A/N: This was the first story I've worked on this new year but it couldn't be posted until around the estimated Ed's birthday date. Here is another attempt at fluff... Anyway the story is AU/canon divergent from Brotherhood. It's timeline is between Ed's last automail checkup and before reaching the Kanama slum. I don't think is accurate in the timeline but, oh well, it's a fanfic after all.

Enjoy!

Ed flipped open his State Alchemist pocket watch. Impassive eyes registered that it was just past 1930 hours. He snapped the watch shut with a quick flick of his automail wrist then returned it to its respective place on the right pocket of his black trousers. Just a couple of more hours and this February the third will be lone gone. Ed looked up at the starry night that had draped over him for the past several months and sighed. "Happy effin' birthday, Ed," he said with a sneer.

The blonde alchemist tucked his hands into the side pockets of his black jacket while he walked back to the makeshift camp. He found a comfortable place to sit down on a log that was placed near the bonfire. There wasn't much to do around camp so he just opted to get lost in the flames before him. At least the dance and crackle of such flames eased his mind of the pressure of the Promised Day but it didn't take away the melancholy about his birth day.

Today he had turned sixteen years old and instead of blowing candles and eating cake, he was spending his special day with a crazy-ass homunculus and two revenge-bent chimeras. Just thinking about it made him groan with frustration, but… He did get a nice 'surprise' for his sweet sixteen and the silver earrings that now dug into his flesh palm reminded him of it.

"Ed, wait—"

The teenaged blonde had already reached for the doorknob and was just mere seconds away from turning it. A 'don't go' followed which made him let go of the knob. However he didn't immediately turn around because he was still angry at Winry. How did she dare pin the weight of an entire country on his back? Did she have that much blind faith in him? The young alchemist exhaled the anger away the best he could, using the door as a focal point. He did a one-eighty once he had regained his composure. Deep gold was now staring into sapphire blue.

"I…" Winry said while trying to find courage to continue speaking, "I want to… Well, your birthday is coming up soon and this time around you won't be with us to celebrate."

"Yes I know." He looked down at the wooden floor while trying his hardest to hide away the grimace that just appeared on his already melancholic face. "They'll be more birthdays to come Winry. Now I got to—"

"It's that I've just realized—" Winry had to stop momentarily as the lump in her throat had become too much for her to bear, still, she fought the uncomfortable sensation because she needed to finish what she really wanted to tell him.

Ed was utterly confused by his mechanic's seemingly odd behavior. It was just an ordinary day so what was her problem? He was caught off-guard when Winry shortened the distance between them leaving just a few inches between their bodies.

The blonde mechanic was completely blushed by the time she stood in front of the now taller teenager. Winry unconsciously licked her lips while she fixed her eyes upon his more masculine looking —and definitely more handsome— face. "Ed…" It was all she could say without quavering. She cupped his flushed face between her hands and closed her eyes as she leaned forward right until she her lips pressed onto his.

Ed's eyes couldn't have widened any further. Winry was… Kissing him? Instead of running for the hills from utter and complete shock, the young alchemist wrapped his mismatched arms around the small of the girl's back as naturally as if he had done it a million times before. Gosh, she felt so warm to the point that he thought he was going to melt from the unexpected embrace. He suddenly felt an electrifying chill that made his hair stand on end when Winry's right hand posed on his exposed nape. He answered her gesture by biting on her lower lip and tugging on it gently. The throaty moan he received in exchange made his heart skip a beat or two. Their lips parted momentarily and in that life changing moment he saw a kind of wanton and determination that he had never seen in his childhood friend. "Winry…"

"Kiss me more, Ed."

Without much thought, the young alchemist eagerly claimed her mouth, teeth clicking at first due to lack of experience. She parted her mouth just a bit more to give the alchemist better access in order to deepen the passionate kiss. Ed never would have guessed that type of kissing could shake the core of his soul.

They were heavily panting when they finally broke the kiss. Winry could have not been more flushed even if she wanted to and he knew that he was as hot and bothered as his mechanic was. In an unexpected move, the girl took his flesh hand into hers while piercing blue eyes bore directly into his. She hesitated for a moment before she decided to speak again. Ed's brain had to tell his eyelids to blink after he heard the words 'I want to do it, Ed'. Was this really happening? He immediately got his answer when his flesh hand -along with his body- was being tugged across the room just to stop in front of the bed that he had just been laying down for his latest automail checkup. Winry was still holding his hand when she sat on the mattress.

"Winry. Are you sure about this?"

"Yes…"

Her conviction almost made him falter. He swallowed deeply as he sat beside her. Winry guided his hand to her chest where she awaited for him to take over. At her cue, Ed glided his hand to her left bosom, gently squeezing the soft mound, eliciting a soft moan from her childhood friend. The young alchemist quelled that moan when he kissed her. He was becoming lost in her while a special kind of heat was pooling onto his nether region. This was it. They were going to cross THAT line. He squeezed harder and he heard her plead for more. This was what he had always dreamed off. This was… This was… Not how he wished for it to happen. He removed his hand from her bosom and pushed himself away putting some distance between their bodies.

"Ed, what's wrong?" Winry said between pants. A mixture of confusion and rejection was written all over her face. "I thought you wanted this."

"I do. Very bad," he admitted while looking at the painful bump where his manhood laid whimpering, "—but not like this, Win."

"Then why…" She looked dejected, tears peeking out from the corners of her blue eyes.

"Because we shouldn't rush into this—" He held her in his arms while tenderly kissing the top of her head. "—and because you deserve better than a just fleeting moment." He whispered on her ear. Ed could now hear Winry sniffling. He tried to calm her down by rocking her. After a few minutes of this treatment, Winry pulled back from the warm embrace.

"I'm sorry— Oh God…," she said, completely mortified with herself, while she kept her eyes locked on the wooden floor. Once she calmed down, she lifted her gaze from the floor and looked at Ed straight in the eyes. "It's that I wanted to… Because… What if you—"

Ed pressed his index finger to her lips. "Nothing bad will happen, Win. You ordered me to return home safe. To return with Al after our bodies had been restored… After the country had been saved." He smiled at her.

The girl nodded, relieved upon hearing those words.

"Then don't have any doubts about it because that's how it's going to be," he added, his smile turning into a toothy grin as bravado kicked in. "I really got to go Winry."

Ed stood up and left the room not once looking back at the girl that had claimed his heart almost since the day he was born.

"'Have an apple pie ready when we get back'. Heh, could I've been more stupid?," he muttered, reminiscing about that special moment.

"My-my Shorty. Remembering some good times?"

Ed fell backwards as he was caught off guard by Greed's presence. "What are you stalking me for, Greed?" He yelled, "Can't a guy have some privacy around here?" His brows were now closely knitted from the irksome encounter. "—AND DON'T CALL ME SHORTY!" He added with a snarl.

Greed let out a hearty laugh. "This is the open woods and not a five-star hotel, Shor-ty. I wasn't stalking you. I just happen to walk into your private little moment that's all." The homunculus finished his words with a telltale smirk.

Ed choked upon hearing Greed's words. Oh, how he wanted to beat the snot out of the oh-so grandiose homunculus for the "short" remark —and for completely ruining such gratifying memories— but he wasn't going to let that idiotic Sin get the best of him. He got up fast as he could and started walking towards his tent.

"By the way I hope you did get a nice checkup from our recent trip to your dear hometown." The Sin goaded.

"That's none of your goddamn business, Greed!" Ed quipped as he kept walking.

Greed smiled. He really loved pissing that kid off. "Must have been quite a nice birthday gift." He added as he crossed his arms.

Ed stopped on his tracks. He turned around with an incredulous look on his face. "How do you know about my birthday?"

"Heh. The prince told me about it and since your mechanic took a lot of time during your last maintenance, well, one doesn't have to be a genius to put two and two together."

Ed's face turned bright red for the umpteenth time that evening.

"Happy birthday Ed!" Greed yelled just before the blonde stomped away to the shelter of his tent. Now that he was done infuriating the Brat, it was time to pester his two other subordinates because a boss always had to let his presence be felt.

A/N: Yes it's smuttier than I intended but that's the way I write XD

Also the story is somewhat angsty but it's because of the tension they all felt around the Promised Day. Last but no least, this is the EdWin that I couldn't fit into my Christmas drabbles.