Karaoke

Ok, I know it's a little later than promised and it's still not finished but illness, plot bunnies and work got in the way. I had great fun trying to match songs to people and I hope I suceeded a little. I don't know why but this chapter seemed to get a little angsty, I can't seem to write a story that doesn't unless it's a oneshot XD It's not too much angst, promise.

Amethyst - thank you so much for the review, I'm sorry you have yet to find out the song, next chapter I promise. I agree though, he really should have let Winry take a shot at AL XD

antilogicgirl - you must be psychic, I was going to use that song for Roy but decided it was just too corny and ended up going a complete different direction. I think Winry and Riza are just too high strung and don't appreciate good songs XD

I do not own I was born to love you, it was created by Queen and I make no money from using it.


CHAPTER 2

It had been about half an hour and Winry still hadn’t told Ed what he would be singing. He sighed, this was supposed to be his birthday and so far he’d spent it with his stomach twisting at the thought of what was to come.

Granted, it hadn’t been all bad, some of his colleagues were actually quite good singers when they had drunk enough. Sheska singing I kissed a girl was quite an eye opener, especially at the end when she had grabbed Maria Ross by the collar and planted one on her, much to the second lieutenants shock.

Ed had wanted to hug Fuery when he had sung Boulevard of Broken Dreams. The kindest member of Mustang’s team sang with so much emotion, so much understanding of the words that Ed was almost in tears by the end and looking around the room told him that a lot of people felt the same way.

He glanced back over towards Winry but still the wrench throwing mechanic was not paying attention to him. The fact that she was writing things down in a fury and laughing with Hawkeye, Sheska and Maria Ross made him almost physically sick. That little cackling coven could not be up to anything good. Why wouldn’t she just tell him what to sing already? That way he could get it over and done with and then enjoy the rest of his party.

Ed sat down at the makeshift bar and nursed his drink, his fifth or sixth, he couldn’t quite remember. He had really come to like the vodka and coke that Havoc had introduced him to, it made his head feel a little fuzzy but it also made him feel warm inside, he didn’t quite understand it.

When he looked towards Winry again, starting to feel that if he didn’t stop glancing over he would end up with repetitive strain injury, he was taken aback to find her looking across at him. He gulped when a slightly malicious smile slowly spread across her face and she began to laugh, holding her sides and closing her eyes as she all but cackled like a witch.

He dropped his head to the bar, closed his eyes and wished that Al had just taken him out for a pizza or something. He didn’t notice as Mustang crossed the room to the karaoke machine, he still didn’t notice when Mustang began scrolling through the lists of songs, the first realisation he had that anything was happening was when the music began.

The tune sounded familiar but he couldn’t quite place it. He didn’t know who was about to sing, nor did he really care but that damn tune was annoying him. He knew he knew it but he just couldn’t remember where he had heard it last. When the first line was sung, realisation hit and the memories came flooding back.

“I was born to love you
With every single beat of my heart
Yes, I was born to take care of you
Every single day...”

His…Hohenheim…had sung this for his mother when he and Al were still little. He could remember thinking it was really sweet inwardly and outwardly making gagging noises as he laughed at Al trying to sing along. Slowly he lifted his head as he realised just who that voice belonged to. It was not possible, there was no way that HE knew that song and yet…

Ed didn’t look towards the karaoke machine, he just stared at his glass and listened to the words. A shiver ran through him as he imagined those words being directed at him but knowing the bastard he was probably singing at one of the women from the office.

“I was born to love you
With every single beat of my heart
Yes, I was born to take care of you
Every single day of my life”

It had taken him a while but he had finally started to admit to himself that he may have some feelings for Mustang. He wasn’t really sure when it had started, there was no specific moment he could point to and say ‘that was when I began to love him’, it had been gradual, the arguments had become fun, almost…a dance. He was pretty sure that Roy was a little aware of his feelings, the occasional looks that were aimed lower than his face, the ogling that he had been doing all night but still, it meant nothing. The bastard was a notorious ladies man, a womaniser and all of Central knew it, there was no way he would choose Ed, he had come to live with that.

“You are the one for me
I am the man for you
You were made for me
You’re my ecstasy
If I was given every opportunity
Id kill for your love”

Roy’s voice wasn’t all that bad, it was kind of soothing and coupled with the drinks he’d had Ed was starting to feel rather mellow. He smiled sadly, memories of better times flashing behind his eyes. He downed what was left of his drink and finally turned to see who Roy was singing at, sure it would be a blonde of some kind.

“So take a chance with me
Let me romance with you
I’m caught in a dream
And my dreams come true
It’s so hard to believe
This is happening to me
An amazing feeling
Coming through –“

Ed lifted his head once he was facing in the right direction and his breath caught in his throat as his golden eyes locked with black. Roy was definitely singing to a blond just not the kind of blonde Ed was expecting. Roy didn’t even blink, his black eyes just holding Ed and not letting him move. The words swam over him and he felt like he was drowning in them. He realised that he had stopped breathing and slowly took a breath, never breaking the connection.

“I was born to love you
With every single beat of my heart
Yes, I was born to take care of you
Every single day of my life”

Ed almost couldn’t believe this was happening, surely he was just drunk and imagining it. Even the thought that this whole night had been a dream seemed more plausible than ‘The’ Roy Mustang singing to him about his love. He tried to look away, tried to look anywhere but into those black depths but he just couldn’t pull away. Roy’s eyes were like black holes and he was being drawn closer in by their gravitational pull.

“I wanna love you
I love every little thing about you
I wanna love you, love you, love you
Born - to love you
Born - to love you
Yes I was born to love you
Born - to love you
Born - to love you
Every single day - of my life”

Ed felt himself stand, it was like he was a puppet and Roy was holding the strings. He stepped forward towards those black holes, slowly pushing his way through the crowd that had gathered around Roy. So it wasn’t just him who thought Roy’s voice was rather nice. In his peripheral vision he could see the women from the office swooning over him, like they were at a concert and the bastard was some huge pop idol. It was almost enough to stop him in his tracks but his body still moved forward as if thinking on its own.

“An amazing feeling
Comin’ through
I was born to love you
With every single beat of my heart
Yes, I was born to take care of you
Every single day of my life
Yes I was born to love you
Every single day of my life”

He was so close to Roy now he could almost reach out and touch him. His body suddenly froze, what was he going to do next? Yes he had reached Roy but that made no difference to anything. It wasn’t like he could just jump the man and plant one on him like Sheska had done earlier. Roy was his superior officer, not to mention another man, what would his friends think?

Those eyes had him trapped, there was no way he could pull away and yet he couldn’t move forward either. He was stuck between decision and indecision not quite sure where to turn. His body was telling him to go for it, just kiss the man and see where it would lead but his head was holding him back. The internal debate raged on, each side shouting out their grievances inside his head, each determined to be victorious, each making his headache worse.

“Go, I love you babe
Yes, I was born to love you
I wanna love you, love you, love you
I wanna love you
I get so lonely, lonely, lonely
Yeah, I want to love you
Yeah, give it to me”

Ed cut his head off mid argument, his heart and body had won. He took another step towards Roy just as the last line was sung, determination clear on his face. He would know Roy’s feelings by the end of this either way. It was now or never, the man he might, sorta, maybe love was in front of him and he was going to show him how he felt.

Just one more step and he would be within reach, Roy had looked away to lay the mic down and Ed was finally released from those eyes but it didn’t stop his forward journey. Almost there and…something was in his way, blocking his path. Ed blinked in confusion, just a moment ago three had been a dark haired, black eyed man before him, now there was a blonde girl holding a wrench and some papers.

The confusion quickly passed and Ed gulped, this meant that it was time and he was really not ready for that. He was pretty sure that he hadn’t drunk enough yet, after all, he could still think quite clearly and rationally and his rationally thinking brain was telling him to run like hell in the opposite direction. Something glinted in the corner of his eye and he remembered the wrench and how good of a shot Winry had become with it. There really was no escape.

“Ed” Winry said all high pitched and pleasant. “We need to go over the notes for your song”.

“Notes? There are notes for this song? Why?” Panic was starting to creep into his voice, surely all that was required was for Winry to tell him the embarrassing song he was singing and then for him to sing it.

“Well, for your performance silly” Winry’s tone of voice made it clear that she thought the reason for the notes was obvious, at least to everyone that wasn’t Edward Elric.

“I’m not doing a performance. I’m just singing a song.”

“Not if you want to keep yourself and your brother in one piece you’re not” Ed was right, she was a witch. The most evil and diabolical of them all. There was no way any normal person would have sounded that…nice saying that line. Winry handed him the sheets of paper that he had seen her scribbling earlier that night. As his scanned them the blood seemed to drain from his face and he began to look almost white.

“You can’t be serious” he asked in a near whisper, his voice having run away in terror.

“Oh but I am Edward. I think it will be really good and I’m sure you’ll do a great job” smiling, Winry turned and walked away stopping after a few steps to call over her shoulder. “You have 10 minutes and then you’re up” and with that she headed back to other wicked sisters.

“I should have let her hit Al” Ed sighed as he lowered his head to rest on his chest and closed his eyes. “He so owes me for this” and with that he lifted his head and turned back to the bar, he needed another drink or three and he needed to go through these notes. In 10 minutes, it was going to get very interesting in here.