She was surprised, to hear that heavy knock at the door. Only a knock that something metal could make.
Tying her blonde hair back, Winry stepped towards the door with slow, even steps, cursing a few times until her breath. If it was him, then she knew he'd have broken his automail, or gotten hurt, or...
She stopped, sighing. The image of gold hair and eyes suddenly popped into her head, and she blinked. ... and then smiled.
"Ed?" She yanked open the door, smiling to greet who she thought it was.
And then gasped.
"E-Ed? Is that... is that really you?"
The teenager in front of her was leaning against the door-frame, his face forced into a pained smile. The girl hardly recognised her childhood friend that she knew so well; the usual perfect features that lit up the alchemist's face were hidden by blots of purple, blossoming across his face and neck, dotted with cuts and scratches. Blonde hair messily tied back, he suddenly stumbled forwards... right into Winry's arms.
"Brother, wait up! Don't over...." Al stopped at the door, sighing as he watched Winry gaze at the collapsed boy in her arms with a horrified expression.
Al started; "Winry... We can explain..." but the mechanic was already shaking her head, frowning as she struggled with Ed's weight.
"You can do that later... Just help me take him to the couch..."
The brother immediately nodded, moving forwards and reaching as to take Ed's legs as both he and Winry manoeuvred him to the couch.
"H-How..." She sat beside him as Ed lay there, looking peaceful, his breath softly blowing a strand of hair up and down on his cheek.
She moved the strand of hair out of his face gently, her smile suddenly fading as the boy winced and gritted his teeth together, clutching at the couch underneath him with fists tightened.
"Shh, shh... Sorry...." Winry murmured comfortingly, moving her hand away again, only to have it snatched by Ed's.
"N-Nnn... Winry..." The mechanic froze as he mumbled her name, bringing her pale hand up to his face and nuzzling into it.
Azure eyes became glazed as she softly stroked his hair with her other hand. "H-He doesn't know what he's doing, he's so out of it..."
Al simply smiled, watching the couple contently as he sat on the armchair opposite. "Of course he does. All he's said whilst he's been unconscious is your name."
Winry's cheeks became pink as she continued watching, biting her lip as a few silence sobs threatened to come out. "What happened... He's never been this hurt before, not since..." Her voice trailed off as the memory of a suit of armour standing in the doorway came into her mind- she mostly remembered the puddles of dark blood that were forming on the floorboards, from the stumps of the injured boy in his arms.
Al noticed her eyes, his expression becoming pained. "He was attacked by these thugs... He was only trying to protect someone, but they totally took it out on him..." He carried on with explanation, Winry's face become more and more horrified as the story went on.
"T-they..." No more words could come out as her arms trembled, a few tears tumbling down to land on Ed's cheeks. "How could they..."
"I'm sorry... I was too late..." Ed's brother gave a gentle sigh, averting his regretful gaze to the ground.
"Winry..." Ed gave another horse whisper, his golden eyes opening slightly to look up at the blonde above him, fingers twisting over hers lightly.
"Oh Ed..." Her voice shook slightly but she wiped her tears away, carefully doing the same with Ed as she brushed the damp patches that she'd caused away with her fingertips.
"I'll... I'll be fine... Don't cry..." His voice was croaky but there was still the determined tone behind it, his cold fingers suddenly clutching hers in a tight embrace.
Winry almost burst into tears again, seeing the boy she loved so much in pain, but still the same old Ed.
"Of course you will, Ed. Because I'm going to look after you."
"Winry!" Al called from the doorway, listening out for her voice before replying; "I'm just going to go get some supplies!" He was about to say "Watch on Ed" but he knew she would already. He turned away with a smile, pushing the door closed behind him and continuing down the road.
The blonde watched the back of the younger brother and turned away, continuing up to her bedroom and knocking on the door, waiting for a reply.
"Come in..." She heard a sigh from behind the door as she pushed it open, poking her head round with a smile.
"Hey Ed! How you feeling today?" Winry made her way towards the teenager in the bed, her eyes meeting with his.
"I'm fine... I wish you'd let me give you your bed back though." He tore his gaze away from her towards the window, letting out a small sigh again and folding his arms.
Winry rolled her eyes. "Recovering, I see. And don't worry about that, I'm fine just sleeping in the spare room! I wanted you to get better in the best way possible..." She smiled at his blushing as she carefully sat down on his bed, brushing her fingertips over the sheets.
"Y-yeah, okay... Thanks..." He mumbled a little, twisting his black tank-top in his hands loosely, looking downwards as to try and hide his bright red cheeks.
Winry smiled the smile that reached her eyes, warming her face. "It's no problem, Ed..." She watched him closely then frowned as she noticed the fading bruises on his chest, almost gone but still a reminder of how hurt he had once been.
She leant forwards, making his golden eyes widen in alarm. "You need your bandages changing again, don't you?"
Ed's blonde locks flew around his face as he shook his head. "No! They're fine, honestly..."
"Tsk, come on Ed, you need to get better!" Winry tutted as she reached out to grab the corners of his black top, pulling it upwards carefully.
Ed grumbled, moving his arms upwards. "I can do this by myself, you know... I don't know why you always insist on treating me..."
The mechanic tore her gaze away from his recovering chest muscles, her cheeks heating up as she realised she'd been staring.
"Because I want to, now stop complaining!" She hid her embarrassment by placing his shirt on bed beside them, studying the wound across his chest where a knife had once so cruelly split the skin in two, revealing flesh and blood.
"Fine, fine... Do what you must..." Ed sighed, placing his hands on the bed beside him; one of them so close to her leg that as she leant forwards, his fingers brushed delicately against her thigh.
His head shot towards hers in alarm, jerking his hand upwards. "A-Ahh, sorry..." He paused for a moment, studying the blonde's face as she froze.
"... Something wrong, Winry?" He asked nervously as his eyes met hers, quickly moving his hand to his lap, gulping a little.
"No... Nothing, just... nevermind." She shook her head in reply and leant forwards again, running her fingers over his chest for a moment before curling her fingertips round the edge of the bandage.
He blushed again, shuffling on the bed, only to stiffen as she snapped at him to keep still. He muttered an apology, then winced as the bandages were gently tugged away.
"A-ahh..." The teenager's face contorted into that of pain as Winry carefully pulled the bandages off his chest, revealing the healing wound underneath.
"You heal so quickly..." She murmured, gaining a look of slight wonder as her eyes studied. Golden eyes blinked and he glanced away again, embarrassed.
"Ahh... Uh..." He didn't really know what to say, unsure if he was being complimented or not, scratching the skin on the back of his neck with a sheepish expression.
It was then that he realised that she was watching him, a soft smile on her face. He blinked again, sitting up as he stared at her.
"W-Win-" He was cut off as she suddenly leant forwards, placing her lips against his bandaged forehead in a soft kiss, placing one hand on his metal shoulder gently.
Ed hesitated, making a few surprised noises before reaching round to her back, tugging her towards him.
"Winry..." The blonde mumbled her name as he buried his face in the crook of her neck, wrapping his arms around her smaller form and hugging her tightly, ignoring the dull pain that came from his bruises.
Nuzzling softly into her shoulder, he felt her arms round him as she returned the embrace, a few more kisses warming the top of his head and his cheeks. They remained like that for a few minutes, enjoying each other's company with eyes closed.
It was then that Ed felt her weight shifting, her head coming downwards- he opened his eyes just in time to feel his lips against hers, warm and soft.
The shock died down quickly, being replaced by his heartbeat growing quicker as he leant up to return the kiss, placing his automail hand at her back as he pulled her towards him, almost eagerly. He felt her shiver at the cold metal but then she wrapped her arms round his neck, moving on top of him as he slid to lie down on the bed, wrapping his other arm round her waist to join his other one.
He felt her pull away and opened his eyes to see her worried gaze. Ed smiled.
"I'm fine, you're not hurting me..." He pulled her in again, golden eyes sparkling before he shut his eyelids.
The kiss got more passionate but eventually slowed down to eskimo kisses, both of them nuzzling their noses against each other gently as their heartbeats slowed.
"I love you, Winry." The whisper was so sudden that she froze, opening her eyes to meet his golden ones.
But then she smiled.
"I love you too, Ed. And I promise I'll always be here to help you get better."
Al frowned as he hunted round the house- it was so silent, since he'd came back...
He crept towards the door to Winry's room, poking his head round the door and blinking in surprise at the scene there; Ed lying in bed with Winry next to him, his head resting against hers and their hands entwined. Both of them were fast asleep.
Al smiled at the sight of his brother and his childhood friend, carefully backing away and shutting the door with a quiet click.
He turned away, a grin still on his face. "About time he got some proper medicine to help him get better!"