† [im doing my drafts I swear]
((take you’re time, don’t worry))There weren’t any demands or complaints when he called in for a few days away from the lab. No one asked how long he’d be out or why, everyone in the building new. Ed doubted he’d be able to really focus on anything there anyways. Especially not today. A number of people showed up, it wasn’t large but the people who were important were there. He only made a few phone calls out to tell people. The hardest was probably giving Al the news days earlier. The shock and disbelief came first, it was understandable, it was just so sudden, it was hard to believe at all. His stomach had dropped out when he could hear his little brother break down on the other end of the phone. He even tried getting ahold of that bastard but it wasn’t really a surprise when there wasn’t an answer from the man. Someone took down a message promising to tell him, offering condolences, he hung up before they could get an answer from him.It didn’t matter, he didn’t see the old man there that afternoon. Everyone else came though. Even a few people from work showed up to pay their respects. They asked if Ed needed anything, Al and Winry both offered to go back to the house with him or for him to stay with them for the evening. He turned the offers down, he said he wanted to be alone for a little while. It was a lie, it was the first time Ed really felt alone and it made him feel sick. Every action was on auto-pilot. He couldn’t really focus on anything for very long. Watching them slowly lower the oak box into the ground was so surreal he thought he would wake up at any moment, be able to go down the hall and peek into the next bedroom to be assured that no, he didn’t just lose more of his already small family. That they were okay, that Edward was okay.Ed didn’t wake up, he stayed the longest at the cemetery once everything was done. He stood there quietly with the sickening sense of Deja Vu that he never wanted to have as he looked at the tombstone and read what was etched into it over and over again. This time there wasn’t anyone else there, even Al left to give him some privacy. He walked home when the sun was almost down, the key to the house almost didn’t make it in the lock. It turned, he stepped inside and closed the door before dropping to the ground, pulling his knees to his chest and hiding his head in his arms. The house was too quiet. There was no sounds of the TV, or someone moving upstairs, a scolding voice so much like his own making him feel guilty for coming home late without calling. For the first time in years, Ed cried and dared to beg any force that could hear him to let him wake up or to bring his twin back to him before he could fall apart. And this time, he didn’t think anyone could pick him up again.
