First off I want to apologize for the lengthy time between updated. I had my baby the day after my birthday and between getting situated with her and back to work (not to mention the TON TON TON TON of stress my job is causing me) I have found little time to work on this story. I won't abandon this like I had when I was younger it might just take me longer between updates to get things out! I'm so sorry! Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA… sad for me lol

Title: A New College Life

Pairing: Roy x Ed

Summary: Ed leaves his family in Risembol to enter a college in Central City where he learns to become a science major. While in Central City he meets his new friends and starts something new. Unfortunately, with new friends comes new feelings and some things are sometimes best hidden from families.

Chapter Nineteen

Ed stood outside the door to his apartment. Inside Al and his mom were getting settled but he just couldn't stay in with them. His mind was racing with the information that he was given back home by the doctor. His mom had to have known. There was no way that she couldn't have known. He leaned against the wall next to the door and slid down to sit on the floor. With his face in his hands he took a deep breath.

"What am I gonna do?" He asked himself with a small shake of his head. Reaching down, he pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Roy's number.

Mustang.

"Roy…" Ed tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to escape.

Ed, what's wrong?

He could hear the urgency in Roy's voice come through the phone. "I'm back in Central."

What happened? Are you okay?

"I'm okay…" He paused for a moment and wiped his runny nose on his sleeve. "I have mom and Al with me."

Ed…

"Mom's sick, Roy, she's really sick." This time he couldn't hide the gasp of air he took when he said those words into the phone. "I don't know what to do… I don't…"

I'm coming over.

Ed heard the beeping of the phone as Roy hung up. It wouldn't take long for him to get there. Not when he heard how upset Ed was over the phone. He had tried to hide it but Roy was good at picking up his emotions when he didn't want them to be known. Ae he sat outside of his door, he could hear Al and his mom talking inside about different things. He brought his knees up to his chest, wrapped his arms around them and laid his head down. It felt like a lifetime before he had an arm wrapped around him pulling him close.

"Everything will be alright," Roy said before kissing the top of Ed's head. "I'm right here now."

The blond didn't respond verbally, he turned his head and buried his face into Roy's side. He wanted to wake up and this all be a dream. This wasn't what he wanted. All he wanted was a good visit at home with his family.

"What am I going to do?" His voice was muffled by Roy's clothing. "What do I do now?"

Roy's squeezed Ed's shoulder and pulled him a bit closer. "Right now, you cry however long you want," he responded with a small smile. "Then we go into the apartment and take care of your family. I'll be here along the way with you no matter what you need."

They sat outside for a while before Ed was able to calm himself down enough to sit up and wipe off his face. He leaned against the wall, took a deep breath and felt Roy link his fingers in his own.

"Let's go inside and see how they're doing," Roy said with a small smile as he stood and pulled Ed up with him. "No matter what happens being with your family is important."

"Roy…" Ed paused and stopped him from entering the apartment. "About moving in…"

The other smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "We can worry about that later okay?"

They entered the apartment together and helped Al and Trisha finish with their unpacking. The rest of the day was solemn for Ed. He tried not to show it but he knew that this was something that he wasn't going to be able to hide forever. His mom and Al had probably already picked up on his feelings. He wasn't sure how much Al already knew about their mom's health but he knew that he had to be strong for the two of them. As the older brother he had to make sure that he took care of them and made sure that when the time came he was there for his brother.

Two weeks passed before Trisha's first doctor's appointment in Central. Ed had returned to work and school, trying to keep things as normal as possible. Al was studying as well just having home courses instead to help out with the apartment. Roy was over a lot to help out as well. Some nights Ed would stay over at Roy's place and others they would stay at Ed's if they were able.

The three of them sat in the waiting room at the doctor's office. Trisha quietly read a magazine while Al people watched.

Ed stared at the key on his keychain. After Roy asked him to move, Ed had gone home to see his family and yet he still hasn't replied to him. He knew that Roy was patiently waiting, not pushing Ed because of the weight that was now on his shoulders.

"What's that?"

He looked up and saw his brother leaning over a bit.

Turning back, Ed smiled a bit. "Before I came home and brought you guys back here Roy asked me to move in with him," he explained, closing his hand around the key and leaning back on his chair. "I haven't answered him yet because of everything that's been going on with us."

Nodding, Al glanced over to their mom. "I think you should do it," he stated as he turned back.

"I can't…" Sighing, he shook his head. "Not right now, anyway."

"Why not?"

"Mom's sick."

"I don't think she wants you to halt your life because she is sick," Al said with a smile. "You'll be close and it's not like he lives that far away. We can take care of mom and everything will be okay."

"Maybe one day but right now I just want to focus on seeing what we can do to help her."

"Trisha Elric." A nurse called.

The three stood and follow the nurse back into the exam room. After the normal weight check, the blood pressure and routine questions from the nurse it wasn't long before the doctor entered the room for the exam.

"My name is Dr. Moore." He shook each of their hands and then sat on his stool in front of Trisha. "I have read the reports from your physician in Risembol and I'm surprised that you waited this long to come see a specialist. Is there any reason why you waited?"

Trisha was quiet for a moment before she shook her head. "I didn't want my boys to worry," she stated with a small smile. "I still want to take care of my boys."

"Mom…"

"Ma'am, you need to take care of yourself," the doctor stated with a small sigh. "Your boys want you around as much as you want to be around but that will only happen if you take care of yourself. Now," he paused and opened the file that he had been holding. "I'm not sure how much the other doctor has explained to you about your disease."

"Honestly, I don't think he ever really said," she replied, shaking her head. "I was so stubborn that I didn't want to hear it."

"Well, you have from what the doctor sent me," Moore said as he took a paper from the folder and handed it to her. "Breast cancer. It is treatable and can go into remission unfortunately the masses that he was able to view for you have gotten much larger in the past few months. We will have to run a few tests to see exactly how advanced your cancer is to be able to treat." He took a deep breath. "Depending on the results it may end up being a more aggressive treatment than someone who might've come in at the first sign of something wrong."

Trisha nodded. She could hear Al stifling his cries behind her.

"What do we do now?" Ed asked from his spot next to the closed door.

"The next step is to do biopsies on the lumps that he saw and a CT Scan to see if this has metastasized. I'll have one of the ladies come in so that we can get you set up for these tests and then we will see you after that to write up a treatment plan," Moore advised as he wrote few notes in her file. "I really hope that this comes back as an easy treatment for you, Ms. Elric. Your boys love you so let them help to take care of you like you did when they were little, alright?"

Trisha glanced back at boys and nodded. "Of course."

With that the doctor left them in the room to absorb the information that was just provided to them.

"Mom, why?" Al asked with tears in his eyes. "Why did you hide this?"

"Al, sweetie, sometimes parents hide things from their kids because they don't want them to worry," she said before standing up to move next to him. Wrapping her arms around him, she continued. "I'm your mother and what makes me happy is being able to take care of you guys and seeing you happy. I didn't want to ruin that by telling you that I was sick."

"We'll take care of you, mom, just like the doc said." Ed pushed himself from the wall and moved over to stand in front of the two of them. "We will be happy to take care of you."

"Your schooling?"

"I'll be fine."

A knock on the door and the nurse entered. "Ms. Elric, let's get this set up for you, okay?"

The tests were scheduled and the CT scan was in place in just a few minutes after the appointment. In the next few weeks a lot of stress was going to be put on Ed's shoulders. Between this and Roy still waiting for an answer, his mind was really only focusing on making sure that his mom was taken care of. It was going to be a long month ahead of them.

Roy's words popped into his head as he thought about this. "I'll be here along the way." He hoped that it was true and that he would be able to help him through his. His mind wasn't mentally prepared to take the bad news if something happened to his mom now. He had to take care of her and Al. He had to.

"Ed, sweetie, let's go home."

"Yes, mom." He followed his mom from the doctor's office and they headed home. At least maybe they could enjoy the little time they had when they weren't thinking of her disease when she was feeling better.

TBC…

AN: Thank you for being patient with me! Like I said in the beginning of the chapter I will try my best to have the chapters out for you. Having a baby is a lot of work but I love her so much! Please review!