~I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to update this story! I have had a lot going on in my life and I haven't had the time to work on this. Hopefully I will be able to update more often. Here's the next part! Enjoy!~
After school was over, Roy decided that he wasn't going to stay after for hours and do work, like he normally would. Not a lot happened today, so he really didn't have much to do anyway. Roy locked his office before heading out to his car. "Mustang! I don't think I've ever seen you leave this early!" Roy looked up from the key in the locked door and grinned at his friend and fellow educator, Maes Hughes.
"I'm feeling a little tired, so I thought I would go home and get some rest," Roy explained.
Maes nodded in understanding. "Yeah, good, you deserve some rest," he said, then added, "So that Elric kid didn't come to school again, the older one, Ed. A lot of the teachers are kind of worried about him. Do you think he's alright?"
Roy kept his expression as flat and professional as possible. "Oh?" he said, turning his attention back to his keys. He didn't want to give off any clue of what had happened between him and the student in question. "I'm sure he's fine, Maes. He didn't have the best record coming to this school in the first place. Maybe he's just one of those kids that like to skip school. If he doesn't do the homework then give him detention, otherwise it would be best to ignore his absences." Being a principal for as long as he's been, Roy knew every kind of student that there was, so it was easy to categorize Edward as a "trouble-maker"-even though that was the farthest thing from what that boy really was. Thankfully, Hughes accepted his answer.
"Yeah, you're probably right. I'm sure he will be back to class tomorrow. Hopefully he will have his work done. If he gets too far behind, he might not graduate." Hughes didn't like the idea of one of his students not graduating. "Anyway, I need to get home or Elicia will lecture me on how late I am. Isn't she just precious?"
Roy blocked out Hughes' ramblings about his daughter, and waved goodbye to his overly-caring friend as he entered his car and drove away. Roy lived close to the school, but just far enough away so that students wouldn't know where he lived. There were a few kids that would probably vandalize his home if they got the chance.
On his way home, Roy remembered what Alphonse had told him about Edward liking Taco Bell, so he decided to stop by the fast food place and get Ed a couple of bean and cheese burritos-with no onions, just like Al had said. Roy scrunched his nose when he took the food from the woman in the drive-thru. "How is this even accepted as food?" Roy thought to himself out loud. "Teenagers will eat anything." Roy had never eaten fast food in his life, because it just never sounded appealing to him. Why would he want to eat fake, gross food that wasn't good for him in any way? Especially when he was perfectly capable of cooking his own food.
Roy lived within walking distance of the Taco Bell, (which was probably a good thing, if Edward liked it as much as Alphonse said he did) so it didn't take him long to get home after that. Roy wondered what Edward could possibly be doing right now, and his question was answered as soon as he opened the door to his home.
Edward was standing in the living room, with Hayate sitting in front of him, his tail wagging happily. "Alright, you little mutt," Edward said sternly to the dog, his arms crossed, "If you jump on me one more time, I swear I'll-" Edward didn't get to finish, because Hayate excitedly jumped up on Edward, knocked him down, and licked his face. Edward looked like he wanted to be irritated, but he couldn't stay mad at the dog. Roy smiled, and shut the front door.
"Hayate, down," Roy said with humor in his voice. The dog obeyed and came over to greet his owner. "Good boy" he said, patting the dog's head lovingly. Then, he turned to Edward, who was still on the ground, but he was sitting up with his arms wrapped around his knees and looking at Mustang. "Here," Roy said, tossing the Taco Bell bag at Edward. Ed's eyes widened happily as he took out the burrito. He looked at it for a moment, before Roy said, "No onions," then he devoured it without a second thought.
"How did you know I don't like onions?" Edward asked, his mouth full of food. Ed was glad that Roy had gotten him more than one, because he hadn't eaten all day.
"Alphonse told me," Roy replied, then added, "He wanted me to tell you that he is sorry." Roy watched Edward, trying to read his emotions, but when Ed didn't want someone to know what he was feeling, he was really good at keeping his expression blank.
"I know he is," Ed said after a moment. His tone held no emotion, "everything will be okay when I see him tomorrow." Edward forced a smile, and really tried to believe that everything would be okay. Changing the subject, Ed said, "Thank you for the food, anyway. You really didn't have to get it for me..." Roy was doing so much for him already, and he didn't want to be a burden.
Roy rolled his eyes at Edward. "I know I didn't have to, I wanted to, so hush. I want you to feel comfortable here, Edward." Roy loosened his tie and took off his suit jacket before flopping down on the couch. He closed his eyes and sighed. Just the past few days have been long and stressful, and Roy just wanted to relax. "You don't have to sit on the floor, you know." Roy said to Edward, knowing that the boy was still sitting on the floor without having to open his eyes and look at him.
Edward said nothing, but slowly got up from the floor and sat on the couch with Roy. He tried not to sit too close to his principal, not sure exactly what would be appropriate or not. Then again, this whole situation wasn't appropriate, and the kiss they shared earlier definitely wasn't appropriate to anyone's standards. The silence between the two wasn't awkward, but Edward was never really that comfortable with long moments of silence. "Thank you again, for letting me stay here..." Ed said. It was never easy for him to express gratitude, since he's never had many chances in his life to do so.
"Really, Edward, it's no big deal-"
"It is a big deal," Edward cut him off. "You're doing a lot for me. You could get in a butt-load of trouble for this, but you're doing it anyway. That means a lot, and it's a huge deal." Edward wished he knew how to express himself better, though Mustang seemed to understand anyway.
"Yes, I could get in trouble. I could get in trouble for a lot of things-doesn't mean I will," Roy said with a somewhat cocky tone. "Besides, you deserve to be treated right. You've been through a lot."
Edward sighed. "Yeah, I have been," he agreed. Edward wasn't one to feel sorry for himself, but he's gone through more than anyone deserves. It was quiet again. Edward had no idea what to say, and Roy had too much that he wanted to say, and he couldn't figure out where to start or how to word anything. Roy wanted to know everything about Edward. He wanted to know how things got so terrible for Edward, why he did what he did to get expelled from his last school, why he wore a jacket and gloves all the time, and most of all, Roy wanted to know what he could do to fill the emptiness in Ed's eyes. Still, the correct words wouldn't form in Roy's mind. What could he say to this kid that wouldn't sound like cliche bullshit?
Luckily for Roy, Edward decided to break the silence again. "Why do you live alone? Don't you have a girlfriend or anything?" Ed simply couldn't believe that someone like Roy could be single.
Roy wasn't expecting that question, and really, he shouldn't be talking about his personal life with a student, but then again, this wasn't such a big deal compared to everything else. Roy decided that he needed to stop thinking of Edward as a student, and start thinking of him as a person. "No, no girlfriend. I'm a bachelor," Roy chuckled, trying to seem less pathetic. Being almost thirty and not married wasn't exactly something to be proud of. "I go on dates all the time, but I guess I haven't found the right person to really settle down with." Or, in less professional terms, he liked to have sex and he hasn't yet met someone that was good enough for him to want to commit to. Women called him a pig, but really he always makes his intentions clear from the beginning. Women always seem to think that they will be the one that would get him to settle down, and they always get butt-hurt when they end up like the woman before them. It got annoying after a while.
"Well, when you do find the right one, she will be one lucky woman," Edward said, not really looking at Roy.
Roy chuckled. "I like how you assume I'll be settling down with a woman. It gives my masculinity an ego boost." Roy hasn't been interested in women for a while now. He was always very open when it came to sexual partners, and as he grew older, Roy realized that he actually preferred men over women. If he made his intentions clear with a man, the man would understand and wouldn't get any false hope, like a woman would. Men were so much easier.
Edward looked up at Roy with a puzzled look on his face. "What do you mean?" he asked, then, his face flushed red when he realized what Roy meant. He didn't know why it surprised him so much that Roy would want to settle down with a man, after all, he was a man, and Roy had kissed him earlier this morning, didn't he? "Oh...um...never mind..." Edward said awkwardly. All his life Ed thought that being gay was something to be ashamed of, but apparently, it wasn't. "So...you're gay, then?"
Roy blinked. He had never particularly liked labeling himself as straight or gay or anything like that. "I like men, yes, but women are nice too. I don't think I could ever marry a woman, though." Roy looked at Edward, and saw his flushed face. He thought that was actually kind of cute.
After hesitating for a moment, Edward looked down at his lap and said, "I like men." Roy said nothing, he just looked at Edward, and waited for him to continue. "That's only the second time I've ever said that out loud," Edward said, finding it hard to find the right words to say. After all, the first time he said it, it caused a whole lot of trouble for him. "But...I don't like what I've done, or who I am." Edward clenched his fists and shut his eyes tightly. Just thinking about his recent actions made him sick, and it made him want to cry, but he wouldn't let himself do that.
Roy looked at the boy next to him sadly. He wanted to make him feel better somehow, but he really didn't know what to do. He put his hand on Edward's back and rubbed it lightly, trying his best to sooth him. Edward wanted Roy to hold him like he did earlier, but he wasn't about to ask for that kind of thing. "Well, I think you're a pretty great person that's been through some terrible things. You are still young, Edward. You have many more years to like who you are. I think you're a very bright young man and you can do anything you put your mind to," Roy said, smiling at Edward. "Now, I'd hate to be a stick in the mud, but you have some homework to catch up on, or you're going to get detention with Mr. Hughes, and believe me you don't want to spend your lunch hour listening to him babble about his family."
That caused Edward to chuckle slightly. "Yeah, you're right, I guess I should work on that," he agreed.
"Good!" Roy ruffled up Ed's hair a bit and stood up. "You do your work while I make me some dinner. If you need help, don't hesitate to ask. After you're done we could watch a movie or something," he said, then left to the kitchen to start on his dinner.