Yeah, I know, this took me FOREVER. And I'm sorry. (sigh) My flash drive crashed and I lost all my saved…stuff. AND BOOM! No more Chinese laundry. So this is a rewrite…(sigh) I'll try to get out the next chapters faster, I really will. I've had lots of inspiration, so once we get the gang past thanksgiving then things will really start moving!

As you all know, AdventureAddict does not in any way own any part of Fullmetal Alchemist.

On wit' da show!

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Chapter Fourteen – I Hate You

Ed laid silently in his bed and stared at the stain on his ceiling that looked strangely like a rabbit. Once again, he couldn't sleep. He hadn't been able to sleep for weeks, and even when he did manage to fall asleep, he'd wake up a half hour later from nightmares he couldn't even remember after five minutes.

He finally gave up with a sigh, pushed off the covers, and walked over to the window. He rested his head against the cool glass and stared out into the darkness. He could hear a slight thumping sound from outside, so he slowly slid the window open and stared out into the darkness.

A cold breeze greeted him and whipped through his loose hair. Ed pushed the hair away from his face with an agitated sigh and peered closely at the dark silhouette below. It looked like it could be Robyn, but what was she doing? Ed sighed and bent down to grab his shoes. It wasn't like she had woken him up from a peaceful sleep anyway. He might as well see what exactly she was doing.

A few minutes later he was on her driveway, walking towards the dark shape in front of him. He looked closer and noticed that she was holding a basketball in one arm, which she then threw at the trunk of a tree. Her shoulders and back curved gracefully with the toss, and Ed found himself blushing and looked away.

"Ed? Is that you?" Robyn's voice called out as his feet crunched over a few dead leaves in the driveway. Ed looked up to find her staring straight back at him.

"What are you doing out here?" Ed asked, and then added, "You don't even have a basketball hoop!"

"True," Robyn said, picking up the ball and thoughtfully stroking it. "I just…needed to think. There's been a lot going on lately."

"Tell me about it," Ed sighed, catching the ball as she threw it towards him. He looked at it silently for a moment, and then threw it at the tree like Robyn had a few minutes ago. The thump echoed dully through the silent night. "I guess that does make me feel a little better," he said softly, and Robyn laughed.

"That's the spirit," She said, walking over and grabbing the ball. "But you missed," she added as she threw the ball back to him.

"What do you mean? I hit the tree!" Ed cried out as he quickly caught the ball.

"You hit the tree, but you didn't hit the mark," Robyn explained, and motioned for him to come over. Ed walked up next to her as she put her hand on the tree trunk, and curiously put his hand on the tree next to hers. Two deep grooves crisscrossed on the tree, forming into an X.

"Our dad carved this in the tree back when me and Luke were little," Robyn told him, gently running her finger in one of the grooves. "As we grew, so did the tree – just not as quickly," she said with a laugh. She looked over at Ed, then grabbed the ball from him. As Ed desperately tried to snatch the ball back from her, she stepped back and threw the ball at the tree. Both of them stopped fighting to watch as the ball flew in a graceful arc and landed in the grass next to the tree.

"Ha! You missed!" Ed said with a grin. Robyn turned to him and stuck out her tongue.

"Only because you were in my face," she said with a smile as Ed went up to grab the ball. He stepped back and peered through the darkness at the tree.

"Damn, that's hard to see," he muttered under his breath. He slowly took aim and then threw the ball straight at the tree, hitting much lower than where Robyn knew the X was.

"Ha! You missed!" She said and playfully poked Ed in the ribs. Ed suddenly jumped back with an alarmed look on his face.

"Don't touch me there!" he said in a slight pitch higher than his normal voice. Robyn looked at Ed curiously, so he quickly cleared his throat and went to get the ball.

"Ed, are you ticklish?" Robyn asked, and Ed furiously shook his head. Robyn grinned. "I think you are," she teased playfully. Ed stood up and turned around to face her.

"I am not!" he protested loudly, a slight blush rising to his cheeks.

"Well then, let's test that theory!" Robyn said with an evil grin on her face as she reached ten wiggling fingers towards his waist.

"I don't think I want you touching me like that!" Ed cried, jumping away from her. "At least not when you're in this kind of mood!"

"Are you sure you just don't want me to see you squeal like a girl?" Robyn asked as she reached for Ed a second time.

"Hell no!" he cried, running away from her. Robyn chased him around the yard in circles for a few minutes until Ed bent down to grab a pile of dead leaves, which he then threw in her face.

"That's not fair!" Robyn cried, furiously brushing the leaves off.

"Whoever said that tickling was fair?" Ed asked. Robyn brushed the last of the leaves off and took another step towards Ed. Ed looked at her with wide eyes and tried to take a step backward, but ended up slipping on a branch hidden under the leaves beneath him. As he fell backwards, his natural instincts took over and tried to grab Robyn's shoulders for support, but his fall was too powerful and he only ended up dragging her down with him.

Robyn fell with a soft thump directly on top of Ed. She closed her eyes as soft skin met hers. Not another kiss! She should have known better than to start a tickle fight with Ed.

But then she suddenly realized that his lips weren't touching hers. She cautiously opened one eye. Her nose was pressed against Ed's; preventing their lips from making contact, and Ed was staring up at her with a bewildered look on his face. Robyn quickly pushed herself off him and they both stood up and awkwardly tried to look anywhere but at each other.

"I'm gonna go sleep now," Robyn finally stuttered, and raced inside her house. Ed sighed and scratched the back of his head. He suddenly stopped and pulled a piece of a dead leaf from his hair, scowling.

"Why is nature always against me?" he muttered under his breath.

"Just what exactly are we looking for, Major?" Winry asked as they walked through the streets of Goarhausen. She hoped that Armstrong had some idea where they were, since she didn't have a clue.

"We are going to the one place we know the Elric brothers visited," Armstrong said confidently, easily parting the crowd in front of them. "The Central Post Office."

"The Post Office?" Winry repeated slowly with a confused expression on her face.

"Yes. The Post Office. The Colonel said they came here to pick up a package," Armstrong explained as he swung open one of the large doors in front of them. Winry cautiously stepped inside and gasped as she looked around her.

She had definitely never seen anything like this in Resembool before. (1) They had walked into a large room about twenty times the size of the little automail shop at home she was so used to. Large columns decorated with bits of gold stood on both sides of the room, and Winry's shoes squeaked on the freshly waxed floor. (Also decorated with gold.) (2)

She and Armstrong walked up to one of the many counters and the small man sitting behind it looked up at the strange newcomers with slight interest.

"We're looking for two boys who were here about two months ago," Armstrong stated curtly. Winry could feel her hands nervously rolling into balls.

"Goarhausen Central Post Office does not wish to involve itself in the affairs of its customers," the man replied automatically. "Have a nice day."

"No!" Winry cried, leaping forward and grabbing at the counter. The man continued to write something on the papers in front of him. "Please, you have to help us," winry said desperately, feeling tears staring to work their way out of the corner of her eyes. "Please…one is a little shorter than me and has long blond hair…and the other one is really big and always wears a suit of armor…"

The man looked up at her. "I remember those two," he said softly. Winry's mouth twitched into a smile, thinking of how it was a little hard to forget two people like the Elric brothers.

"We were told they came here to pick up a package," Armstrong explained, and the man nodded.

"The little blond boy was very excited about it. I don't know why…I did kind of get the feeling that he had been waiting for a package for a long time, but anyway… When he got the package he started ripping it open right here on the counter," the man told them. Wirny looked down at the floor beneath her feet. Just two months ago, Ed and Al had stood here. Two months. She'd waited longer than that just for them to come home. "But he didn't seem very happy with what was in the box," the man continued. "Almost like it wasn't what he was expecting to be in there."

"And what was in there?" Wirny asked anxiously, looking up at the man. The man thoughtfully scratched his head.

"There was an envelope…and four small vials. Two of them had red liquid in them, and the other two had blue liquid," he said slowly. "After the blond boy read the note in the envelope, he said something about going down to the docks…the vials had labels on them to, but I can't remember what they said."

"Thank you anyway," Armstrong told the man. "You have been very helpful."

Ed sat on the couch in the living room, glancing up at the window as another car sped past. He sighed and looked back at the clock hanging on the wall. It was eleven thirty on a Friday night and Robyn still wasn't home. He hadn't seen her since school that afternoon; it had almost been like she had disappeared completely off the face of the Earth. She hadn't been at home, and she didn't own a cell phone. Ed wished she could have just told him where she was so he knew she was all right. He knew she was still depressed from Luke's death, but how much effort did it take to say something as simple as 'Bowling Ally?'

Damn it. Why did he care so much? He sighed and rested his forehead against the cool glass of the window. It was her life, wasn't she allowed to do what she wanted with it? Another roar of an engine came from outside and Ed quickly glanced up. Unlike the other cars, this one slowed to a stop and Robyn wobbly climbed out of the passenger door.

"I'll be right back," she assured the driver as Ed dashed out the front door. He stopped in front of Robyn and grabbed her shoulders to steady her. Her breath reeked of alcohol.

"Robyn, what are you doing?" Ed demanded. Robyn looked up at him with a silly grin plastered on her face.

"Hiya Ed," she giggled. She turned back to look at the car. "Hey, Bobby!" she called out loudly. "This is Edward Elric! He's a famous alchemist!" she turned back around and tried to walk past Ed. "I gotta go get some clothes," she told Ed, but he kept a tight hold on her and marched up to the car.

"Just what do you think you're doing?!" he yelled at the driver as Robyn weakly struggled against his grip to try and get to the house. Ed pulled her tightly against his hip and continued, "She's a minor! She's not supposed to have alcohol!"

"Hey buddy, I think you should let the lady make her own decisions," the driver said coolly, and Robyn nodded.

"Come on Ed, I want to go to Bobby's place," she whined, but Ed didn't loosen his grip on her.

"She's completely drunk!" Ed exploded. "She isn't capable of making her own decisions anymore!" the man in the car didn't even twitch at Ed's outburst.

"And what are you, her boyfriend?" the man asked, critically looking over Ed.

"Her neighbor," Ed growled. "And I suggest you leave. Now."

"What, are you going to call the police?" the man mocked. Ed snarled and carefully placed his automail foot on the door of the car.

"I don't need the police," he said as slowly pushed his foot against the door hard, letting the sound of screeching metal ring through the silent night. When he put his foot back down the door was badly bent. The man looked at the door, then back at Ed, and slowly put his key in the ignition. Ed triumphantly turned and stated walking Robyn up to the house.

"Robyn, are you okay?" Ed asked once they were safely inside. Robyn finally broke away from his grip and turned to him with a enraged expression on her face.

"I hate you, Ed!" she screamed, tears starting to fall down her cheeks. She was too drunk to notice Ed take a step back as a hurt expression flashed across his face. "Why can't you ever just let me have some fun, damn it?!"

"You would have regretted that choice tomorrow," Ed said softly.

"I don't care! It's my life, not yours! Why can't you just let me ruin it if I want to?!" she yelled back, and then collapsed on the floor, tears running down her face. Ed slowly walked over and scooped her into his arms.

"Because I love you," he murmured softly as Robyn rested her head against his chest. He leisurely started walking up the stairs, being careful not to shake Robyn around too much. "And I would never want anything bad to happen to you." He slowly opened the door to the guest room and walked inside.

"Robyn, is your dad home?" he asked softly. Robyn shook her head and wrapped both her arms around his chest.

"He left on another business trip tonight. I was supposed to come over here tomorrow morning," she muttered into his shirt. Ed tried to ignore the warm arms around him and started to place her on the bed. Robyn looked up at him sadly.

"Please don't leave me," she whispered softly. Ed felt a smile tug at the corners of his lips as he grabbed the desk chair. One minute she was telling him she hated him, the next she was begging him to stay. She probably wouldn't even remember any of this in the morning.

"I'm not going to leave you," he explained as he put the chair next to the bed. "I'm going to stay right here all night, see?" he said, sitting down. Robyn smiled and crawled over to the edge of the bed, putting her head in his lap. She was asleep in minutes, but Ed stayed up for hours until he finally gave into temptation and started stroking her hair. He desperately hoped this wasn't another dream, even if Robyn didn't remember any of it tomorrow morning.

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(1) That made me think of Winry in a little blue dress saying, "Den, I don't think we're in Resembool anymore." (Don't own Wizard of Oz either) Yes, I know, I'm a geek. But if anyone could find or draw that picture, it would make my day!

(2) For some reason I pictured GCPO (Goarhausen Central Post Office) to look sorta like they made Gringotts in the Harry Potter movies. So Harry Potter fan, that's your visual.

Yay! More romance! No Ed will NOT wake up in an empty bed in the next chapter and be like "Well, crap." Besides, if I played that card again, Kairi probably would have killed me. So this chapter is dedicated to Misery's-Toll and Kairi Angel, the two biggest RobynXEd fans of the whole group. And yes Bagel, I know I said the lipstick scene would be in here, but I just wanted to post this chapter quickly and move on to the next one. Which is also my excuse for it being so short. I will start working on the next chap right away! Happy Spring Break to you all!