Mei rolled over from her side and hugged the taller body in front of her, while sleeping, in a natural motion. And Alphonse golden eyes were wide in pure horror, as he was certain he would simply die, feeling her soft breasts on his back and her arms around his torso.
His face was burning and all the cells of his brain just froze. How things ended up like that?!
Mei had just accepted to be his girlfriend a week ago and they jumped together in a train to Rizembol to Edward's and Winry's wedding. There was not much time to do or talk about things. As soon as Lan Fan asked Ling to send her as an "special missionary", Lady Chang couldn't refuse. Alphonse wanted to talk to her mother ask permission to properly court her youngest daughter, but Mei told him that they could do it when they returned, since it would be suspicious traveling as a couple.
Wanting to avoid any gossips, he agreed. They arrived on the morning of the wedding and were able to help with the last preparatives. Alphonse's heart was caught on his throat as Winry showed them they would sleep o the same room. Even worst, the longest date on the planet would end with them sleeping together on the same bed!
Of course Alphonse was a gentleman about it and offered himself to sleep on the carpet. That was the moment of their second kiss, as Mei gently asked him to not leave her alone. Although he was a very respectable young man, he couldn't deny anything to the beautiful dark eyes and pink lips calling his name so sweetly. They slept with a couple of pillows between then and Mei giggled at his preoccupation. She kiss his cheek goodnight and he held her hand all night long as the exhaustion of such agitated day hit them. Now, inside her embrace, his poor teenager brain was boiling as she tightened her embrace and the soft breathing was on the back of his neck, sending shivers to his spine, as he realized his gorgeous girlfriend had kicked the soft barrier between them during the night.
He swallowed hard and tried to move away. He managed to do it, but he ended up falling out of the bed and waking her up with the noise.
"Alphonse?" she sat down and rubbed her eyes.
"YES!" he stood up in a jump. "Good… good morning, Mei!"
"Good morning. Are you all right?"
"Yes!" he answered, nervously. "I'm just… feeling energetic!"
"It is still so early. Come back to bed." she stretched her arm and offered him her hand. His blood froze as seeing the curve of her breasts on the upper part of her pajama shirt, since the first buttons were undone without her noticing.
"I'm… I'm going downstairs and check if Granny needs help with breakfast!" he turned around, his cheeks burning. He left the bedroom without giving her time to reply and went directly to the bathroom, wishing the cold shower could control his nervousness.
When he reached the kitchen, Granny and Winry were there, finishing to prepare breakfast and fixing the table.
"Good morning, Mrs Elric."
"Alphonse! Good morning!"
"Good morning, Granny." he kissed Pinako's face.
"Where is Mei?"
"Ah… she is getting down in a while."
"She was very beautiful on her imperial family's gown for the party." Pinako smiled at him, as sitting down. "She is very sweet too."
"Who is sweet?" Edward asked, appearing on the kitchen, still sleepy. "Good morning, Winry." he smiled to her and she smiled back, putting some pancakes on the table.
"Alphonse's girlfriend."
"What? She is not sweet! She is a little monster, she just wanted to trick you guys!"
"Good morning." – Mei said, on Edward's back and his soul shook with the surprise. "Who exactly is the monster you are talking about?" – she asked with clenched teeth.
Since the moment she arrived, Ed picked on her. He made jokes about her hair, her clothes and her size. Since she wanted a good first impression with her boyfriend's family and friends, she just smiled and pretended she didn't care about it, but deep down, she wanted to break the older's Elric arms and legs slowly.
"Mei, good morning!" Winry said, trying to ease the atmosphere. " Did you sleep well?"
"Yes! Like a rock!" she smiled to Pinako and sat on the other side, in front of Alphonse.
"So, what are your plans while you are on the city?" Winry asked as sitting down too and they started to eat.
"Well, I can't stay long, actually. I need to go back to Xing by tomorrow morning."
"Ah, that's a shame. We were hoping to show you some things around."
"A shame indeed, it would take a long time to see everything, since you're legs are so short." Edward said in a provocative grin, when a sharp fork went past his face, hitting the wall behind him hard.
"Oh, sorry. It slip from my fingers." Mei said, with a gentle smile.
"Did you see that? Your sweet girlfriend tried to kill me!"
"Ah, Nii-san, don't be so dramatic. It just... slip."
"But!" Winry pushed a piece of fruit on her husband's mouth to make him shut up.
"Let's eat, let's eat, or the delicious food Winry cooked us will be cold!" Pinako smiled at them, but for the entire breakfast, Ed and Mei exchanged bad looks to each other.
They started to fix the garden, putting chairs aside and doing the rest of the cleaning. Mei was carrying boxes to Winry's room when she stopped, amazed by the wedding dress. Winry was lovely as a bride, but the morning sun over the white fabric made it even more beautiful.
"Wow!" she said, putting the box on the floor and examining the dress.
"Granny made it for me." she touched the fabric. "She said it is similar to what my mother used."
"Wedding gowns on Xing's imperial family has other colors with it. Golden and red, but the white ones are my favorite."
"Are you already thinking about wedding gowns, Mei?" she giggled at the teenager.
"Of course I am. – she replied seriously. "I want to look perfect to marry Alphonse."
"Eh?! But… didn't you just start dating?"
"Yes, but I will marry him." although she was younger than her, Winry observed the absolute resolution on the girl's dark eyes.
"You really love him, right, Mei?" she smiled, gently, happy at her feelings for her brother-in-law.
"I do." there was no hesitation on her words. "Very much."
"That's good." she touched the girl's shoulder with both hands. "I hope he isn't as slow as his brother and you can enter the family soon."
"Entering the family?" Edward asked, bringing another box with him.
"Mei will!" Winry smiled at him, but he only laughed.
"What?! This little thing entering MY FAMILY? Not in a million years!"
"Edward!" Winry scolded him.
"I'm counting the days Alphonse get his senses back! He cannot be possible think of living so far away with this…" his words were silenced as Mei stood before him and slapped his face.
"WHAT DO YOU…" he stopped talking as noticing the tears glistering on her eyes. She was on the edge of crying. Before he could say or do anything, she ran out of the room and went past Alphonse who as surprised at her reaction
"Hey, Mei! What happened?" he shouted as seeing her running outside, but she didn't even look at him. Going upstairs, he stopped at the door as seeing Winry angrily talking to his brother while a small red palm was on his cheek.
"Why do you have to be so unpleasant with her?!"
"I didn't do anything! She was the one who attacked me!"
"Nii-san." Alphonse entered the room, the golden eyes serious. "What happened? Why was Mei so upset?"
"Your brother is a moron!" Winry said, walking away from her husband. "I want you to find Mei and apologize to her, Edward! Otherwise our second night as a married couple, you will spend it on the couch downstairs!"
"Winry, wait! Oh, damn it…"
"Nii-san, why are you giving Mei such a hard time?" he felt horrible at his younger's brother expression. Al was sad. "It was supposed to be a happy ocasion, coming back home with her."
"I'm sorry..." he averted his eyes, embarrassed at himself. "I'm… I'm going to bring her back, okay? Don't worry."
Alphonse just stood there and took a deep breath as his brother also rushed outside. He knew Mei very well. She was probably hidden somewhere by now, as she always did when upset. He wanted to hug her tight and apologize for his brother's stupid jokes. He took a deep breath, calling himself stupid for bringing her over.
#####
The sun was setting on the horizon, filling the Rizembol's fields with orange and red tones. Edward took a deep breath. He was starving and tired. How could she disappear like that? He looked everywhere for Mei without success.
"That's an advantage about being so short. She can hide pretty well." he said to himself, as sitting down on the grass. "Winry is killing me if I come back without her."
"I still don't know how someone like Winry got married with the likes of you." Edward turned around as listening the familiar voice. Mei was standing in the middle of the the grass field, a defiant look over him.
"There you are! I've been looking for you since this morning!" he stood up. "Let's go back already, I'm hungry!"
"I'm here to challenge you."
"Eh?" he stopped and looked at her, annoyed. "What do you mean?"
"I want to challenge you." Mei walked in front of him and crossed her arms. "Lets fight. For Alphonse."
"What?!" he laughed loudly. "Stop this nonsense. I will not fight against you. I would probably hurt you badly and…"
His words were stopped with Mei's powerful kick on his stomach, pushing his the other side of the field. He coughed and looked at her. The dark eyes deadly serious.
"Wanna try to hurt me badly?"
"You little…Okay!" he stood up. "I will fight you. If I win, you will break up with Alphonse and leave."
The fight was quick. The first stars were still showing on the dark sky when Edward was breathing heavily, laying on the grass, covered in bruises and his clothes all dirty. Mei was in front of him, her beautiful face serious. The older Elric sat down slowly, his body was entirely painful. She knew he couldn't perform Alchemy anymore and she didn't summon any Purification circles. It was martial arts only. Even so, he looked at her and was sure "the little one" could easily kill him if she wanted to. His brother's girlfriend as truly a great warrior. He hated himself for admitting this.
"I can't believe… I lost against you."
"Yes, you did. Although you treat me with contempt, I am the captain of Xing's Guard."
"Yes, yes…"
"So…" she stretched her hand to him. "Do we have a deal? Are you giving Alphonse to me?"
"Why are you saying such thing?" he sat down, truly confused. "He is yours already. He is dating you and living in your country, right?"
"It is not enough!" she kneeled in front of him. "If you continued to pick on me, I will hate you! Alphonse will never be with someone who hates his brother! So, please! Stop saying such bad things about me so I won't have the will to punch you every time I see you!"
"Mei…" he extremely surprised with such painful plead. Her hands were over her heart and her head was down.
"Please… I love him. I truly do. We don't need to be best friends, but, at least… let's respect each other. I want to make him happy." suddenly she grabbed his shirt and made him look directly at her. "I will make him happy, do you hear me?!"
Edward's laugh echoed on the field and she released him, surprised.
"Are you making fun of me again?"
"Not at all. I'm just… glad." his golden eyes were gentle over her. – "That he found someone like you, someone that's willing to, actually, fight for him."
"So… why are you so unfair with me?" he noticed she was truly hurt.
"I'm sorry. I think... I was just worried." he smiled sadly at her. "After everything we went through, he decided to live so far away. II know it was because of you, even though he said all that crap about "studying other cultures"." lying down on the grass again, he looked at the stars. "I was just… worried about him. If he would be okay. He is my little brother, after all."
Mei laid by his side and looked up as well.
"You are really stupid."
"Eh?"
"I only met him because of you. Because of the stupid thing you two did. Otherwise we would never cross paths. So… in a strange way, I'm… grateful to you." she turned her head around and looked at him, a slight blush on her cheek. "I met the love of my life because of you."
"Oyyyyyyyyyyyy!" Alphonse's voice called their attention. And they sat up as seeing him close. "Are you all right?! We were worried, thinking you killed each other!"
"We are fine, we are fine…" - Edward stood up and looked at her, whispering. "Dont you ever mention this, okay?" passing by Alphonse he touched his brother's shoulder before leaving them alone. "And she is just fine, too, Alphonse. Good pick."
"Eh?!" he was confused at his brother's words, but soon sat by Mei's side. She looked away, embarrassed.
"I'm sorry I slapped your brother." her voice was shy.
"That's okay. Winry told me he deserved. She laughed at lot, actually."
"So…"she looked at him with the corner of her eye. "You're not upset with me?"
"Not at all." –he pulled her gently and hugged her, his chin on the top of her hair. "I should be the one apologizing. Everything was a mess. The train, the wedding ceremony, the sleeping arrangements. I pulled you for the worst first days of dating ever. I'm sorry for that."
"What are you saying?!" finally looking at him, her small palms touched his shirt, over his heart. "It was the best! You introduce me to your friends and family in such important occasion. "You… held my hand all night long."
"Mei…"
"I never felt like I fit anywhere, but with you, Alphonse… I feel so at ease with you. No matter where we are, if we are together, its going to be great."
His heart was tight over her words and the way the dark eyes looked at him, glistering with love. He touched her face and brought her close to a kiss, a long and intimate one. Alphonse's learn about Mei's soft tongue and she found out about his fast heartbeats as holding her close.
"Alphonse..."
"Yes?
"Can I sleep holding you tonight? No pillows." he smiled at her and touched her cheek with a thumb, gently.
"I'd like that very much."
He loved her. He wanted to discover so many other things by her side. Even thought Mei would be home soon and they would be apart for a while, Alphonse smiled at her, being sure that those first couple of days were the first steps to a long and happy ride by her side.