I HAVENT ABANDONED TRUTH. I've just hit a bit of block with it. I also wanted to have a go at writing a story based on a relationship... So Truth is still going, and hopefully I can keep this on ongoing too.

Like I always say, reviews help me improve and encourage me, so they'd be greatly appreciated.

Here goes.....

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Alfons Heiderich's life was completely and utterly normal.

Well, he considered it to be anyway.

Like tonight? He was simply rambling home after a night out at the pub, drinking with the boys. They had laugh after a week of solid work, revelling in each others company and discussing the progress they'd made in research.

And they never got too buzzed, they were known as respectable scientists after all. Alfons enjoyed these nights out, he enjoyed his line of work too. They both made him forget that the seconds of his life were, one by one, ticking away.

Alfons shook his head, the alcohol allowing him to easily quash his morbid worries. All he could do was work, serve his country and his purpose. That was what his was living for, it was a comfort, knowing that he would die happy.

Yeah… keep telling yourself that.

He frowned, wishing that he'd gotten a little drunker tonight. His worries were easy enough to hole away in a corner of his mind, but the little voice that lurked alongside there, often coaxed them back out.

He was living for something, but he wanted to live for more.

Alfons's thoughts juddered to a halt as his foot came into contact with a obstacle, which caused him to stumble and trip. The obstacle cursed rather loudly, and Alfons looked and saw that there was a young man sitting slouched over on the curb.

The young man looked up at him with a fierce gaze that was slightly unfocused, not completely looking at his face, he had rather striking features. His hair was blond and long, long enough to be tied back into a loose ponytail at the nape of his neck. It was quite an uncommon way for a guy to wear his hair, Alfons mused, but it suited the man well.

That was a strange thought.

Every garment he wore seemed to be just a bit too small for him, and his right arm seemed to hang limply at his side.

It was his face though, that seemed to captivate Alfons the most, his young features hardened by experience and Alfons could have sworn his eyes were gold. Was he foreign perhaps? Though even so, he had never heard of anyone of any race having gold eyes.

The man staggered to his feet, he was quite obviously drunk and unbalanced. Best apologize quickly and get out of there, he didn't particularly want to get into a fight.

"Oh I'm very sorry," He said quickly, "I didn't see you ther…" He trailed off as the man was giving him a somewhat scrutinizing stare. Alfons throat went slightly dry as he leaned in, squinting slightly, and invaded his personal space.

Just when he was about to voice a nervous protest, the man stumbled back, emotions ranging from shock and tearful happiness playing across his face.

"Al?" His voice cracked, and he spoke in English, "Is that you Al?"

…Al? Was he being mocked here? Al sounded rather…American. No-one had ever called him Al.

"It is you!" The man exclaimed tearfully and abruptly pulled him into an (unexpectedly strong) bear hug. Alfons held his arms up and just managed to keep himself from being knocked back. He wondered frantically what to do while the man babbled things like "…Thought you'd gone!…How'd you get here?…I'm so glad to see you!" into his shoulder, continuing to speak in English, so Alfons couldn't quite pick up on everything he said.

"H-hey…I think you have the wrong person here!" He practically wailed before prying the man off him. He stepped back and looked into his face again, looking so hurt that Alfons felt his stomach twist slightly with guilt.

"B-but, Al, it's me…? Edward."

"No, I'm…well, my name's Alfons, not Al. You might have misheard somewhere…"

It was hard to speak coherently when the man Edward, he'd said looked like he was going to burst into tears at any given moment.

"But, you must be Al, you-you look just…" Alfons found himself being scrutinized again.

"It's alright." He tried to give a sympathetic smile, "You just made a mistake." and turned to continue his way home. God, wait until the others heard about this tomorrow, alcohol certainly did odd things to peo-

"LIKE HELL I HAVE!"

Edwards voice was quite literally saturated with rage, the sound racked through Alfons and froze him to the pavement.

He was suddenly shoved against a wall, hands fisted in his collar and two molten gold eyes were burning into his own. He gave a small squeak with fear. Edward was quite clearly twenty times stronger than him.

"WHY ARE YOU FUCKING AROUND WITH ME ENVY? I THOUGHT THE GATE HAD SPAT YOU OUT INTO LITTLE PIECES!"

God, Alfons was terrified, the disease wasn't going to kill him, this aggressive drunkard was.

"ANSWER ME DAMNIT! WASN'T ENOUGH THAT YOU FUCKING KILLED ME, NOW YOU'RE WALKING AROUND WITH MY BROTHERS FACE?!"

His fist was raised, the alcohol stank on his breath and his expression was the most livid Alfons had ever seen.

"Please, you've got the wrong person!" Alfons's voice rose to a pleading shout.

The longest seconds Alfons had ever known ticked away. His eyes were squeezed shut, head twisted away.

The fists in his collar loosened.

"Envy doesn't know… what Alphonse looks like." Edward croaked, more to himself than anyone else.

Then the fists were gone, the fury in his eyes had been extinguished. Alfons slumped against the wall, his heart thudding so loudly he could hear it.

His first instinct was to run, but he found his legs were still completely immobile. Edward looked up at him again, looking just…broken.

"I-…I'm sorry." He said in a voice that sounded like a completely different person in contrast with his previous tone. "I w-was…I don't know what I was…"

Run damnit! Cried the sense in his mind, but he didn't. Alfons never thought he would ever feel concern for someone who attacked him in the street. But the way Edward was now picking at his coat and looking totally confused was yanking at his heartstrings.

Edward looked up at him again, Alfons really couldn't name his expression, it was beyond despair, beyond bitter disappointment. Then his looked downwards, shaking his head slightly.

"I was…so sure…" He whispered, the voice barely audible.

Glancing up a last time, Edward had managed to chase away the nameless expression and now he looked utterly exhausted, the bags under his eyes more prominent. He sighed, and slumped back down on the pavement.

Alfons had never been a fan of cliché literature, but he could honestly admit that his heart had been moved. He had never seen anyone look so… so… ruined. Alfons had always had a damningly caring nature, ever since he was a child, and it was leading him to consider a bit of a brash decision.

Steadying himself, he cautiously approached Edward and slowly sat beside him, after a few moments of mustering up his courage, he laid his hand on Edward's shoulder, who flinched, but didn't shake him off.

"You said your name was Edward right?"

Edward turned to look at him again, it seemed to be getting easier for him each time.

"Yeah…Edward Elric."

Elric? Nope, Alfons had never heard of him. He wondered where on earth he had come from. His German was fluent, but with an accent.

"Edward, you should probably go home…" He trailed off, Edward had buried his head in his hands at the word home, and his shoulders were shaking.

"C-can't." Came the muffled sob.

Alfons found himself squeezing Edward's shoulder comfortingly, and he relaxed slightly.

"Why can't you?"

Edward looked up again, opened his mouth, then closed it.

"Just…can't."

After a yet another moment , Alfons asked "So, where are you staying?"

Edward swallowed. "Nowhere…Got thrown out of my last inn…drew stuff on the walls… so I went out…started drinking…shouldn't have done….drinking makes me…uh….shit."

Alfons presumed "shit" was a substitute for "aggressive and tearful".

"Then when' out…saw you…look like someone I…" His voice cracked again "S-someone I know."

He hid his face behind his blond hair, trying to discreetly sniffle into his gloved hands.

"Anyway, sorry." He said mournfully.

Alfons stared at him incredulously, what on earth was he supposed to do?

You're supposed to go home and forget this ever happened. Common sense yelled. But it was becoming increasingly easy to ignore.

"So… You have nowhere to stay?" He asked as gently as he could.

"Well…No. I'll be alright."

…And that was it. Alfons could not leave him in this state, he's lose a weeks night sleep over it.

No longer afraid, he tugged on Edwards arm, and brought him clumsily to his feet.

"Wha' you doin?"

"Come on, you can stay at my place for the night."

At that, Edward looked incredibly torn. "Bu' I can't" He said (though rather reluctantly) "…I'd be like…Imposing or some shit."

"I don't mind."

Well, he sort of did, but he'd mind even more if he left him.

"Bu' it's not equi- equiv…shit…equal exchange!"

Equal exchange? What an odd thing to say. Mind you, he was stupidly drunk, so Alfons was pretty much willing to go along with it.

"Sure it is. I tripped over you, remember? So I'm letting you have a place to sleep."

Edward paused to think for a moment then shrugged. "S'pose your right."

…Wow, he really was drunk.

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Alfons had finally got Edward into the apartment. On the way home he had been told a completely insane story about how Edward and his younger brother had tried to bring his mother back to life. He had got about as far as "The Transmutation.", whatever that was, and had started sobbing again. Afterwards, he was practically incapable of walking and Alfons had to support him the rest of the way.

All the while, Edward was muttering stuff in English that Alfons couldn't follow.

Alfons dimly registered he only had one bed, damn. Sofa for him tonight then.

"You can sleep here for tonight then" He yawned, plonking Edward down on the bed. He went to get blankets for himself, upon returning, he found Edward completely out for the count.

Alfons went to drape a blanket over Edward, wondering to himself how an ordinary night out had escalated into such a bizarre situation. Funny. He observed how much different Edward looked when he was asleep. His expression neutral and peaceful. His ponytail had become even more loose and several strands of hair had fallen on to his face.

Absent-mindedly, he reached over to brush the unruly strands out of Edward's face, he found his hand lingering slightly as Edward appeared to relax even more under his touch, and his heart fluttered suddenly.

Alfons drew back his hand like Edward was white hot, disturbed by his own gesture.

What the hell is wrong with you?

He'd had a strange night, that was all, that was it.

Unconvinced, he went to the sofa, and pulled the blankets over his head and uselessly hoped the night had all been a dream.

Little did Alfons know, was that his mundane, ordinary life.

Was about to be shattered.

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How was that? I'm a bit nervous about it... XD Please review, I sure I have plenty of room for improvement.

Thanks for reading, updates will most likely be slow though... Exams starting soon and all.