It was autumn in Resembool. The small town wasn't known for being very remarkable on the best of days, but even Edward had to admit it could be strikingly beautiful at this time of year. The rows of trees that lined the dirt paths throughout the pastures had turned from green to more pleasing reds. Their leaves, torn from branches by the winds, floated through the air and littered the ground, where they glistened with sun lit dew drops. Temperatures grew cool enough for the moisture to mist over the rolling hills, and the sprawling farms were abundant with fruits and vegetables, ready for harvest.

Yup, it was a beautiful autumn day in Resembool. And Edward Elric was fucking pissed.

He wasn't above showing it either. He stood at the edge of Farmer Heiner's pumpkin patch with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. His current struggle was resisting the urge to let his frustrations out on his brother, who was in an annoyingly cheerful mood. The rational part of Edward knew none of the mornings' events were Al's fault, but standing in the cold watching his brother mull over pumpkins was testing his patience.

"Just pick one already! We've been here for ages!" he finally snapped.

Alphonse, who had been aware of his brother's temper since it had flared up that morning, chose to ignore him and lifted another pumpkin. He sniffed it, held it up to his ear and shook it slightly. Farmer Heiner was starting to look visibly perturbed at the mishandling.

"Granny said the smaller ones would work better for pie – said they were sweeter," Al explained. "But you don't want to go too small you know? I just need to find the right balance – "

"I'm freezing my ass off standing here. They all look fine." He was cold, that was the truth, but Edward had another reason for wanting to get the hell out of the pumpkin patch and he hoped Al was too distracted to notice. Try as he might, he could not fight the urge to keep glancing up the dirt path that ran next to the farm. His stomach clenched every time he did so, in anticipation that at any given moment he would see someone with a long mane of blond hair come up over the hill.

"Leave with an inferior pumpkin just so you can go mope somewhere else?" Al asked, putting what Edward suspected was the millionth pumpkin down in his reject pile. "I don't think so."

"I am not moping!" Edward insisted at the same time the pumpkin farmer said, "None of them are inferior!"

"I just – I haven't had pumpkin pie since, well you know…" Al trailed off, looking at his brother with shining eyes that made Edward's stomach flip. He knew what his brother was doing – any reminder that he had a fully functioning body again and could touch, smell, and taste tended to make Edward's chest swell with enough happiness to momentarily forget his troubles. Al was well aware of this effect and used it to his advantage often. He tended to bring it up whenever he felt Edward needed his spirits lifted, or whenever he was being an irritating ass.

Edward glared at his brother, but this time it was more for show than actual disapproval. He unclenched his hands and let them fall to his sides.

If Al wanted the best damn pumpkin in the patch for the best pie, then Edward sure as hell could suffer through a little cold and maybe even an awkward run in with Winry. It had been no secret that food had become his brother's favourite thing to indulge in ever since he had gotten his body back, and he had been talking about pumpkin pie ever since the first autumn leaf fell. Edward felt like an ass.

"It's fine," he said quickly, feeling ashamed at his outburst. "Take your time. But I'm not moping."

"Sure brother," Al rolled his eyes and grabbed another pumpkin. "You might as well hope I take my time, because after I find one I like, I'm going to find out what happened between you and Winry this morning."

The temporary calm vanished in a flash and Edward felt his face grow hot. "Nothing happened between me and Winry! What are you even going on about?!" His fists clenched again, nails digging into his palms.

"I'll take this one," Al finally said to the farmer, who looked more than a little relieved. "And don't lie to me. You guys aren't exactly subtle about when you're mad at each other. What did you do?"

"Why are you assuming it's something I did?" Edward felt a stab of betrayal at his brother. "Because I did nothing because nothing happened. You have your stupid pumpkin now let's go."

"Okay, if nothing happened then why did Winry refuse to walk down to the festival with us?"

"She had to finish working on some automail thing before she could come down – you know how stupidly obsessed with her work she is."

"Well, why did you guys refuse to talk to each other at breakfast?"

"I was just tired. We don't have to talk every morning. Drop it."

"Then why did you storm down the hallway after slamming the workshop door shut before breakfast?"

"I – walk loud. Would you stop harping on this?! Why does it matter?!"

Al sighed. "Because the festival is going to be no fun with you two mad at each other. Come on – this is the first fall festival we are able to go to together since we were little, we have our bodies back, and we're having pumpkin pie tonight! I don't need this day to be ruined because you damaged your automail or something," Al flashed him a grin that Edward recognized as his teasing, but it still made him angry. He wished it had been about his automail.

When Edward didn't respond, Al added, "At least pretend not to be grumpy long enough to enjoy a candied apple or something. Aren't you excited to see me participate in the apple pie eating contest?"

A small smile escaped Edward at the thought, despite himself. "You're a moron," he told his brother. "You've barely started being able to stomach a full meal."

"So? Even if I come in last place I still get free pie! I doubt Mrs. Ingle's pies are as good as Winry's, but I'm sure they'll be delicious anyway." He laughed and Edward felt the weight on his chest lift slightly. It was fun talking to his brother about food again.

The two walked down the hill from the pumpkin patch to the festival grounds below where the dirt path widened and wound its way between rows of booths. Vendors lined both sides, crowded tightly together because of the sheer amount of them. Most were local farmers with the last of the fall harvest strewn across the wooden tables. Mounds of turnips, garlic, kale, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and squashes of every size and colour imaginable dominated the stands. A few vendors were selling things like cheeses, sausages, jams, fresh baked goods, or some other variety of home cooking. There were also a few tables with some arts and crafts, including lots of woolen goods - Resembool's specialty. Edward was suddenly reminded of old Mrs. Mirau's knitting booth from his youth. He kind of hoped she'd be here today. She tended to knit things like red hats with lightning bolts on them. Edward didn't care what Al had to say about it – they looked cool as hell.

A temporary stage had been set up near the path next to the town pub, leaving a clearing filled with chairs and picnic tables for those who wished to view the various contests held each year. It was where the pie eating contest would be held, along with extreme apple bobbing and the largest pumpkin championship.

A cornfield situated on the top of a hill marked the end of the festival grounds. Every year it was arranged into new rows that together formed an impossible maze. Edward, Al, and Winry had never been good at finding their way out of it in their youth, and usually had to resort to alchemy to escape (which Winry had always made a point to highly disapprove of, even though she always followed them anyway).

Edward let Al lead the way through the grounds, which meant pausing at a lot of the food booths. After watching him sample a pork sausage, three varieties of cheese, two fruit tarts, and some kettle corn, Edward had given up on trying to remind his brother that he had entered a pie eating contest.

By the time the two of them had run through the entire length of vendors, they were in possession of enough food to last the whole family three weeks, a new cart to carry it all back home, and an awesome scarf with a flaming sword on it. Edward could almost say he was back in a good mood, and even managed to laugh out loud when his brother joked about how on earth he was supposed to eat a whole pie now.

His amusement faded quickly when he finally saw her again. The sun on that striking wave of long blonde hair was enough to blind him. It whipped around in the steadily increasing winds as she stepped outside of the blue clothed fortune teller's tent.

"Oh boy," Al said from beside him as he noticed her too. "Remember what I said earlier? Whatever you two are mad about, can't it wait until after the festival?"

"It doesn't exactly work like that, Al," Edward snapped.

"It could if you two weren't so stubborn," Al replied tiredly. "Hey Winry! Over here!" he shouted, waving his arms about. Edward tried to grab the flailing limbs before it was too late, but had no such luck. He watched in dismay as she turned her head and spotted them.

Her pretty face broke into a smile, which confused and surprised Edward, because his face felt more like making a scowl. She waved back, as if she was happy to see them, and began to walk over. Edward's stomach tightened uncomfortably when he got a closer look at her. She was wearing a wool dress he didn't remember seeing on her before. It was a dark blue and tight around her waist. He tried to look as if he didn't notice how low the cut was in the front. She looked chilly, despite the stockings and the coat. He gave his head a little shake, trying to ward off the images of how they could both solved their problem of being too cold.

"Hi Al," she said brightly when she was close enough for them to hear her. "Ed," she added in a much quieter tone, nodding offhandedly in his direction, but choosing to ignore him otherwise. Edward tried to pretend that didn't sting a little. "Wow you guys managed to pick up a lot of stuff!" She moved over to the cart to eye their purchases while Al excitedly pointed to the perfect pumpkin he had picked out earlier.

Edward stood there awkwardly while Winry admired the pumpkin and Al told her about his predicament of not being able to resist all the food at the festival despite entering a pie eating contest. Edward wasn't sure what to do with himself, since he didn't feel like talking to her, so he took turns looking at the pair of them and looking at his shoes.

His glances at them gravitated mostly to her, despite himself. Her cheeks and nose were pink from the cold and Edward had to do a slight double take when he noticed her eyes were red rimmed. Was it the cold that could have done that? The brightness of the sun? He quickly looked back at his shoes, suddenly feeling that overwhelming sense of guilt he had been trying to cover with anger since this morning. Could she be more than just angry? Was she was hurt because of what he did?

Edward stood still and poker faced when he heard Al tell Winry that it was time for him to head off to the stage. Great. Stuck alone with Winry. That had turned out so goddamn well for him this morning. Al gave Edward a quick look before departing which Edward recognized as a warning to be nice and not do anything stupid, and then left without another word.

Don't do anything stupid. Right.

Edward's fingers were pressing so hard into his palms he wouldn't be surprised if the nails drew blood. Winry hadn't moved either.

"Should we – do you want to grab a seat?" he finally managed to choke out after a painful moment's silence.

Winry was still looking in the direction Al had disappeared off to and didn't turn around. But she gave a curt nod and said, "Yeah. Sure."

Edward led the way clumsily down the scattered rows of chairs and while Winry followed with a steady crunch of dying leaves. He took a seat in the front row and exhaled when she sat next to him. She was so uncharacteristically quiet it was unnerving him. She had chatted so animatedly last night about how excited she was to go to the festival with them. Now her demeanour was quiet and reserved. It was weird. He was used to seeing her emotions laid out on a platter in front of him. He couldn't read her now and it was driving him nuts.

He cleared his throat. "Wanna take bets now?" he asked her, and it came out squeakier than he liked.

"Bets?" she asked without looking at him and with a sort of glazed look on her face. He had the sinking realisation she wanted to talk about that morning, almost as badly as he didn't. "On Al? Or on whether or not you're going to just ignore what happened this morning?"

There it was.

She stared at him resolutely, her expression steady. Edward tried not to choke on his own spit. "What do you mean – nothing happened this morning!"

"Oh you know perfectly well what I mean," Winry said tiredly. She looked pointedly away from him. "And yes, you were clearly trying to do something this morning."

"No I wasn't!" he lied.

She glared back at him, like he was an idiot or something. God, he hated that look. Then she turned away again. "Fine! Forget I brought it up then! If you're going to be like that."

"Do you always have to be so cryptic?!"

"I'm not cryptic. You're just being dumb."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Arg – you can be so annoying sometimes - "

"Shhhhhhh!"

Edward's head snapped around to face an irritated woman who looked none too pleased at their loud bickering. He was about to tell her off when her gloved hand covered his mouth firmly and Winry leaned in and repeated, "Forget it. Al's on stage – I'm perfectly okay ignoring this morning for his sake. Alright?"

She removed her hand and turned back to the platform. Edward fought the urge to argue back. She was obviously not perfectly okay ignoring this morning and he knew that this wouldn't be the end of it from her. But he relented, if only for the peace.

They stayed frozen in their seats for a few seconds, and then she said something he did not expect at all.

"Just… next time – if you want to that is – next time just do it." she muttered.

"What?!"

"Next time, just do it," she repeated, with her face now resembling one of the radishes they had purchased. Her eyes avoided his.

Edward stared at her slightly dumbstruck for a second, hoping she would continue her train of thought. When she didn't elaborate, he mumbled, "Why do you have to be so confusing all the time?" more to himself than to her, and slumped down further into his seat.

"Am not," she muttered under her breath. "Idiot."

Her face was still red, probably from the embarrassment of being associated with him in front of a disapproving old hag. It took all of his resolve, but Edward ignored her last comment and tried his best to focus back on the show at hand. His brother had appeared on the stage, beaming at the crowd and waving at the two of them eagerly as he made his way to his seat. The pie in front of him was twice the size of his head, but his brother's composure didn't waver. He looked as enthusiastic as ever and the sight was enough to make Edward smile again. He nudged Winry and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"Bet you five cenz he only finishes a single piece of it and comes in last."

His heart leapt when he saw Winry grin back at him. "Bet you 10 cenz he throws up."

"You're on." They shook on it and then Edward settled back in his chair comfortably. They had fallen back into their normal routine easily enough. Maybe Winry was capable of ignoring the whole morning had happened.

As Edward had predicted, Al came in last place – managing to finish only one small piece of pie in the five minutes allotted and still looking considerably green after it (though nothing had come back up yet so if his luck held, Edward would be ten cenz richer by the end of the evening).

"It's still not as good as yours, Winry," Al said reassuringly to Winry after exiting the stage, and she smiled at the compliment. He placed the leftovers onto their cart, and slumped down next to it on the small amount of vacant space left before placing his head in his hands and letting out a moan. "I'm starting to think that maybe I shouldn't have done that."

"I tried warning you," Edward said. "You going to be okay?" hoping for his wallet's sake that he was.

Al groaned in response and Winry giggled.

"I heard you wanted me to make you a pumpkin pie tonight," Winry told him with a mischievous smile at Edward. "What do you think, Al?"

Al moaned again, "I'll be fine. I just need to sit here and not move for a few minutes."

They ended up sitting there with him for over half an hour. At Winry's insistence, they had at least managed to drag Al from the cart to one of the picnic tables set up for the next event. It was slightly more comfortable, and it was near enough to hear the band that was now playing on the stage the pie eating contestants had vacated. Pairs of people had congregated in front of the band and were dancing.

Edward wasn't a huge fan of the music, but it filled the silence between the three of them comfortably. Al was groaning with his face in his arms on the table, and Winry was absentmindedly playing with the rim of her cup of apple cider she had gotten in an attempt to ward off the cold. The wind steadily began to pick up and lifted the scarf Edward had bought himself and smacked her square in the face.

Winry laughed as she batted it away from her and Al tentatively lifted his head up from his arms so that he could see what caused the commotion.

"Is that a flaming sword?" she asked Edward, pulling the scarf towards her for a closer look and pulling Edward in as a result.

"Hey! Careful pulling that thing – I – yeah, what of it?"

"Nothing," she said, smiling, and turning to face him. Her face was so close. "It's very you," she explained.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Red and – "

"Tacky?" Al suggested.

Winry laughed again. "No! I mean – maybe - but I like it on you," she assured Edward.

Edward pulled the scarf out of her grip and leaned back to where the distance between them was comfortable again. His heart was thumping loudly in his chest and tried to ignore the similarity between this incident and this morning. Had that been a test or something? One that he'd failed again?

He dared a glance back towards her nervously, trying to see if he could gauge her expression. She wasn't looking at him though, and was sipping the cider again. Quiet fell over the table, and she gave him no obligation to reply. Soon after Edward was feeling restless again.

"Was the festival always this boring? Or did they just have more stuff when we were kids?"

"It hasn't changed too much," Winry replied. "They added more arts and crafts for the kids this year I think. The fortune teller's new too. Mrs. Potman thinks she's found a new calling reading palms."

"And what did she say was in your future?" Al asked from inside his folded arms.

"She told me to be prepared for disappointment today," Winry said and suddenly blushed.

"I'm sorry I disappointed you by not winning the contest then."

Winry smiled at Al. "Yes, that must have been it. You really let me down."

Al smiled back and the three of them were silent for a moment.

"Oh, you know what else is different?" Winry finally interjected. "Remember when you two thought it was a good idea to transmute the fireworks so that they exploded slime?"

"That was Edward's idea," Al corrected while Edward laughed at the memory.

"Whosever idea it was, you guys got the show cancelled for good. They haven't done a fireworks show since."

"What?!" Al exclaimed. "I had been looking forward to that!"

"I remember you crying because you got some of it on your dress," Edward said, poking her in the shoulder.

"It got in my hair too! It was days before I could get it all out!"

All three of them were laughing now. Al was the first to calm down, as excessive laughter was not good for his stomach in its present state. "I'm really disappointed to hear that it got cancelled," he said. "I really wanted to see it again."

"Is there anything else you wanted to see?" Winry asked.

"I think they're going to start the largest pumpkin contest soon," Al said, gesturing back to the stage. "I also wanted to do the corn maze again."

"What? No…" Edward protested. "We're just going to get lost in it like every other time."

"Well that's kind of the point."

Edward sighed. "Alright. If it's what you want," he said and Winry nodded enthusiastically.

The show started shortly, just as Al had promised and fortunately he was able to separate the giant pumpkins now being carted onto the stage from the idea of pumpkin pie and was able to enjoy the show without too much nausea.

"Should have asked Farmer Heiner for that one," Edward gestured as one of the last contestants hauled a pumpkin onto the stage that was as tall as Winry and as wide as Armstrong.

"You'd be gutting that one yourselves," Winry said, crossing her arms. "I would not clean out that thing, not even to make you a pie."

"Yeah you would," Edward teased.

Winry smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "Would not!"

"Whatever. I have to pee."

Edward left the two of them on the bench and strode off in the direction of the pub. As soon as he was out of earshot Winry turned to Al with wild eyes.

"Al. Why is your brother such an idiot!?" she demanded, slamming her fist into the wood of the picnic table.

Al's eyebrows rose up to his hairline. Responding to this question would be dangerous for him, and he didn't particularly want to be involved in Edward and Winry's mutual ridiculousness. He couldn't see a way out of this conversation though, and so responded reluctantly, "What did he do now?"

"Nothing!" Winry said, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "He never does anything! He just stands there awkwardly, then starts acting like I've caught on fire or something and avoids me and pretends that he didn't have to do anything and then – urg! I swear this is like the fiftieth time it's happened! What his problem -"

Al waited patiently while she ranted. Most of her thoughts would have made little sense to him if he was not agonizingly aware of the fact that she wanted in his brothers' pants. It wasn't something he liked to think about much if he could help it (though it was fun to tease Edward about when his brother was in one of his better moods).

"Is this about what happened this morning?" he asked, his curiosity peaked. If Edward wouldn't tell him, maybe Winry would.

"No! I mean, yeah, maybe. I don't – " Winry was looking very flustered.

"So… what exactly do you want him to do?" Al asked, knowing the answer and wondering what Winry would actually say.

"I don't – I don't know!" Winry blushed and avoided his eyes, crossing her arms in a huff. "I just – I mean you know him better than anyone. Do you think he – do you think he'd ever – argh. I'm not making any sense am I?"

Al smiled at her. "What you're saying makes no sense at all." She looked exasperated and he quickly continued, "But I know you pretty well too so I think I know what you mean."

She turned even redder. "So it's obvious right?" she asked in a small voice.

"Painfully."

"Well then why won't he – "

"Because he had no idea what he's doing," Al said reassuringly.

Winry let out a little unamused laugh. "Yeah, me neither…" Then she looked away from Al again, playing with the wooden splinters on the picnic table.

Al watched Farmer Heiner wave at the audience and drag his huge pumpkin off. Mrs. Holtz followed in his wake with a respectable rival. Reluctantly, he tore his eyes off the stage and back to his agitated friend.

"What I'm saying is, it might be at an inappropriate time, it might be in an unsuitable place, but he'll probably get over himself and do it eventually."

Winry exhaled out of her nose, still looking distressed.

"I'm sorry I'm bothering you about this," she mumbled. "I'm sure it's the last thing you want to think about today."

"Don't worry about it," Al assured and he meant it. "If there was anything I could do, I would. I don't want either of you to be miserable today. The fall festival should be full of nothing but happiness."

Winry smiled at that. "It is, Al," she insisted. "I'm sorry if I've been – I'm sorry if you've felt I've been unhappy today. I am – It's absolutely wonderful having you two back. It's just – it just sometimes feels weird and different. And – and it's not just the whole thing with Edward."

Al frowned. "What do you mean?"

Winry was quiet for a long while. She appeared to be having trouble finding the right words. Al noticed Edward approaching behind her and was about to alert her to the fact when she finally spoke again.

"Things were just so different back then," she said. "Looking back, every bit of happiness we managed to feel was so temporary. There was always this heavy, dark shadow looming over you that was impossible to forget about. It made every happy moment so unreal, like it was going to inevitably end soon and we were just holding back the unavoidable. It's – it's almost like I'm scared of feeling this happy because I'm used to it ending and being replaced by something awful. I was never free to enjoy it and look forward to the future because the future always looked so grim."

"Why do you have to say things like that, Winry?" Edward asked quietly and Winry jumped at his sudden entrance. She recovered herself quickly.

"It's just how I sometimes feel," she said firmly while Edward sat down again. "I just can't believe it's over. You guys have your body's back, you're living back here. It's over! Feeling continuously happy for this long is just something I'm not used to feeling and I'm so scared of it ending any day now because in the past it always did. I'll get used to it," her lips twitched into a small smile.

"You will," Edward interjected before Al could say anything. "You'll never feel unhappiness again on my watch."

"That's a tall order."

"One that intend to keep. I promised you after all."

"You did."

They sat there for a few more minutes and watched Farmer Potter collect the winning pumpkin prize. Soon after, the band returned and the dancing began again. Winry's shivering was getting more and more violent the longer they sat. The afternoon was turning into evening, and the sun was preparing to set. "Well enough of this. Come on, Al. I'm freezing," her teeth chattered as she spoke. "Let's get up and move – it'll make you feel better I promise."

"Hey," Edward pointed an accusatory finger at her, "No cheating. He's getting up only when he thinks he's ready."

Al managed a chuckle. "Cheating? What are you talking about? And there's no need to worry, brother. I'm doing fine now I think." He stood rubbed his stomach, and burped. "I don't know if I feel up for walking yet though. If you're cold, you could go up there and dance with Ed," he gave Edward a lazy grin and Edward resisted the urge to kick his brother under the table.

"Ha! That'll be the day," Winry scoffed and Edward ignored her. Al rolled his eyes.

"When you feel up for walking, we should try the corn maze!" Winry suggested instead.

"Yeah!"

"Let's not," Edward answered. "We'll get lost in there and never come out – I can't do alchemy anymore remember?"

"Oh come on, it'll be fun! I never used alchemy and I always found my way out," Winry countered.

"You followed us half the time! Us and our alchemy!"

Winry stuck her tongue out at him. "What's the matter? Scared you won't make it out without your precious alchemy? 10 cenz I make it out before you!"

xxx

Fifteen minutes later, Edward was deep inside the maze, cold, alone, and wishing Al and Winry didn't have such a persuading influence over him.

The winds had picked up since the morning, and the lingering fog had started to thicken. The sun was going to set soon; the sky was turning more orange and pink with each passing minute. Edward remembered seeing the exit of the maze on his and Al's first tour of the festival, and knew it was situated exactly opposite the entrance. As long as the fog wasn't all encompassing and he could catch glimpses of the mountains over the rows, he would eventually find it.

He wandered for what felt like ages, and could swear he had passed the same broken stalk multiple times already. His already limited enthusiasm for the maze weakened as the minutes ticked by and his annoyance grew. He turned left, he turned right, blocked. Left, then right, left again, and then he rounded a corner and found something that made him almost as excited as finding the exit - Al. His brother was slumped on the ground, sitting up and moaning with his head in his hands.

"Okay there?" he asked, joining his brother on the ground.

"I puked," he answered.

Godammit.

"That's okay. Winry doesn't have to know," Edward said without thinking.

"Why would I – Nevermind. Have you two sorted things out then?"

It was Edward's turn to groan. "I said nothing happened. There's nothing to sort out."

"That's not what Winry told me."

"What?!" Winry had been talking to Al about this?! Edward's stomach knotted. He didn't know what he wanted more: to know what she had asked or to never know. His curiosity got the better of him. "What did she tell you?!"

"Not enough. So what happened?"

"Nothing!"

"Come ooon," Al prodded. "Tell me. It'll make me feel better," he added with a cheeky grin. Edward glared at him.

"Fine! But only if you promise to help me out again so I can win my 10 cenz back."

"Deal!"

Edward took a deep breath of cold air, wondering how to word the mornings' events in a way that didn't make him sound like a moron. "I woke up this morning with my automail a bit out of place – a loose screw or something I think? It was acting up a bit when I stood on it so I asked Winry if she could take a look at it before we headed off to the festival."

"I thought you said it didn't have anything to do with automail?"

"It didn't! That's just how I ended up in her workshop this morning," Edward absentmindedly scratched the skin of his thigh connected to the port over his jeans. "It was nothing major. Winry wasn't upset about it – said I probably should have gotten it updated a little sooner but she felt more guilty about letting it slip than I did because she's been so busy lately. Anyway…

"When she finished it she told me she wouldn't be able to come down with us right away, and might not make it until way later because of some arm she had to finish. I told her to finish it later and just come with us. Winry told me she'd finish as soon as she could, but she wasn't going to leave until it was done. I told her she was obsessed with her automail again - "

"So it was just about automail."

"No! Stop interrupting." Edward brought his hand down from his knee and onto the dirt next to him. He started fiddling with it, drawing lines in it that vaguely resembled a transmutation circle. "I – uh – I told her that… that…" the cold was biting, but he was glad it had already made his cheeks as red as they could go. "That I wanted her to come down with us and that we would wait," he swallowed. As much as he didn't want to tell his brother any of this sort of stuff, getting this out was relieving in a way. It was still mad difficult to get out of his normally tight lipped self.

"She said 'don't be silly'," he continued, "told me it wouldn't be fair to you to miss out on anything since you haven't really been able to experience a festival in a while… And I knew she was right, so that was that."

He trailed off, and for a few seconds they only listened the sound of the wind rustling through the corn leaves. His throat tightened as the memory resurfaced, and he wasn't sure if he would be able to get the next part out to Al.

He hadn't wanted to leave her in that automail workshop. Lately, whenever he found himself alone with her, he had to fight the urge to blurt out some stupid declaration of … his feelings or something. He had been avoiding his usual check-ups lately because of it and hoped she would be too busy to notice. His mind reeled back to the incident at the train station, when he had finally gotten the courage to tell her he would never make her cry tears of sadness again. He had shouted it then, in front of his brother, in front of everyone. That is how these sort of confessions usually went for him. He couldn't do it properly, and everyone was around to witness it.

This time nothing had come out of his mouth – it had gotten caught in a gurgle that had almost made him choke. But he had awkwardly put his hand on her shoulder to make up for almost not embarrassing himself in front of her again. His hand clenched over the dirt as he remembered moving his face down to meet hers, thinking this was it, he was finally going to do it – before he stopped, centimeters from her lips, panicked and backed off of her as if he had been electrocuted.

'Sorry,' he had said, before turning to the door in a rush. 'Bye, see you later,' he had said as his hand reached desperately for the doorknob.

Winry had tried to protest. 'Wait! Get back here!' she had shouted. 'You can't just do that! Edward! You can't just -' but he was out the door before she could get another word out.

Edward put his face in his now dirt smeared hands, cringing at memory. Why was he so useless around her? He wanted to at least tell Al he was angry at himself, not her or any petty argument. But he couldn't even find the words for that.

His brother didn't pester him about the sudden silence, and Edward was grateful for the fact that things could often go unsaid between them and Al would figure things out on his own. He felt Al's hand grip his shoulder reassuringly.

"You can't have embarrassed yourself that badly in front of her," he sounded amused. Edward lifted his face from his hands so that he could scowl.

"Trust me," Al said, ignoring the look his brother was giving him, "There isn't anything you could do at this point to make her not like you. Just stop being an idiot about it."

"I'm not – "

"You're angry at yourself because you're too scared to make the first move. I know. I get it," Al sighed, heaving himself up off of the dirt and gripping a corn plant for support. "If it helps, the three of us could go down to the train station after the festival, put Winry on a train by herself, and then you can shout whatever your true heart desires –"

"Alright shut it," Edward glowered, jumping up with his fists clenched.

Al laughed and then said, "Come on! Let's find our way of here. I'm pretty sure the exit's this way!"

Al's instincts were right, and with his help the two of them were out in minutes. Because of their bet, Edward was initially relieved when Winry was nowhere to be found. But as the minutes ticked by and the sky grew darker, he began to worry.

"We should go back and look for her," he said finally. "It shouldn't be taking this long. She probably can't see anything in this fog."

With that, he was back inside the maze. He took careful note of the turns he was taking – finding the way he came in would be easier than trying to find a new way out. He shouted her name and strained his ears, hoping to hear her reply

A few twists and turns later he found her.

"Gotcha!"

He felt her chest slam into his back and her arms wrap around him. It startled him so much he stumbled into the nearest hedge and got a mouthful of corn leaves.

"What the hell, Winry?!

She grinned. "Just having some fun with you. Lighten up."

"So how lost were you?"

"Completely. You?"

"I found the way out," he told her.

"Oh damn. I guess I owe you 10 cenz."

"Don't worry about it. Al puked."

"Oh good."

He stared at her and she smiled. His head felt light, like it always did when she looked at him like that.

"You've got dirt on your face," she said, and she reached over to brush it away. Her hand nicked his ear and his reached up reflexively to grab her arms before they could make contact. He tightened his grip on them and held them back. She looked up at him with those bright blue eyes and he had to consciously remember to breathe.

Being light headed around her was dangerous – she was close enough that it wouldn't take much effort to close the gap. Edward swallowed. The feeling was uncomfortably familiar to their encounter this morning.

Next time, just do it.

"Are you going to show me the way out?" she asked, resting her hands on his chest, "Or just stand there?"

They were inches apart, just like in her workshop that morning and the thought of letting this second chance slip away was making him sweat. He did not want to deal with another bought of being furious at himself for chickening out again.

Next time, just do it.

He took a deep breath, as if he was about to jump into an icy lake and was preparing himself for the plunge. Then he let go of her arms and took a step back.

"It's this way," he said with a giant lump in his throat, pointing in the direction he had come from.

Winry stared at him with wide eyes, dumbfounded, before stuttering, "O-okay."

He led her back through the maze in a painful silence. Winry looked as defeated as he felt. Her eyes avoided his and her head was down.

Edward could feel himself shaking as the anger built up again. Why did this always have to be so difficult for him?! How many times had Al told him that his feelings for Winry were mutual?! He knew his brother was right too – Edward could be an idiot around her but he wasn't that oblivious. Why then? Why then couldn't he fucking just do it?!

Ahead of them, he suddenly recognized the last turn of the corn maze. One more right and they'd be outside in front of Al. He stopped.

"What's wrong?" Winry asked, her voice quieter than usual. She was subdued and probably as confused as he was at his behaviour. "Did you forget the way?"

He took a deep breath. "No. No, the exit's just around this corner."

"Oh?" she asked. "So why are you stopping?"

"I –" the lump in his throat had gotten bigger and when he tried to speak it came out as a squeak. He cleared his throat and tried again. "I – " He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at his shoes.

"Edward?" Winry asked. And then - "No!" she snapped. "No! Edward, I will not let you do this again!" And before he knew what was happening, she had marched over, placed her hands firmly on either side of his face and pulled him down roughly to her lips.

It was a quick peck, and she pulled back right after, though her hands were still grasping his face so tightly he could feel her nails digging in. "There!" she exclaimed breathlessly, abruptly letting go. "That wasn't so hard now was it?!" she asked glaring at him, her voice on fire and her hands on her hips.

The blood was pounding so hard in his ears that it was hard for him to hear. He stared at her in shock. Her cheeks were pink and flustered, her eyes were wild, her hair messy from the wind. She was so goddamn beautiful. Then he let go of the breath he didn't know he was holding in, snapped out of his revere, and slammed his lips back onto hers, his hands grasping madly for her hair.

She tasted so good – like apple cider, and the breath from her nose warmed his cheeks. His hands tangled themselves into her soft hair. He was so hungry for her he pushed himself into her, wanting to feel as much of her as possible. He suddenly couldn't understand why this had been so difficult for him. Why had he waited so long?! This was easy!

She moaned as he pressed himself into her and pushed back just as hard. Her stomach was up against his. It felt so warm and nice. His hands slid down her sides to her waist and gripped it tightly. She groaned again and pushed into him so forcefully his foot gave way and they fell through the row the corn plants behind him. Their lips parted as they fell, and Edward slammed into something hard behind him – their cart. He felt his head smash into something on it in the process. They had broken through the corn maze. Head swimming and in pain, he quickly looked over to see if Winry was okay. She was sprawled out over top of him with her head on his stomach, looking flustered and shocked by the sudden impact, but relatively unharmed.

"Are you oka– " he tried, but her hands where on the back of his neck in seconds, and she pulled him back onto her lips so fast he lost his grip on the earth and collapsed back into the ground. Her knees tightened around his hips and he couldn't stop them arching up into her.

He didn't know how long they lay there, only that it wasn't long enough. A loud shout finally broke him away from her lips.

"My pumpkin!"

Edward's head snapped back towards the cart and saw his brother's prized squash was missing. The force of his impact with it must have been enough to knock it off because it was now rolling quickly down the hill towards some rocks jutting out of the mud. He winced when he saw it smash onto a boulder, breaking into pieces. Pumpkin guts spilled out and Al let out an anguished cry as he rushed down to meet it.

Edward struggled to untangle himself from Winry, who shakily stumbled back. They staggered to their feet.

Al was sitting on his heels next to the mud puddle at the bottom of the hill, staring at the smashed remains of the pumpkin he had painstakingly picked out that morning. He glanced up, defeated, as Edward and Winry approached.

"I – I'm so sorry, Al," Edward said, trying to sound as sincere as he felt, which was difficult. He kept wanting to break into a smile because of what had just happened.

"We can get you a new one," Winry suggested, touching Al's shoulder lightly and looking quite guilty.

"No… no it wouldn't be the same," Al said. He glared at Edward. "You couldn't have waited until after we got the pumpkin safely home? Or taken your chance in private in the maze far away from the pumpkin?! Or in the workshop this morning?! You of all people know how long it took me to pick it out! Why do I have to suffer at the hands of your poor timing?!"

The three of them stood there for a few seconds, mouths agape. Then Winry gave in to a giggle, which made Edward start to snicker, which made Al's attempt at an angry face quiver and finally break into laughter.

The three ended up rolling on the ground in mirth amongst the leaves, tears streaming down their faces.

Eventually they regained control, breathing heavily as they rested on their backs on the hill. They lay underneath the dissipating clouds, revealing a sky that had grown dark enough to expose the stars.

"As soon as Farmer Binns sees the broken stalks of his precious maze, he's going to be pissed at you," Al said.

"At least I didn't puke in it."

Winry giggled. "Will you two stop bickering for a moment and look!" she gasped as she pointed and Edward saw a shower of red light followed by a burst of sound in the sky above. "The fireworks! They decided to bring them back this year after all!"

"Yes!" Al sat up eagerly, his face alight. An explosion of white sparks followed the red. Even Ed sat up for a better look.

"Makes up for the pumpkin right?" he asked his brother hopefully.

"Don't try your luck. That pumpkin was one of a kind and you know it," Al said. "But I forgive you. Only because I don't have to deal with you two being all weird around each other anymore."

"I wouldn't bet on that just yet," Winry said, leaning her head over towards Edward and giving him a weary look, but there was a glint of amusement in her eye.

Edward chuckled. "So was the festival everything you wanted this year then?" Edward asked.

"Yes," Al said. "Except for you destroying my pumpkin, this was perfect."

The trio lapsed back into a comfortable silence again and watched the fireworks contentedly from their spot. Edward felt Winry lean her head onto his shoulder at some point during the show and couldn't stop the grin from forming. He leaned his head over so that it rested on hers.

Winry tugged on the edge of his scarf and pulled his face towards hers again.

"Knew you liked me," she said delightedly.

Edward rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He pressed his lips on hers again, a motion that made her giggle even more. "What?" he asked, pulling back.

"Nothing," she said, smiling. "Just happy."

He grinned back. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Author's Note: I've been toying with the idea of turning this into a series of 4 oneshots – each one featuring a different season over the course of one year – so I've left the story as "incomplete" right now in hopes that it will motivate me. This fall chapter is complete and the next Winter one would most likely take place few months after this story's conclusion, if I manage to write it (I'd probably change the title of the story in that case too).