A/N: High school AU in which Ed is an idiot when it comes to love and approximately no one is surprised by this fact.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of it's characters. I also don't own Jurassic Park (boy do I WISH, though).
Resembool High was buzzing with activity for the Drive-In charity event for the senior class. The rented projector whirred and ticked periodically as it displayed cheesy cartoons of dancing popcorn and hotdogs on a giant screen at the front of the parking lot before the movie, and four hundred kids alternated between gossiping with their friends and updating their Twitters about how cold it was smell of buttery popcorn drifted through the air as Winry and Edward found their seats among the folding chairs set up in rows in the parking lot.
"Is this good? Can you see from here?"
"Ed, I'm taller than you. Shouldn't I be asking you that?"
Winry thought she was being considerate, but she should have known better. After a five-minute long rant about how he was not a tiny amoeba only to able to be seen under a high-powered microscope, Ed and Winry were finally in their seats, and waiting for credits to roll. Winry had chosen this setting as their first date since it was public and casual, something which Edward would have preferred due to his extreme shyness when it came to intimacy.
Though, ironically enough, he was very casual in accepting Winry's invitation to go with him to the Jurassic Park Drive-In. While she expected this activity to be a big source of embarrassment for Edward Elric, Mr. Pretends-to-be-suave-but-screeches-every-time-a-girl-flirts-with-him, he answered with a very confident "sure, why not!" and agreed to pick Winry up at seven. It seemed almost too good to be true.
Winry took a fleece blanket out of her backpack and looked at Edward, who nodded nonchalantly and allowed her to drape over both of their laps. She scooted her chair closer to his to keep the blanket more securely on their legs, noting that Ed's face never once flushed, his eyes remaining forward on the lit-up screen as he shoveled some of their shared popcorn into his mouth.
Something was wrong here.
She tried a different tactic. "Aren't the stars beautiful tonight, Ed?"
"Most of those stars are probably dead by now, actually," he said around a mouthful of half-chewed popcorn. He coughed once, cleared his throat of a kernel, and continued. "They're so far away that the light coming off of them takes a long time to get to earth. By the time it reaches us those stars could have been dead for millenia."
Winry narrowed her eyes for a moment and tried again, leaning in closer to him until her head was almost rested on his shoulder. "Does that mean we're looking into the past right now? That's kind of romantic."
"Or boring. I'm more of fan of concrete science that's actually discernible in present time. And speaking of concrete, you wouldn't believe what happened in my Geo lab the other day–"
"Edward!" Winry said, sitting up suddenly and turning to look at him with a sour expression.
"What?!"
"This is supposed to be a date. Can you at least try a little bit to act like you care about that?"
The pile of popcorn in Edward's hand fell slipped between his fingers.
"W-what?"
It looked like his body couldn't decide between draining all the blood from his face and turning him into a tomato, making his poor sputtering face a splotchy mess as he looked at Winry in what could only be described as petrified embarrassment.
"A date, Edward. I asked you out, you picked me up, we're sharing a blanket, I'm leaning against you, talking about the stars, how dense can you be?"
Edward's mouth was still hanging open in shock. Winry sighed. She'd have to take this situation into her own hands. Literally.
She grabbed Ed's hand and wove her fingers through his, resting their joined hands on his knee and sighing.
"Just watch the movie, Ed."
It wasn't until Lex had restored the door locks and other electrical functions in Jurassic Park that Ed had finally calmed down enough to tentatively place his arm on the back of Winry's chair, just close enough to her neck that she could feel the heat of it. Winry could only roll her eyes and smile. It was a little late, but it was a start.
