Stand By Me by Fullmetal Pyromaniac

Chapter twenty-eight


Elizabeth gripped the metal bars with all her might, hauling herself along the short stretch of floor as her legs struggled to keep up with her. They were working though, that was the main thing. Sweat dripped down her forehead, her feet walking clumsily along. Eventually she reached the end, letting out a deep sigh and letting Merlin take her arm, guiding her to her wheelchair.

"You're making quick progress Elizabeth, this exercise once a day will have your legs working in no time. Right, time for stretches"

"I sure hope so, I've been so desperate to walk and run, and just to get out of here in general" she beamed as Merlin helped stretch her legs.

Since her awakening Elizabeth had been on the straight road to recovery, and everyone was happy to see so. Diane had nearly strangled the poor girl in a hug when she woke up, tears were shed all over.

"I could hear you all" Elizabeth admitted later, "Thank you all for standing by me"

"It's our pleasure" Ban said, ruffling her hair with a secretly pleased grin.

Now, a week later, and Elizabeth was looking forward to the future. Now it was certain that she'd have one.

Merlin pressed and squeezed the muscles in Elizabeth's legs with medical precision but motherly care, smiling softly to herself.

"Right Elizabeth, can you move your feet in a clockwise motion?"

Melizabeth did so jerkily, her feet not used to the movements, but there was a keyword that made Elizabeth's world a little brighter. Her legs and feet aren't used to the movement...yet. Yet is a powerful word Elizabeth thought.

After the exercise, Merlin sat back on her feet and grinned.

"Well Elizabeth, keep up the good work and you'll be out of here in no time at all. I'm sure Meliodas will be pleased"

Elizabeth felt a smile slip onto her lips at the mention of her boyfriend. He'd barely left her alone after she had awoken from her coma, smothering her in hugs and compliments, and best of all, kisses.

Their first few had been as awkward as they were, Meliodas initially making eyebrows to try and release the tension, which it didn't...much. Eventually they got over the initial awkwardness of kissing and began to do it more eagerly. Nothing 'adult' had happened yet and Elizabeth was fine with that, wanting to go slow in her first relationship.

She was lucky enough to have Meliodas who was understanding and caring, a once in a life time guy she didn't want to give up, and wasn't going to anytime soon.

After repeating the movements the other way and wiggling her toes the best she could. Merlin stood, writing down Elizabeth's progress on her clipboard. Elizabeth hauled herself into her wheelchair and sorted the skirt of her nightdress.

"You're free to go Elizabeth, I'll let your father know about your progress"

"Thanks Merlin, see you soon!" Elizabeth called to her, waving, then began pushing herself down the corridor.

...

Meliodas lay on Elizabeth's bed staring at the ceilings, counting the cracks that ran along the white paint. Boredom filled Meliodas, but Elizabeth would be back soon, he knew it. Though he had been saying that for the last fifteen minutes.

"Meliodas! Hi!" A voice cheered from the doorway, Elizabeth pushed herself in closing the door behind her, her lips were curved up into a smile. Meliodas couldn't help grinning at her. Elizabeth sat on the bed next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. They stayed that way for a while, just being around each other.

"Well, you ready to go?" Meliodas asked, Elizabeth nodded.

"Yep!" She replied enthusiastically, using Meliodas' arm to get into her wheelchair. "I can't wait!"

Meliodas kissed her forehead, opening the door, "Lets go then!"

Elizabeth squealed as he pushed her wheelchair forward quickly, running along the corridor. Hand white from gripping the handles of the wheelchair, Elizabeth squeaked again as the chair tilted going around a corner. Meliodas' bell-like laugh rang from behind her, the chair tipped further going around the last corner, it regained its balance just as Elizabeth and Meliodas met Ban, King, and Gowther.

Ban raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "Having fun there you two?"

Elizabeth flushed a little.

"We were, actually" Meliodas said, smugly. King eyed him up carefully.

"Just remember to keep it PG, 'kay?"

Meliodas didn't reply, only giving him a thumbs up. Gowther checked his wristwatch whilst the other chatted.

"Excuse me" Everyone turned to face him, "According to my calculations, Diane will be here in approximately...fifteen minutes. We should get ready"

Ban sighed, "You're right, come on, love birds"

King, Meliodas, and Elizabeth all gave a cry of indignation following the taller boy inside. Ban gave a sly grin to Gowther, who managed to return one, a rare thing for him.

...

Diane walked along the corridors out of the respite centre into the hospital, the halls were eerily quiet without King, Ban, or Gowther to accompany her. In fact, she'd barely seen them since she'd told them the news.

Faces passed as she finally reached the club room, Diane took a minute to straighten her orange pyjamas and fix her pig tails. Then she took hold of the door handle and pushed the door open. Immediately her ears were assaulted with honking and cheers, the walls were covered in rainbow bunting, the large table they used had a chocolate cake in the middle of it and plates with coloured cups. Everyone had sparkly party hats on their heads, Elizabeth's was silver, Meliodas' was green, Ban's was red, King's was blue, and Gowther's was purple. There was another, a pink one, sitting on the table.

"HAPPY GOING-AWAY-PARTY DIANE!"

King pulled a party popper, releasing a pathetic amount of confetti, but it made Diane tear up anyway.

"You guys..." She said, her voice wobbling dangerously, "You threw me a party?..."

King took her hands and kissed her on the cheek, "Yep, we did" He pulled back, eyeing up her expression. Diane's eyes were glassy, tears building up threatening to flow over.

"Is this okay?"

Diane flung her arms around Kings neck, Meliodas sniggered as King's face was pressed to Diane's collarbone, Elizabeth elbowed him and he shut up, a wise choice.

"Yes!" She cried, "Thank you, thank all of you so much!" She pulled back, wiping her snotty nose on the sleeve of her pyjama shirt.

"No problem Die Antwoord, gonna miss your loud voice around here" Ban gave Diane a one armed hug, she hugged him back, lightly punching his arm.

"And I'm gonna miss your shitty nicknames" She admitted, "I'm gonna miss everyone"

Meliodas left Elizabeth's side for a second to pull something from under the table, a music player. "This is fun and all, but a little too sad. Let's have some fun!"

With music playing on the speakers, everyone danced. Meliodas sat on Elizabeth's lap, winking at her while doing so, and spinning the two round and round. King danced with Diane, mumbling something about his 'shitty height', Diane just kissed him and continued dancing.

Ban and Gowther sat at the table, not really the dancing types, though both complied when Diane dragged them up. Gowther was surprisingly a good dancer, Ban...not so much. But it was the happiest people had seen him in years, so no one said anything.

Merlin arrived later, as she always did, with a knife to cut the cake and lemonade. She did it herself and served it, taking a slice in a napkin and after giving Diane a tight hug went back to finish her shift. "I'll call you when your parents are here Diane, see you later"

They said goodbye and began to eat their cake, washing it down with the lemonade. The boys had a competition about how much cake they could eat, Gowther won, while the girls looked on in horror.

"Please don't choke" Elizabeth pleaded.

Meliodas shrugged, "Nah, don't worry about it, we'll be careful"

They had eaten three quarters of the cake themselves by the time Merlin came with Diane's bag and a small smile.

"Diane, it's time"

She stood with confidence, walking tall to Merlin and taking the bag.

"Well this is it" She said, taking a deep breath, "I guess I'll see you later"

Elizabeth rolled over to her, hugging her abdomen. Diane hugged her back.

"Good luck" Elizabeth whispered, feeling tears wetting the back of her nightdress.

"Thank you, I'll text you, okay?"

King stood as well, looking worn and tired, his metal arm flexing and releasing with stress.

"I'll walk you to the door"

"Thanks King, see you later guys"

The door closed behind her, and the room felt a little colder without Diane.

...

King was next, three weeks later, sitting in the club room with his metal arm clutching the strap of his bag. There wasn't a big party for him, he wasn't one for parties, but people sat around the table knowing there would now be two empty spaces.

"You nervous?" Ban asked, King shrugged.

"I guess, I suppose it's just going back to school and stuff"

Elizabeth tilted her head, "You're going back to school?"

"Yep, just to finish fourth year, then I'm going to college"

"I'm doing the same" Meliodas added.

"I'll probably do online classes, I need a job more"

"I was homeschooled, so I'll probably do that again, though public school sounds fun"

Gowther took off his glasses, cleaning them with the hem of his shirt, "I was homeschooled as well, perhaps we could study together?"

Smiling, Elizabeth nodded, "I'd like that"

Ban whistled, "Careful captain, Gowther's gonna steal your girl!"

Meliodas smiled murderously, a dark aura surrounding him, "Ban, shut up"

Considering it a win, Ban was quiet once more. Kings phone went off, he sighed checking it.

"That's my aunty here, I should be going" He said, standing. He gave Elizabeth a high five, Gowther a pat on the back, and Meliodas a manly hug. When he got to Ban, the two just stared at each other. King only came up to just below Bans chest, so his head was tilted quite far back.

"Don't be a stranger now, right?" Ban said, "I'll kill you if you ignore us now"

King scowled, "Please. Like I could do that" Then his expression softened and he shook Ban's hand. "See you soon Ban"

"See ya round" Ban replied with a wolfish grin. And with another goodbye and a wave, King was gone too.

...

Another week passed and it was time for Ban to leave. Dressed in his normal clothes, he turned up to the club room after calling anyone there out of the blue.

"Look, I ain't one for goodbyes and sentimental shit, so I thought I'd make this as quick as possible"

Elizabeth hit his back lightly when he gave her a hug, "You should have told me you...you jerk" she cried, Ban laughed quietly.

"Sorry Ellie"

Meliodas punched him hard in the arm, "Geez, you couldn't even have given me a bit of warning. I've lost the Boar Hats best cook and I don't even have a replacement...I may just have to make the food myself"

"Sure, if you want to kill everyone" Ban joked, punching Meliodas back, "See ya captain, Ellie" He turned to Gowther, ruffling his dark pink hair, "See ya round freak"

Gowther managed a small smile, "I will miss you too Ban"

Hoisting his bag onto his back Ban grinned, "Well, I'll be taking my leave now. See ya" And Ban was gone too.

Meliodas began tucking in the chairs around the table, when Elizabeth noticed Gowther staring at the door, back poker straight. She wheeled herself closer to him, noticing that his eyes were clouded and distant, filled with...something indescribable. Elizabeth placed a hand on his arm, it took a minute for him to face her, as if his movements were sluggish.

"Is something wrong, Elizabeth?" He asked, though it was more of a statement. His eyes were hidden behind his glasses, and Elizabeth couldn't decipher what he was feeling. As they were leaving, she saw Gowther staring in the same way down the hall to Ban's old room. She slowly wheeled herself to her room, Meliodas by her side, the image of Gowthers clouded eyes haunting her visions.

...

Gowther was the next to go, two days later, going to his new home with Merlin and Arthur. Then it was Meliodas' turn.

He stood with Elizabeth in his room, dressed in a shirt and jeans, with his bag on his back. His blond hair hadn't been brushed yet, Elizabeth ran her hands through it, feeling it for the last time for months.

"You'll call me when you're at Ban's?"

"Yeah, I promise"

"And you'll take your medicine everyday?"

Meliodas playfully rolled his eyes, "I promise"

Elizabeth sighed, leaning into his chest. "I'm going to miss you"

"I'll miss you as well" Meliodas whispered,"I'll text you all the time"

Elizabeth smiled, "Not when you're in class, I'm not being responsible for you not getting an education"

"Whenever I can?"

"Perfect"

Meliodas kissed her slowly, "I should be going" he groaned.

"I'll walk you out"

Meliodas took the handles of her wheelchair and rolled her to the entrance. Meliodas pushed Elizabeth as far as she could go into the carpark. People bustled around them, but for the young lovers there was no one there but them.

"I'll see you soon Elizabeth" he said, Elizabeth felt tears stream down her cheeks. "Hey, don't cry" he shushed, "I'm not worth crying over"

Giving a choked laugh, Elizabeth looked at him with nothing but pure adoration in her eyes, "Yes you are, I'll see you soon"

Pressing their lips together for the last time, Elizbeth watched as Meliodas walked away until he turned the street corner and vanished leaving her alone, for now at least.


End of chapter twenty-eight.

A.N. Two chapters left guys, you excited? I am!

Drop me a review and tell me what you thought, I'll be doing a big thank you etc on the last chapter, okay, see you in 29 ;)

- Ruby xxx