HoS: Midnight

[lanerose]

The room was dark and still when Ed opened his eyes, shooting upright in bed. The previously peaceful night’s stillness shattered as the blond gasped raggedly. Breathlessly, he threw back the blanket and attempted to slide towards the edge of the bed. His lover’s arm wrapped tightly about his waist, though, holding him firmly. He struggled, and the awakened man released him.

“Ed?” The man asked, sitting as Ed threw his legs over the edge of the bed and onto the floor. “Ed, what’s -?”

He stopped dead in his speech as Ed flinched away from the hand he had placed on his back. The blond shook his head back and forth before rising to his feet. Hurriedly but silently he slipped from the room, never once looking back at the man on the bed, whose hand had fallen once more to the sheets.

Sighing, the man flopped back onto the bed, rolling to face in the opposite direction. He gently reached a hand forward, coming into immediate contact with the next nearest of their lovers, who gingerly shook off sleep in response.

“Roy?” The man asked as he struggled into awareness, shifting on the bed. This, in turn, woke the others from their rest, who blinkingly shifted and curled in upon one another. Ichiro allowed his hand to come and rest gently upon Roy’s right arm, offering a warm and tangible presence to the other dark haired man. “Is something wrong, Roy?”

“Ed’s…” Roy began, then paused. He took a deep breath, and shook his head regretfully.

“Oh, another one?” The man replied, his eyes darkening. Behind him, Riza and Al slowly began to break apart from one another. Al, from the far side of the bed, had his eyes adjust to the encompassing darkness of the room just in time to catch Roy’s nod. Riza wrapped her arms around Ichiro, stretching one hand forward so that she could rest it gently upon her Roy’s cheek.

“Someone should go after him.” Riza said, her delicate and soft voice belying the hint of steel beneath it. “Edward cannot be permitted to continue doing this. He can’t keep holding back from us.”

Al nodded thoughtfully behind Riza, glancing briefly at the door before attempting to find the end of the sheets. He pulled them up and back, feeling the chill of the air rush over his skin just as Riza’s hand caught his. Startled, the youngest of the lovers looked at her as she shook her head. On the opposite side of the bed, Roy had risen to his feet and already begun padding towards the door.

“Why -?” He began, but a quick kiss from the woman before him silenced him.

“Alphonse, your brother loves you in more ways than one,” she began, tossing the covers back over him and drawing him towards her until skin met skin, “but this is something you’re too innocent to share with him.”

Al looked at her askance for a moment before thoughtful nodding his head and burying his head in her chest. Across the room, the door clicked gently shut.

Roy wandered slowly down the hall, taking his time in reaching the stairs and descending them. Ed would only have gone to one place in the house anyways – the same place he always went. Beneath Roy’s feet the cool wood floors contrasted with the soft warm carpet as he walked from room to room. At last he arrived at the door to the library, which had unsurprisingly already been opened.

Ed looked very small just then. The large armchair in which he sat dwarfed the still diminutive man. His knees were drawn to his chest, his arms wrapped about himself. He looked every inch the child he had once been as he sat there with his head down and his father’s coat drawn protectively around him. Roy’s heart hurt at the sight.

The older man walked into the room softly, but making enough noise to draw Ed’s attention. The blond’s head pivoted swiftly, immediately catching sight of the shadowy man making his way through the still dark room, lit only by patches of moonlight. Roy paused in front of the chair, kneeling in one of those patches before reaching into the darkness that surrounded his lover.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” Ed murmured as Roy placed a hand upon his cheek. Roy comfortingly stroked the blond man’s cheek, his dark eyes capturing the too bright golden gaze. “It wasn’t… I wasn’t supposed to care, damn it. Not about him. Not after everything – “

“Shh…” Roy responded softly, reaching out to draw the younger man into his arms, pulling him coat and all from the deeper recesses of the night. As the aroma of coffee and smoke wafted over him, the older man continued, “Shh… I know.”

Roy said nothing when Ed’s shoulders began to shake. Gently, he rubbed the younger man’s back, using long and soothing strokes to try and draw the tension from it. When at last his breathing evened, and Ed attempted to pull back, Roy allowed him to go but kept a hand resting upon his arm, forcing him to stay within the illuminating glow streaming through the window.

“You know,” Ed said bitterly as he brushed the tears irritatedly from his face, “of all the mistakes I’ve made, loving him has got to be one of the worst.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Now I just need to find Lore-chan and get a title. ^_^ This is dedicated to Roy, by the way, in the hopes that she'll get better soon! ::love::

Also... be very grateful that ladylore and lithele can keep me in check... because I seriously think that the crack I nearly produced this evening would have killed someone. yes.

::ponders:: So I wrote about Ed's mistakes... again... and the library... again... Oh no, there's no themes in my writing! XDD