Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Misspoken ❯ Conclusions ( Chapter 16 )

 

Misspoken

 

XVI

 

Conclusions

 

Ed stopped in front of the door and stared silently at the knob. He'd been gone all night without the ability to contact Al. Would his brother be angry or would he understand that there had just been no way he could contact him...? Ed shifted uncomfortably. He didn't like getting into fights with his brother, and they'd never resolved anything yesterday when Mustang had come to pick him up...

 

With a resigned sigh, Ed opened the door and stepped inside. Al was sitting in the middle of the floor with a book open in his lap. As soon as Ed closed the door, Al jumped to his feet and rushed over.

 

“I was so worried about you brother!” Al exclaimed.

 

“Ah... yeah... well, about that...” Ed stuttered, then pulled uncomfortably at his tie, not meeting Al's gaze. “We got caught in that storm and ended up going to Mustang's place and then the power and phone lines went down and—”

 

“So you did spend the night at the colonel's place?” Al asked, his tone a mixture of relief and irritation.

 

“Well... yeah... I tried to call...”

 

“The phone lines here were still up,” Al said. “I called Lieutenant Hawkeye and she said that you were probably at the colonel's place and that the phone lines were down in lots of places around the city.”

 

“Oh...” Ed said, but before he could say more, Al continued.

 

“I wanted to know what the colonel's address was so that I could go check on you, but the lieutenant wouldn't give it to me... She said something about the military's privacy policy and that she was sure you were fine.”

 

Thank you, Lieutenant! Ed thought gratefully.

 

“I couldn't believe she wasn't worried!” Al ranted on. “She knows what the colonel's reputation is like!” Al stepped forward and looked him up and down before saying in a quieter tone, “You're okay, aren't you, brother? He didn't... you know... do anything to you... did he?”

 

I wish... Ed thought ruefully, then shook his head. “No, no...” he said, pulling off his suit jacket and tie. “All we did was eat food, play cards, and do some alchemy stuff. It was actually really fun...” Ed trailed off as he thought about the night before. It had been a lot different than what he supposed... Once they had the cards out and started talking, things had gotten really relaxed...

 

But actually getting under the covers and laying next to Mustang... If Ed hadn't been so tired, he might have lain awake for hours. As it was, they'd already stayed up really late, so falling asleep wasn't a problem.

 

Waking up... now that was a different story. He'd woken up to Mustang's body pressed against his. Mustang's hand was on his body and he could feel the man breathing against his neck. The hard-on he'd woken up with had become unbearable; and, when he couldn't stand it any longer, he'd gotten up and rushed to the bathroom to take care of himself. He didn't think he'd be able to look Mustang in the eyes again if the man knew how hard up he'd been and that he'd used his bathroom to jerk off...

 

Ed un-tucked his shirt and flopped down on the floor. If only he could have lain there with Mustang all day... If only something had happened between them! They'd been together all night and Mustang hadn't made a move... Even when they'd been sleeping right next to each other, nothing had happened...

 

Did that mean Mustang didn't like him in that way? It couldn't possibly mean that Mustang was just trying to be moral. `Moral Mustang' was almost an oxymoron... The man slept with more women than most people dreamed about... So, that probably meant that Mustang wasn't interested in him...

 

At the thought, Ed felt sad and disappointed; but if Mustang wasn't interested, then he wasn't interested... Ed had still had a lot of fun though, so the `date' wasn't a total failure, but he was pretty sure they wouldn't go out again. Last night was the perfect opportunity to try something, if Mustang wanted to, but since he didn't, Ed could only believe that this was the end...

 

“You don't look okay...” Al said worriedly. “You sure nothing happened?”

 

“Yeah... Nothing at all...” Ed mourned.

 

Silence filled the room for a moment, then Al said knowingly, “Oh... I see... You're disappointed that nothing happened...”

 

Groaning, Ed turned over onto his stomach and rested his cheek on the floor. He didn't really want to discuss his sexual desires with his brother; at least, not right now. Maybe later he'd feel like it, but right now it was a little embarrassing.

 

“He doesn't like me,” Ed said in disappointment. “Last night was a lot of fun, but... It's just not going to happen...”

 

“Is that what he said?” Al asked.

 

“No, but it's just kinda obvious.”

 

“But he didn't actually tell you that he didn't want you,” Al said in disapproval.

 

Ed rolled onto his back and looked at his brother. “He didn't need to. If he liked me, then he probably would have made a move or something...”

 

“So you would have been happier if he would have taken advantage of you?” Al asked.

 

Maybe... Ed thought, then said, “No...”

 

“Liar.” To that, Ed said nothing. After a minute, Al muttered, “He should at least tell you and not leave you hanging.” He sounded angry and Ed knew that Al was going into `protective mode'.

 

“It's fine,” Ed mumbled. He didn't care... Really he didn't. They'd just go about their lives as if nothing had happened because nothing did happen! And that was for the best anyway. Al needed him...

 

Still, it was so hard not to think about Mustang. He wanted Mustang to like him so much! Even though Ed knew he should be concentrating on other things—things that were far more important than who he had a crush on—he still couldn't manage to get the man out of his mind...

 

“It's not fine! I don't like seeing you so unhappy, brother. He should be upfront with you. He shouldn't leave you hanging. He should—”

 

Ed closed his eyes and stopped listening. He didn't want to be reminded that he wasn't important enough for Mustang to even tell him to get lost. He'd just bury himself in his research and try to forget about all of this. He had goals, and he couldn't let himself get sidetracked by something like this.