[He watches his brother in silence, listens to his words and stays quiet as the younger Elric closes in on himself.

But, then there are those tears. The tears his brother is fighting back, and instead of the mall he's thinking about their bedroom. About the night that he'd complicated Al's life by admitting his feelings, and he could feel his chest ache the same as it had that night. The willingness to do anything to stop Alex from hurting, to not be a source of his pain. This was all his fault.

So when he sees his brother fighting off tears, choking on his words. It has to be a dream, because otherwise...

Otherwise- Al's going to go running out of his life again. He didn't know how long it had been for his brother, but he didn't sound like someone that hadn't seen Ed in a long time.

For Edward it was years, years since he wound up here after Al ran out of the mall on him. And in his mind he was already seeing him do it, again. He could already see Alex scrape the chair back and dart out once more into the snow-

but things were different here. Alex didn't have a home to run off to this time.

So Ed clears his throat, before his brother can find the words to finish that thought. Voice soft, like he didn't know how to use it anymore. Trying so hard not to look as wretchedly pathetic as he felt. One more time.]

Al... Let me help you get set up. I'll help you find a place to stay, make sure you're safe. It- might be a long time before we can go home... Then- if you don't ever want to see me again, I'll leave.

Just don't- try to take all this on by yourself. Please, Al. You never have to see me again if you don't want to, just- let me help you first.