‘How could I have been so stupid?’ Ken whispered. He touched his cheek tenderly where he had hit the table. It was still very sore. Ken was sure it had bruised.

He bowed his head, hidden beneath his hood, and began to cry silently.

How could my family do that to me? How could they disown me so easily…I thought they loved me……?

And then he thought back to his stupid dreams.

‘That wasn’t what I wanted at all…’ he mumbled, ‘I just…thought it was…because my parents made me believe so…’

I can’t believe I was so stupid.

Ken raised his head then, hearing a strange tune sung on familiar lips. He saw Mustang sauntering his way, singing the tune from Loituma and spinning a leek in his hand.

Ken lowered the hood further over his head, slipping his hands in his pockets and sitting back on the bench, trying his best to remain invisible.

Oh please…of all the people… he gritted his teeth. Why him…?

He saw as Mustang walked by him, he didn’t see as Mustang’s attention lingered on him for the briefest moment before moving on, continuing to spin the leek in his hand and sing.

Strange song.

Ken huffed to himself, closing his eyes and resting. He thought he might stay here for a while. There was after all, nowhere else for him to go.

Maybe my family will look for me he thought. Maybe they're worried…maybe.

It was many hours he stayed there. The night’s chill was setting in; Ken could feel its touch creeping into his bones, reaching as far as the very organs in his body.

He sighed deeply, his breath appearing as a fog before him. His fingers in his pockets felt frozen, and he shivered violently.

Oh gods he thought miserably. It’s so cold…

And then a dark thought reached him.

What if I fall asleep and die in the cold?

And then an even darker thought occurred to him.

Would my family care?

He heard a noise then. Ken raised his head slightly, heart jolting as he recognised Mustang coming his way again from the other way this time. This was the path to his home Ken realised. Of course he’d come this way.

Ken bowed his head again, pulling his hood tighter and willing himself to be invisible again, willing Mustang to ignore him again. But as before, Mustang’s attention lingered on Ken again, only this time in his drunken state, he tripped just as he was passing him, landing ungracefully on his face.

Ken stared down at him in surprise. He didn’t look away as Mustang turned his head up to him, recognition flickered across his face.

‘Ken!’ he sang jovially. ‘Is that you?!’

Ken’s heart sank in his chest as he turned his head away. But by then it was far too late.

‘Hey’ Mustang said tenderly, rising to his feet and lowering Ken’s hood with both hands to see his face.

Ken looked up at him.

‘Ken?’ Mustang said with concern. ‘Have you been crying?’

Ken had been crying for hours, so long that his tears had dried up. But his eyes were still red.

‘What happened?’ Mustang asked tenderly, withdrawing his hands.

‘Why do you care?’ Ken snapped angrily turning away.

‘Because…’ Mustang said, kneeling before him. ‘I care about you.’

Ken could not stifle his sob at that, biting his tongue hard to control himself, awash with emotion.

‘Ken…’

He leant forward suddenly, hugging Mustang tightly, grasping him hard as if he might lose him forever if he let go.

‘Mustang…’ he sobbed. ‘I’m sorry…’

‘You're freezing cold’ Mustang said with concern.

Ken couldn’t feel his fingers as he held onto Mustang, eyes wide and bloodshot.

‘Did your family throw you out?’

Ken began to cry again as the pain cut into him, the way his family had so easily disowned him because of something like this.

How could they do this to me? How could they?

Ken clung onto Mustang tighter.

I thought they loved me…

‘Come on’ Mustang spoke softly looking into his face. ‘You can stay with me until you sort this out with your family.’

He rose to his feet, holding onto Ken’s hands and pulling him into a stand.

‘This might be a stupid question’ Mustang began, walking with his arm around Ken in order to keep him warm, ‘but do you have any stuff?’

Ken shivered violently in Mustang’s grip. Normally he would have actively protested at being so close to him, but his mind was a swirling mess right now, and he couldn’t think clearly, and he was freezing.

‘N-no’ Ken stuttered. ‘I've only got what I'm wearing.’

‘That’s ok’ Mustang whispered. ‘I’ll sort stuff out.’

They walked for a short time, they entered Mustang’s apartment and Mustang closed the door after them. Ken shivered on the doorstep as Mustang took his shoes off.

‘Come on’ Mustang said ushering him into the next room. ‘You have to have a hot shower now to warm you up. You're freezing cold.’

He led Ken towards the bathroom and shoved him in.

‘You can use my robe at the back of the door’ Mustang told him. ‘I'm just going out for a while. I’ll be back in about an hour or so.’ He paused. ‘You can work out how to use the shower yourself.’

He snapped the door shut and Ken was left alone.

He listened to the sound of receding footsteps, then the sound of the front door slamming shut, then silence.

Ken let out a heavy sigh, wondering in his head how on earth he had come to this situation.

Staying at Mustang’s place…of all things….

He pulled his hoodie over his head and began to undress, stepping into the shower and turning on the water.

It felt strange against his skin at first, his body was so cold. It took several minutes for his body to heat up; the water at first scolded him, though it wasn’t that hot.

When he had finished, he took the bathrobe that hung at the back of the door and put it on.

He left the bathroom, and began to wander the rest of the apartment. Mustang wasn’t back yet, and the place was eerily quiet around him.

Ken began to look around.

It was a nice apartment, simple, though a little bigger than the one his parents had. Ken came to the mantelpiece where there were pictures.

Ken reached towards one of them, picking it up and gazing down at it. The picture was several years old, the boy in it was younger; the hair was different. But there was no mistake, this was Mustang, but his hair wasn’t bright red, but black, most likely its natural colour.

Ken looked to the other figures in the picture. There was a couple standing behind him who must have been his parents, and a girl younger than him in the picture beside him.

His sister?

Ken stared at her face. Yes, this was defiantly his sister. They shared the same features.

The front door opened then and Ken turned, waiting nervously for a figure to appear. He relaxed slightly when he saw that it was Mustang.

‘I thought that might be one of your family’ Ken sighed as Mustang sauntered into the room. ‘It would be awkward to explain to them why I'm here.’

‘I live here alone’ Mustang told him. ‘My family don’t come here. I told you that.’

Mustang approached him, handing him a plastic bag.

‘Here’ he said pressing it into his chest. ‘It’s for you.’

‘What's this?’ Ken asked nervously.

‘Open it and see.’

Ken did so, feeling slightly nervous as Mustang watched him.

‘A toothbrush’ Ken said flatly pulling it out of the bag. ‘And toothpaste.’

There was also a towel in there, socks, jeans and a few shirts.

‘This is for me?’ Ken asked in surprise.

‘Yeah’ Mustang said. ‘Sorry I didn’t buy you any pants. I thought that might be a bit weird.’ He smirked. ‘Looks like you're going to have to go commando. Don’t worry’ he added. ‘I do it all the time.’ He paused then. ‘On second thoughts…maybe you can wear my pants.’

‘The only shop that’s open all night’ Ken said slowly, ignoring what he had said, ‘is the one on the other side of town.’ He looked up. ‘You went all the way there for me?’

‘Yeah.’

‘But why?’

‘Because you needed me to.’

Tears came to his eyes again. Ken dropped the bag on the floor, lifting his arms around Mustang and hugging him.

‘Thank you’ he whispered. ‘Thank you.’

‘Hey’ Mustang smirked, patting him on the back. ‘It’s ok.’ He pushed him away gently. ‘I never knew you were so soppy.’

‘I'm sorry’ Ken uttered, shoulders beginning to tremble. ‘It’s just…been so hard lately.’

He flinched then as Mustang brushed his cheek suddenly, becoming very silent.

Ken raised his head, eyes wide and teary.

Mustang caressed his cheek tenderly, running his thumb across Ken’s lower lip.

‘Ken….’ He whispered.

Mustang bowed his head. Ken drew a slow intake of breath as Mustang moved closer, lips hovering over his.

‘No!’ Ken spoke sharply, pressing a firm hand to Mustang’s chest and holding him back. ‘Don’t…’ he whispered.

‘I'm sorry’ Mustang mumbled, taking a step back. ‘I won’t if you don’t want me to.’

He turned away.

‘Come with me. I’ll show you to your room.’

Ken trailed after him, pausing to go back for the bag he had dropped before following him.

Mustang’s apartment was small, but it was comfortable. There were three bedrooms.

‘You can have this one’ Mustang said pausing at one of them. ‘It was supposed to be mine, but I use to master bedroom. The bed’s bigger.’

Ken hovered in the doorway, gazing into the dim room. Mustang reached for the switch at the wall and turned the light on. Inside Ken saw a small room with a bed and a bedside table beside it. There were a few pictures on the wall of generic nature scenes, and some ornamental vases with twisted branches coming out of the top. It looked pleasant in the room, but it was clear at a glance that no one stayed here. It had that ‘empty’ feeling about it.

‘This is your room?’ Ken mumbled.

‘It was’ Mustang replied. ‘I stay in that room now’ he pointed to a door on the other side of the corridor. ‘If you want me…just knock…no’ he corrected himself with a smirk. ‘Just come in.’

‘Thank you’ Ken said not looking at him. ‘This is very kind of you. I don’t know how I can repay you.’

Mustang hesitated; then smiled.

‘I’ll see you in the morning then’ he said to Ken, turning away and heading towards the master bedroom.

Ken watched him go, watched Mustang close the door, and listened to the following silence, before facing ahead again.

He stepped forward into the unfamiliar room, closing the door behind him quietly.

There were no windows in the room, the only light came from the bulb above him.

Ken placed the bag he carried on the floor, lying on his side on the bed without changing, hugging the pillow to him.

Are my family worried about me? He thought miserably to himself. Are they thinking about me?

He sighed then, turning his head into the bed and closing his eyes.

‘I’ll talk to them in the morning’ he mumbled hopefully. ‘After college.’

*

Ken went to college the next day, carrying with him what little he had, the same clothes from the night before, his mobile and some money, but nothing else. He had left everything behind at home.

He told some of his friends what had happened, and they tried to comfort him, encouraging him, telling him everything would be alright, and that his family would forgive and accept him.

Ken began to believe their words, but when he went home later that day, he found his family refused to even speak to him, none of them, not even his siblings.

A box had been left outside the house, inside it were some of Ken’s belongings, his clothes and shoes and hair and toothbrush. Ken tried to enter the house, banging on the doors and windows, but he was ignored, and the house was locked.

Eventually Ken gave up. Instead, he took the box, and carried it away.

*

He went back to Mustang’s apartment after that, entering without invitation, and going to the bed he had slept on the night before, dumping the box in the corridor along the way.

He lay there now, resting on his side and crying into the pillow he hugged to him.

So caught up was he in his misery and grief, he did not hear Mustang enter the apartment, nor did he hear him stepping through the corridor; then enter the room.

He only realised his presence, when Mustang touched his arm, leaning over him with an expression of concern.

Ken rolled over, gazing up through teary eyes.

Mustang drew his hand back.

‘What am I going to do?’ Ken pleaded. ‘My family…they have rejected me.’

‘It’s alright’ Mustang spoke soothingly, doing so with sincerity that Ken thought incapable of one so carefree. ‘You can stay here, for as long as you want.’

‘But…’ Ken whispered, ‘you won’t mind having me here?’

‘No’ Mustang replied quietly. ‘You can stay here forever if you wish.’

Ken let out a sob, sitting up and embracing Mustang.

Mustang bowed his head, holding Ken back.