Kind of a part two to my first one? Its definitely a part two actually. Featuring a song I'm writing right now because every great song needs a fic themed after it, duh.
When my life is a mess, I have to get it off my chest —
Ling sat next to Ed rambling on about his distaste for blueberry muffins during robotics class. His chair was pulled up to Ed's teaching desk and tipped back, balancing on 2 legs.
"It was disgusting! How do people eat cooked blueberries? As soon as I bit into it the taste was so overwhelmingly terrible and—"
"You ate all of it anyway, didn't you?" Ed said with amused eyebrows.
"Of course I did!" Ling said proudly, a blossom of warmth blooming in his chest when he heard a laugh escape Ed as he shook his head.
The way you look at me so sweet, you've got me falling on my knees,
And then it caught his eye, a shiny ring on a silver chain that drooped around the expanse of Ed's neck.
Could it be a wedding band? He'd known Ed for around a month now, and not once had the man mentioned a spouse or partner of any kind. Though, he'd hardly mentioned anything. Ed wasn't much of a talker, Ling noticed. He was only truly talkative when he was explaining a chemical reaction or why "Consuming iron ore is not going to help your iron deficiency, idiot." Otherwise, he usually opted for listening rather than talking. Ling filed the question, "Is Ed married?" into the back of his mind to ask another time.
When I'm on the verge of breaking down,
Ling was having a very bad day. He had fallen asleep in class and someone thought it would be hilarious to tie both of his shoes together. So, when he woke up from a particularly uncomfortable slumber on his desk, he was sent tumbling down the steps when he tried to leave the classroom.
Snickers echoed throughout the hallway as Ling made his way to his next class.
, and no one seems to care,
He instinctually pulled his phone from his pocket and found 7 missed calls from Lan Fan. He grumbled sadly as he clicked the 'call back' button.
As it would turn out, Ling's mother decided that she should come and stay with him for the weekend. And she intended on spending every waking moment with him.
His day went from bad to worse.
As Ling stepped out of his criminal justice class, he saw Ed. He could feel his eyes light up and smile creep onto his face as he prepared to run towards the man, more or less, like a lost puppy.
He was halfway there when the blonde girl on Ed's arm became visible. She was pretty. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and her body was practically glued to Ed's.
It was just Ling's luck that Ed had spotted him then. Ed smiled— more like grinned at him, and for a moment everything, the crowded hallway, the insistent chatter, the people pushing their way by him — some muttering things like "Out of the way, loser." — disappeared. It seemed to be just Ed and Ling. There was a foreign yet pleasant buzz in the center of Ling's chest.
And then the blonde made her presence known again with a particularly high squeal. Ling cringed and looked down. The thought to check to see if she had a wedding band that matched Ed's came too late, as they had already taken off down the hall.
Ling saw the girl glance back at him quizzically and mutter something to Ed. Was she talking about him? Asking who he was, where they met?
What would Ed say? They were friends, weren't they?
After a particularly hard shove, Ling decided he would do best to dwell on such things later.
Later that day, after being handed a rather astounding F minus — how the fuck did he manage an F minus? — he made his way down the robotics hallway as he normally would, calm and in no rush. On the outside he looked completely normal, he'd even managed to plaster a small content smile on his face.
However, inside there was a raging storm sending negative emotions crashing every which way. He could practically see how badly his emotional distress was — a pirate ship being rocked up, down, back, forth and side to side from the sheer force of dark blue waves of the forces of nature. Thick, angry gray storm clouds loomed menacingly above with a silent threat to consume Ling whole.
When he opened the door to the classroom, there Ed was, more than likely grading papers judging from the irritated tick in between his brows.
And then Ed smiled at him.
You always see my frown and make me feel like I'm walking on air,
In the distance, there was an area where the waves ceased to crash. An area in the sky had opened up, letting the sun shine through, almost heavenlike.
Ling stepped forward and into the classroom, feeling the eye of his metaphorical internal storm grow.
"What's up your ass?" Ed tilted back in his chair to ask in a way that feigned nonchalance but Ling could hear the underlying concern in his voice.
It was at that moment that Ling realized the cause of his distress was kind of stupid. Someone tied his shoes together and his mom wants to see him? Ed would probably laugh him out the room!
Ed gave him a look that said, "Well?"
Ling wanted to tell him anyway. So he did. He pulled a chair up to sit next to Ed.
He explained from start to finish, tearing up halfway through, why his day was so very terrible. He pointedly omitted the detail of his mini panic attack about Ed's blonde friend.
By the time he was done he was sniffling and hiccuping, barely holding himself together. He looked pathetic. He was too scared to look up and see the disgusted look that was bound to be on Ed's face.
Instead of being laughed out of the room however, Ling felt arms pulling his body towards Ed's.
But, this couldn't be happening. Ed vowed to tear Ling's throat out if he ever tried to hug him. But here Ed was now, definitely starting a hug.
And just like that, Ling found his face pressed against the small area between Ed's neck and shoulder. Short but strong arms curled around his back and held him firmly in place. A calm feeling washed over him. Not calm persay, rather, empty. In a good way.
In the eye of the storm I need you in my arms,
He hadn't forgotten the issues that troubled him, but suddenly they seemed smaller. Less important.
Why had he even been upset to begin with?
"You're fine. You're probably just... stressed out." Ed blurted out. Wait—
Was Ed trying to comfort him?
Smiling and telling me it's okay,
On another day, Ling would have teased him relentlessly. Today, he settled for snuggling into the warmth of Ed's chest.
"If you tell anyone about this I'll kick your ass to the moon and back." Ed growled out as he rested his head atop Ling's.
"Duly noted." Ling replied, closing his eyes.
And suddenly, the moment his eyes shut his vision was filled with the memories of earlier that day, of the blonde girl who was plastered to Ed's side.
"Is she your wife?" Ling asked. Ed's body tensed and Ling anticipated and braced for when Ed threw him off of himself and snapped at him.
Instead, Ed let out a loud laugh. It made Ling's heart flutter, but it also created a pit of frustration in his gut.
As if he sensed Ling's frustration, Ed answered his question. "Winry is my best friend. I'm happily single."
And for some reason, that information made Ling's day exponentially better. Ling smiled into Ed's shirt pulling a confused noise from the man above him.
"What are you down there doing?" Ed asked with an accusatory tone.
"Nothing. Can I stay here? Until I feel better?"
"It's a fucking classroom, I can't stop you—"
"I meant here," Ling clutched Ed's shirt again to make his question clear.
"Oh. Uh..." Ed trailed off.
Ling prepared to reassure him that he could always say no, when he saw the red flush creeping up Ed's neck. It finally reached his face and that was when Ling realized that Ed was embarassed.
"Fine! Do whatever you want, I dont care." Ed shouted. Ling hummed and made himself comfortable in Ed's embrace.
Clarifying that at the end when Ling visits Ed's classroom its after hours and nobody's there but them😭 they most definitely did not snuggle in a classroom full of students
