Happy New Year Everyone!

Oh My God I love you guys! 9 reviews! You guys make me so happy! You guys almost doubled my record! (five...)

I have an announcement! Would the owner of the screen name 'lalala' PLEASE get an account? You review for both of my stories, are the first to review for this story, and I can't even thank you for it! Get. An. Account. NOW! And if you get an account and change your screen name, please tell me that it's you so I don't think that you've abandoned me...

Anyways...hope you love this chapter! :)

Winry stood at the corner, deeply lost in thought.

He kept wincing in gym today, She thought as she stared off into the busy street. I wonder what else he's hiding from me…Should I go back…? No. He'd be furious if I did. Go off ranting on how it wasn't safe, how he'd hurt me…but does he care for his own safety? Noooo.

"Excuse me miss," A voice said from behind her.

"Uh y-yes?" she said worriedly. How long had she zoned out?

"Are you planning on moving anytime soon?"

"Oh, uh yes. S-sorry."

Winry quickly ran a crossed the street before she slowed her pace and went back into her thoughts

Ed stepped over several piles of garbage as he walked over to the archway that led to the kitchen and took a deep breath before he entered the room.

He sat at the dingy table that was always covered with bills, newspapers, and sales adds; Ed was sure that if you were brave enough to dig to the very bottom of the pile, you'd find a paper with a date that was years old. The old wooden floors were scratched and incredibly dirty, as always. The sink was over flowing with dirty dishes; it was so full that several cups, bowls, plates, and utensils had fallen on the floor to be forgotten. From upstairs, he could hear the small footsteps and yells of the younger children who were probably playing with God knows what.

Home sweet home, Ed thought bitterly.

The man looked up at him and sneered. He wore his usual attire that comprised of a white wife-beater, oversized jeans-that sagged slightly do to his near anorexic figure-, socks with a small hole in the toe, and a thin silver chain that was wrapped around his neck.

Oh, how I'd love to strangle him with that stupid thing… Ed thought while thinking of what exact shade his face would turn if he was finally able to engage in the act.

The man's white-trash outfit was completed with his five o'clock shadow and his long black hair pulled into low ponytail.

"So, I saw you with that little bitch Winny again today," He growled as he stood up from his seat.

Ed wasn't as short as he used to be, but at only 5' 6'' he still toward over him by a half a foot.

"Her names Winry, Kimblee," Ed spat back.

"Oh big fucking difference. And I thought I told you to keep your little girlfriend away from here or put her to good use and let me have a little fun with her-."

Ed snapped. At his comment, Ed felt as if all of his reason had escaped his body. And because of that, Ed filled the space that was still between them and slugged him straight in the jaw.

Ed didn't even realize what he had done until Kimblee stood in front of him, wiping the blood that came out of his busted bottom lip. Kimblee stared at the damage in the back door window while Ed froze in terror.

Ed! This is the stupid shit Winry always tells you not to do! His conscious screamed at him. Don't you remember what happened the last time you did something stupid like this?

"So," Kimblee said once he had finished wiping away the blood. "You want to play?"

"Uh…I…" Ed's mind was completely blank. He couldn't even find it in him to run like Hell.

"Well, we're both big kids here. You threw a punch so I guess it's my turn now," He said with so much malice in his voice and eyes it made Ed's heart stop for a moment.

Ed saw him move his arm back to swing at him, but he couldn't exactly remember his fist ever colliding with the side of his head. But he guessed it had to have happened. I mean, how else could he have ended up on the floor with a splitting headache. As Ed went to feel his head, just to make sure it was still in one piece, he froze. He had forgotten the number one rule to fighting with this guy: Don't leave yourself open.

Ed's eyes darted from his open gut to Kimblee's gleeful expression and back to his gut in a matter of nanoseconds. But unfortunately, he was just a bit too slow for this abusing pro. Ed forced his eyes closed so as not to see his total kid-in-a-candy-store expression as he rammed his foot into his unprotected stomach.

Once his foot had made contact with his stomach, Ed's mouth was forced open so he could throw up what must have been all of his lunch along with what had to be yesterday's diner. Kimblee's foot was brought down into Ed's stomach two more times before he stopped, feeling completely satisfied with his dirty work.

Kimblee crouched down in front of Ed's head and forced his head up to look at him.

"I was going to say that I hope you'll remember that so that I don't have to do it again. But then I realized that that was fun as Hell. Maybe you should slug me more often…"

Kimblee made their eyes lock for one more moment before he moved his unused hand and punched Ed right in the gut right be fore he dropped him onto the hard floor.

Ed lay there, in his own pool of sick, too week to move. After a few more moments, Ed found himself able to stop his constant dry heaving's. He laid there for some time more, listening to the noise coming from the television that Kimblee sat in front of; the noises from upstairs stopped. The younger children had all learned by now that when you heard yelling or fighting, you stopped whatever you were doing and shut up because one little noise could be all that it took to send Kimblee ape-wild on some poor twelve-year-old.

Ed tried a few times to move himself onto his arms, but soon fell back onto the ground. Ed let a moan slip from in between his lips as his rolled onto his back.

"Brother?"

Ed cracked his eyes open to see the small nine-year-old who had grown accustomed to calling Ed that after taking him under his wing. Ed stared at the group behind him and saw that the other children had come down too. Ed tried his best to smile at the small and sad looking children, but found that even something like smiling hurt.

"Big brother, you're hurt…" the small boy with sandy blond hair said as his big green eye began to overflow and his grip on his raggedy stuffed bear tightened considerably.

"'m fine…" Ed whispered. "Don't worry 'bout it Kyle…"

"Do you need help?" the oldest kid out of the group asked.

"Yes please Terry."

Terry, who was thirteen, had blue eyes that held the look of a grown man. His black hair was chopped short, almost like an army buzz cut, which further aged his still round face.

"Hey. I could use some help here," Terry groaned as he began to support one of Ed's shoulders.

"Sorry!" whispered Sammy, the only girl in the house.

She quickly tip-toed over to the two and helped to support Ed's other side. Together, Sammy and Terry lifted Ed up into a sitting position and then helped him limp over to the stairs. Once they had reached the destination, Sammy moved in front of Ed and stared at him with her big, worried brown eyes.

"Are you okay? Do you need an ice pack?"

Ed looked at the girl and smiled sadly at her. She was only twelve and she was already a mom for three boys. At first glance, you wouldn't know if Sammy was a girl or a boy. Her auburn hair was cut into a bob and she kept her hair and stray hairs out of her eyes with an old red bandana. She always wore boys' clothes, but it wasn't like she had a choice of cloths here. Sammy was sporting her usual choice of cloths: a pair of denim overalls with one strap down, the legs rolled up to her knees, and a black tank top under it; all of the baggy clothes made her look thinner than she already was.

"I'll be alright Sammy. I just need to lie down…"

"We can get you up the stairs!" Kyle insisted while shaking his head so fast that Ed thought that his head might fall off.

"No, no…I just need a minute…"

Ed took a few deep breaths before he braced himself onto the stairs and forced himself up, no matter how much his stomach protested. Once up, Ed tried to supported himself on the wall and almost fell onto his face.

"Really, let us help you!" Terry insisted with a panicked expression.

"All…alright…jus, just don't hurt yourself…" Ed muttered as he rubbed his head. That punch to the skull really got to him, he had to tell Sammy to wake him up if he fell asleep, just in case he had a concussion.

Five minutes later, Ed collapsed onto his bed, or rather a mattress on the floor with a few blankets and an old pillow. Ed was biting the inside of his mouth to stop himself from moaning; he didn't want to worry the kids.

"Do you need anything?" Terry asked as he stood over Ed.

"I'm fine…really…"

"You sure?" Sammy asked. "I-I saw him hit you. You might have a concussion or something."

"R-right. Just make sure I'm up. I might have a concussion."

"Okay," Sammy said. She then leaned over him and kissed him on the forehead, like she always did whenever she left him. "Feel better."

"I'll try," Ed said with a smile at the girl; she was just too adorable.

"We'll try to be quiet so you can rest!" Kyle exclaimed.

"Not too quiet…" Ed sighed. "If I fall asleep I could…"

"You could die!" Kyle exclaimed.

"Kyle!" Sammy chastised.

"But he could."

"So you have to make sure you check up on him every hour," Terry said while ruffling his hair.

"Okay…see ya guys later," Ed muttered as he attempted a half-hearted wave.

Sammy pushed the two boys out of the room and shut the door behind her. Once Ed had heard the click of the other bedroom door closing, he let out a big shuddering moan. His stomach hurt, a lot. Ed gently lifted up his shirt so that he could inspect the damage.

"…not good…" He muttered to himself as his stomach was already bruising a radiant purple and sickening blue.

Ed then brought his attention to his right arm, or at least, what would have been his arm if he hadn't lost it, along with most of his left leg, in an accident that, for the life of him, he couldn't remember. Instead, his right arm was a piece of shiny and cold metal. Right now, Ed was thankful that he had this 'automail' because it was exactly what he need. Ed moved his right hand and gently eased it onto his behemoth of a bruise and let out a small hiss at the contact.

Ed rubbed his egg-shaped lump on the side of his head before letting out a yawn. He was really tired.

"Hopefully I don't have a concussion and I can just sleep…"

Ed rubbed his eyes before flipped over his automail to the cooler side before he drifted off to sleep.

Ugh...I just hate Kimblee with a fiery passion!

So I hoped you like that because I loved writing Ed in a more mature light.

See you soon and make sure to take the New Years parties easy! (who will review if everyone's hung over?)

-FSK