"This is a date after all..."
"What? No, it's not!"
"Al asked you out, didn't he?" Felicia asked matter-of-factly.
"Technically, yeah."
"Then you have to wear makeup!"
Clarissa covered her ears. "Fine! I'll wear some damn makeup!" She dug through her makeup bag and applied some silver eyeshadow, some mascara, and some lip gloss. "There are you happy?"
"Now you're ready to go," Rachelle said, giving her approval.
Havoc walked over as the girls were about to leave.
"Have fun, girls, you all look great," he said, and then eyed Rachelle from head to toe.
"Yeah, thanks..." Clarissa said.
"I wish I could go with," Rachelle pouted again.
Havoc put his arms around her waist. "Don't worry, we can have our own party here..."
"Ugh!" Clarissa said. "Don't defile our apartment while we're gone!"
"What, you'd rather we do it while you're here?" Jean asked and smirked.
Clarissa slammed the door on them.
The walk to the downtown club wasn't a long one. On the way, Felicia and Clarissa passed a group of men who began wolf-whistling at them.
"Wanna come back and do that while my boyfriend's around?" Felicia demanded. "He'll beat you all within an inch of your life!"
"Can I beat them up? Can I? Can I? Can I?" Clarissa asked. "Even in a dress I can take 'em!" She flipped them the bird for good measure.
"No, it will mess up your makeup. Come on. Do you have your cell phone? I forgot mine."
"Is that a trick question? You know I take my phone everywhere. It's safe."
By "safe" Felicia knew it was shoved down her dress.
They showed their ID to the bouncers at the front of the club, loud music in the background. Inside, it was rather crowded. After searching around for a few minutes, it was evident they had arrived before the Elric brothers.
During the time they waited for the brothers to arrive, a boy began grinding with Felicia.
"Ew, gross!" she said and shoved the guy away.
A few minutes later Edward hurried over to them.
"Hey, sorry we're late. Have you been here long?"
"Nope, just got here," Felicia said. Clarissa noticed she didn't tell him about the guy who just came on to her, or about the boys whistling at them as they walked by, which was probably a good thing.
"Where's Al?" Clarissa asked, looking around the club.
"He's coming."
"Come on, let's dance, Ed!" Felicia said and dragged him onto the dance floor. Clarissa leaned against some railing while she waited for Al to find her. Then she saw him enter through the doorway. He looked snazzy in his black suit; he was wearing black pants, a light green shirt and a black tie. He searched around the club for a moment, and then his eyes found her. She gulped as he approached.
Several times while Al was walking over to her he had to stop to chat with people who Clarissa supposed were classmates. She noticed his eyes never left her, and this caused her to blush and look away. When she looked back Al was standing next to the dark haired girl named Jacqueline. Clarissa watched him shrug her off, and glanced away. The club was now playing a slow song. After glancing away from Al she noticed a young man standing next to her.
"What's your name cutie? Wanna dance?" he asked. "The name's Jamal Cummings."
Clarissa felt a shudder course through her body. "No...no thanks."
"Sorry, but she's already called for."
Clarissa turned and saw Al smiling beside her. He grabbed her hand and swept her onto the dance floor.
"Wait, Al – I don't dance in public!"
"Then why did you agree to come to a club?"
"I –"
"Here, I'll show you how. First you put your arms here –" he placed hers around his shoulders "– and then mine go here." He placed his arms around her waist and held her close, so that her head was resting against his shoulder. She could see Felicia peering at her.
Al gently brushed her hair away from her ear, and his breath was hot against her cheek. "This is my first time slowdancing."
"M-mine, too," she choked.
"Really? I find that hard to believe. Didn't you have any boyfriends?"
"One, in high school, but he never asked me to a dance."
Suddenly something vibrated between their chests. Clarissa squawked and dug her cell phone out of her dress in a most unladylike manner. "Speak of the devil, that's my ex-boyfriend right now."
She put her phone on silent.
"I can hold onto that for you. I have pockets."
"That would be great, thanks."
He put her phone in his pants pocket, and by this time the song was over.
"I-I think I'll go sit down, now," Clarissa said, frantically thinking of an excuse to get off the dance floor. However, the slow song had been replaced by a familiar song.
"I love this song! Wait a minute..." She glanced at Felicia. "You didn't."
Felicia stuck out her tongue. "I've been giving requests to the DJ. I know all the songs that make you wanna dance."
Clarissa growled at Felicia. "You're gonna get it!" And then, because she couldn't help herself, she began dancing with some sweet moves to her favourite songs.
Felicia got the DJ to play a few of Cascada's best songs, Anjulie, Adam Lambert, and a few songs in particular that Clarissa liked, such as "Can't Get You Out of My Head", "Number 1" and "Gotta Touch You Right Now". Clarissa was helpless.
Felicia looked like she was having a good time, because she was dancing using some crazy and dangerous moves. Ed tried to keep up with her, but his mechanical leg hindered him a bit while he danced. Felicia didn't seem to mind.
The DJ played another slow song and although Clarissa tried to flee the dance floor, Al grabbed her and she once again found herself in his arms.
"Are you having a good time?" he asked.
"Yes," she grumbled.
Al laughed at her. "You're mad because you're having a good time?"
"Felicia's going to pay later for giving the DJ all the songs I like."
He chuckled and then held her closer, causing her heart rate to increase. She inhaled and caught a scent of the bare skin of his neck. His arm began slowly moving up and down her back, causing her spine to tingle. She felt a surge of electricity jolt up her spine and pushed Al away.
"You're so apoplectic!" she said, resorting to her large vocabulary and hoping he didn't know what it meant.
He blinked at her as she turned and sat down at a table.
Calm down, calm down, calm down... she repeated to herself. Heat had surfaced to her neck and cheeks.
Clarissa couldn't keep her eyes off Al. As soon as she had parted with him, a flock of girls swarmed around him. He smiled nervously at them but eventually shook them all off. Finally, the gorgeous Jacqueline wrapped her body around his.
Clarissa narrowed her eyes at them, then Felicia caught her eyes. That Jacqueline is a bitch! she saw her mouth.
Clarissa stiffened when Al sat down at the table with her.
"Oh, I thought you were dancing with Jacqueline..."
"No, and I don't want to, either."
Clarissa didn't know what to say.
"Look," Al said. "I'm sorry if I made you...uncomfortable."
"No, I was just tired from dancing," she invented. Then she changed the subject. "I like the colour of your shirt."
"Really?" he laughed. "I like this colour, too. It matches the green in your eyes."
Clarissa was spared trying to come up with a reply when Felicia came limping over to the table, Ed supporting her.
"What happened?" Clarissa asked.
"I think she twisted her ankle," Ed said.
"Oh, brother," Clarissa said and slapped her forehead. "You need to take those dance moves down a notch. I'm surprised you didn't break your neck!"
"I can't help it!" she whined and hobbled over to the seat. "I just love dancing!"
"I think we'd better go home early," Ed said, and Felicia looked like she was going to burst into tears. A slow song began playing.
"Time for one last dance?" Al asked and held out his hand, smiling.
"A-alright," Clarissa said and took his hand. It felt so natural to be in Al's arms. She felt protected and safe, as if nothing could possibly harm her.
Al ran a hand through her curls. "I like your hair like this."
She blushed. "So do I."
"Al, you're messing up her hair!" Felicia shouted from the table, and Clarissa and Al turned to see her and Ed staring at them while they danced. Al laughed nervously in reply.
The song was over sooner than Clarissa would have liked. She and Al parted and walked over to where Felicia was shuffling from the table.
"You two can still stay if you want," Felicia said. "I don't want to be the reason why everyone had to leave..."
"Nah, that's okay," Al said. "Besides, Clarissa mentioned she was getting tired."
Clarissa bit her tongue for saying that.
"Alright then, let's head out," Ed said and put an arm around Felicia's waist to steady her.
It was a much longer walk back to the university campus, because Felicia had to limp the entire way. Clarissa and Al walked slowly behind her and Ed.
"Clarissa."
"Yeah, Al?"
"C-can I hold your hand?"
Clarissa paused and then nodded. "Sure."
Al cried out.
"What's wrong?"
"Your hands are freezing!"
He gathered both of her hands in his and began rubbing them. The friction made her fingers tingle.
Clarissa heard whistling and turned to see a group of four men approaching. "Ugh, not them again." They were clearly drunk, one of the men even carrying a bottle of alcohol.
"Look, it's the two broads from earlier!" one of the men shouted.
"They have some boys with them, now, looks like they're gonna bone tonight."
"This one's limping, maybe she's already seen some action."
"Hey!" Ed said and gritted his teeth. "You can't speak to her like that!" He let go of Felicia and approached the men, clearly angry.
"Ed, come back! These guy are obviously drunk, just forget about them!"
The men continued their taunting.
"And look at the other one, with a body like that there's no way she's not banging someone tonight."
Clarissa felt Al's hand tighten on hers. "Why don't you quit your babbling and come show us what you got."
"Al!"
"Don't worry, this won't take long."
It was true. The men rushed at Ed and Al. Within minutes the men were sprawled across the ground, knocked out. However, in those few minutes Al had received a hit to the jaw.
"I can't believe they got a blow past me," he said, rubbing his jaw.
"Al, your lip is bleeding!" Clarissa said and held his face between her hands.
"It is? I need someone to kiss it better."
"Okay – hey, wait a second!" Clarissa slapped his arm.
Al laughed and wiped the blood from his mouth. "Almost had you, there."
Ed dusted his hands off and muttered, "Lowlifes." Then he turned to Al. "You're a bit rusty."
"I'm not used to having to defend myself from attacks."
Felicia hobbled over to Ed and beat on his chest. "Stupid! Why couldn't you just ignore them?"
"I couldn't stand by and let them insult you like that!" He pulled her into a tight hug.
"They said they saw you earlier?" Al asked Clarissa. "Why didn't you tell me about them?"
Clarissa shrugged. "They weren't a threat."
"What if Ed and I hadn't been here right now?" he demanded.
"Then I could have taken them, as drunk as they were. Even in my dress."
Al sighed and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. "I'm just glad you're okay. You aren't hurt by their words, are you?"
She shook her head in reply, squeezing his hand in return.
When they reached campus, the boys insisted on walking them straight to their apartment.
"Will you be okay?" Ed asked Felicia and she nodded. "Make sure you give that ankle a lot of rest." He kissed her firmly on the lips before letting her go.
"See you in class, Al," Clarissa said.
"Yeah," he replied and gave her hand a squeeze before letting go.
When they walked into the apartment, they noticed Rachelle and Havoc snuggled under a blanket on the couch, asleep.
"What are you two still doing here?" Clarissa demanded, causing them to jolt from their sleep.
Rachelle rubbed her eyes and said sleepily, "We wanted to wait up until you got back."
"Well, you failed."
"How was the club?"
"Really fun!" Felicia said. "But I twisted my ankle. I'm gonna go straight to bed, I'm exhausted."
"Come on, let's go home," Havoc said and kissed Rachelle on the forehead.
"Okay," she replied and Havoc helped her up from the couch.
"Come on, now," he said. "You're the one supposed to be helping me walk."
"We can help each other," Rachelle said and smiled.
The next morning Clarissa felt like murdering someone. She'd forgotten to turn off her alarm clock from the previous day's 8:30 am class. She couldn't fall back asleep so she turned the radio on and decided to read.
At around nine o'clock the apartment buzzer went off. Clarissa unleashed a stream of nasty words.
"Yeah, who is it?" she asked into the speaker.
"It's Alphonse."
"Oh, come on up, Al," she said and buzzed him in. He knocked on the door seconds later and she let him in.
"Sorry if I'm here a bit early in the morning. I was just on my way to the lab to do some work and thought I'd drop off your phone –"
He stared at the boxer shorts she'd been wearing as pajama bottoms.
Her face reddened. "Just what are you staring at, Alphonse?"
"Oh, sorry," he said, and his eyes darted from her boxers to the direction of her bedroom. "I didn't realize you had company over, so here's your phone." He turned to leave.
"Huh? What company?"
"The guy in your bedroom."
"Guy in my bedroom...Al, that's just the radio."
"Then why are you wearing boxers?"
"Felicia bought them for me. She wears boxer shorts to bed all the time and insisted they were really comfortable, and they really are...Wait a minute. Alphonse, you didn't think...?"
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
"So, you think I'd spend a wonderful night with you and then bring some other guy home with me? Do you really think I'm some kind of floozy?" she demanded, her eyes stinging, and ready to hit him.
"You're so beautiful I don't know what to think sometimes!"
"You think I'm...beautiful?" She dropped her arms.
Al brushed a hand through his blond hair and made a sound halfway between a sigh and a groan. "Yes! And you make it so I can't think properly – can't speak properly! I mean, last night...last night..." He seemed to give up trying to say what he meant and sighed.
"No one's ever said anything like that to me before..."
"What about your old boyfriend?"
"No, he didn't."
"Then he was a deadbeat. If I was your boyfriend, I'd..."
"You'd what, Al?" she breathed.
"Do this!"
He leaned over her until she backed up against the wall. He stopped when his face was mere inches before hers. He cupped her chin with his hand and stared deep into her eyes, tracing a finger over her lower lip as he whispered.
"I'd say...Clarissa O'Gonnor, you are the most beautiful girl – woman – I have ever met. And...from the first time I met you, I've had this feeling in the pit of my stomach. And now...I have to tell you...that I love you, Clarissa. And that I've been waiting for the longest time to do this."
Clarissa made a soft mewling sound as he pinned her wrists against the wall, his breath hot against her cheeks. He brushed his lips slowly against hers, causing a fire to ignite in deep in her stomach. She closed her eyes, trembling beneath his touch, and forgetting to breathe. When he backed away she gasped for air and felt her legs shaking. She noticed Al's cheeks were flushed.
"That's...what I'd do."
Without another word he opened the door and disappeared. Clarissa collapsed to the floor after her legs gave out, and touched her fingers to her lips, her eyes wide.
What just happened?