Edward leaned in closer to catch each word.
"N-No Winry! Please, don't!" It was his brother, Al.
Winry giggled. "But you're so hot in your new body…" She trailed off and made a slurping noise.
Ed's face reddened. What were they doing in there?
"Winry, I don't want to! Please stop!" Al pleaded.
"I know you want to, Al. Ever since you were little." She said menacingly.
"That's not true!" He cried. A loud thump rattled the ground. "Ow!" Al said. "What was that for?"
"I like you better on the floor." She meowed and Ed heard another thump.
"Winry! Get off me!" Edward heard a zip. He gasped silently. "What Are you doing? Stop—" His next words were muffled.
Ed threw open the door. "What the hell are you doing to my little brother? No means no, Winry!"
Al and Winry stared at each other… From different sides of the room? The two burst out laughing.
"You? You believed that?" Al said between giggles.
They were each in tears then, holding their stomachs. "Edward, you are so gullible!" Winry added. She held her hand up and Al high-fived it.
"The look on your face? Classic! Man, I wish I'd had my camera." Al's laughter died down when he saw the expression on his brother's face. Sad, hurt, broken… "Brother, it was just a joke!"
"A sick, twisted, cruel one." Ed closed the discussion and left the room down the stairs.
"What's his problem?" Winry scoffed.
"Shut up, Winry." Al got up and followed his brother.
She gasped inwardly. Al was the most kind hearted person she knew, and for him to say that? Unspeakable. "You still owe me 300 cenz!"
Edward lay in bed that night wondering why the hell they would do that. What brought that on? Were they just doing it get a sick kick of seeing his pain? Or were they just messing around? Did they think it would be funny? Did they know it would hurt him this much?
Ed didn't know the answers to these questions and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. What am I saying? Of course I want to know!
He sat up and looked around the room he was in. Alphonse wasn't in his usual spot in the bed across from him. It was getting late and he hadn't seen Al since he fled from Winry's room. Al had tried to follow him, but he made a tunnel deep beneath the Earth to hide himself.
Edward stepped into the hall and stopped in front of Winry's room. "I think we went too far this time." It was Al. Ed had learned his lesson on eavesdropping, but this sounded important. "He looked really hurt. You think we should apologize?"
"Of course we will, but not now. He's probably sleeping. Speaking of which, you should be too." Winry replied.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, goodnight Winry." Al slipped off her bed and headed for the door.
"Night, Al." She said.
Oh, shit! Edward thought. He raced from the door and across the hall. He jumped and violently collided with the wall, completely missing the bed and ending up on the floor. "Ow…" He sat up and crawled the rest of the way, his head throbbing.
"Brother? Are you alright?" Al asked quietly. He walked over to his halfway-in-bed elder, one knee on the floor, the other on the mattress. Al brushed the hair out of his face and continued to stare at Edward.
"Err… Yeah, I'm fine. I, uh, just fell out of bed. That's all." He hefted himself from the floor and pulled the covers over him.
"Sure." Al said simply, his eyes boring holes into Ed's. "Don't lie to me, Edward Elric! I know when you're lying!"
"Geez, Al. You sound like Mom." As soon as these words slipped out, he regretted them. Al's face softened as he whimpered. Even after all these years, their mother's death still felt like a fresh wound. "I didn't mean it, Al." He said. "Aw, stop crying!" Edward sighed. "Come here." He opened his arms.
Al sat next to his brother and leaned into his shoulder, burying his face into the soft fabric. Ed wrapped his arms around him and rested his chin on the top of his head. Al slipped his arms around his waist and held tightly as tears flowed down his cheeks. Ed even felt his own eyes betraying him, the tears threatening to spill over.
They stayed silent apart for the occasional sob from Al, and they just sat there holding each other. Edward didn't mind and Al needed it. He hadn't had a good cry in so long, his mother just sent the spark to every bomb he had held back.
After a few minutes, Al spoke. "I'm sorry brother."
"Hey, don't worry about it. We all need to let it out once in a while." Ed smiled even though Al couldn't see it.
"No, not that." Al said.
"Oh, well don't worry about that either. It was just a joke, right?" Ed stroked his brother's hair comfortingly. He hated to see him cry. It was like someone kicked a puppy. A sad, sad puppy who had already lost everything and you're just adding insult to injury.
Al sniffled and looked up to meet his brother's eyes. The warm gold still burned in the dead of night. He laughed.
"What's so funny?" It was a nice change of pace from the crying, but laughing?
"It's just that, no matter where we are or what we've been through, your eyes still hold a fire. Pure determination and passion." Al explained. "I truly admire that about you, brother. You never give up. Even if the odds are stacked against you, you'll die trying."
Ed grinned. "Y'know, that means a lot to me."
Al returned the gesture and pulled him into another hug before climbing into his own bed.
Edward stared at the ceiling and thought aloud. "Why would you guys do that?"
Al rolled over to face his brother. "You said it yourself, it was just a joke. Why do you care, Ed? It wasn't real, so don't worry about it."
"He sighed. "Alright, but if something like that were to really happen, you'd tell me right?" Ed propped himself up on his elbow.
"Yeah… Maybe." Al teased.
"What?" Ed's eyes got wide.
Al laughed. "Of course I'd tell you! I tell you everything!" His brother really was gullible.
"Heh, like that one time when you—"
"We're not going to talk about that!"
A knock interrupted them. "It's Winry, can I come in?"
"Yeah, we're decent." Al was glad he didn't have to relive what his brother had mentioned.
"H'yeah, not for long, my little seductress." Edward scoffed. He was still pretty pissed.
Alphonse blushed. Winry stepped in nervously. She walked over and sat at the foot of Edward's bed. "Listen, um, I'm sorry about earlier."
Ed huffed.
"We didn't mean anything by it. It was a joke, nothing more." She said softly.
"Pretty damn convincing on your part." Ed gave her the evil eye.
"I'm sorry. Do you forgive me?" She gave him a pleading look.
Ed thought for a moment. "Ehh, I guess so."
Winry nodded and got up to leave. As she was closing the door, she poked her head back in. "Besides, I was saving my virginity for you." She winked and closed the door.
Both brothers stared at each other, dumbfounded. "Did she just say what I thought she said?" Ed asked.
"Uh-huh." Al replied, still in shock.
They turned their gaze to the door, then back at each other. A huge grin spread across Ed's face. "Yes!" He shot his fist in the air.
Al rolled over furiously, pretending to be mad. For he knew Winry was only kidding. They had decided she would say that just to give Ed an ego boost. But in reality, she really didn't know who she wanted her first to be. Al could let his brother think what he wanted to for now. But in the end, he hoped Winry would choose him.
When Al woke up the next morning, he saw that Edward was still smiling in his sleep. Hm, I wonder what he's dreaming about… Oh god!