It's been Seventeen months since he'd last set foot inside the house that had become home for him and Alphonse so many years ago.
Granny Pinako, Winry and even Den had welcomed them without hesitation after he'd broken the taboo. They had given them warm meals, comfort and even their own room to sleep in.
Now though, the mentioned room and more importantly the soft bed Edward had been dreaming of during his travels through the west were occupied by sheet-metal, screws, wrenches and other tools as well as infusion-bars, a dented surgical table and other medical stuff he recognized from his time being the Rockbell's patient.
Technically, he knew that they first off couldn't have known he'd be coming home so soon and to clear out his room, and secondly their home had been too small to house 3 kids, a dog, an old pipe-smoking surgeon and various patients anyway so they had probably been glad to have the two boys out for a while and use their room for storage.
He was pissed anyway.
It was well after midnight, everyone was already fast asleep, he'd been in that stupid train for over 13 hours and now his goddamn room was uninhabitable!
Deadbeat he turned, making his way back down to the by now way too small couch – take that Colonel bastard! – when his feet somehow stopped right in front of Winry's door.
It stood slightly ajar, the light from the hallway sneaking through the crack and illuminating a slender arm and hair a few shades lighter than his own.
It was like a spell had been cast over him. Under normal circumstances, he'd run down the stairs before Winry could see him eyeballing her and clocking him with her biggest wrench, but now he felt unable to look away.
Seventeen months had passed since he'd basically proposed to her on the platform. He had called her eleven times during his travels and the conversations had always been hurried and ordinary. Yes, his automail was fine and no, he wasn't lying to her and no he couldn't come home just yet and stuff like that.
But now he was home. He was there and they could finally talk about this – or stammer and blush like an idiot, in Eds' case – and just… be with each other.
His feet carried him closer, through the door to her bedside. Ed looked down at her partially covered face and just like that his agitation over his bed, his restlessness after sitting in that train for so long ceased and his nervousness over their kind of floating relationship-situation vanished.
Peace settled over him, his bone-weariness yielding to a more cozy, warm fatigue. His knuckles tenderly smoothed over her cheek, removing a small strand of hair from her face in the process.
She exhaled deeply and turned her face towards his hand, unconsciously seeking his touch. Her hand came up to capture his hand against her cheek then, her eyes opening only a little.
"Ed?" she sighed, barely awake enough to move her mouth properly.
He intertwined his fingers with hers in confirmation and continued stroking her cheek with his knuckles.
"Hey," he murmured, "my bed's kinda occupied right now. Just came by on my way to the couch and couldn't …" He trailed off, not knowing exactly what to tell her. Couldn't stop staring at you? Couldn't leave?
"You're back," she smiled, apparently without listening to a word he'd been saying. Winry pulled his hand to her mouth and kissed the back of it delicately, just a whisper of her lips on his skin.
She pulled at his arm again, this time a little harder, winding it around her shoulder as she turned her back to him. He had to put one knee up on the mattress to keep his balance and not fall on top of her.
"Come, sleep." She mumbled against the back of his hand, snuggling deeper into the covers.
Ed had imagined him fumbling and making a fool of himself the first time they acted more intimately with each other, but there was no uncertainty, no blushing.
He pulled off his boots one-handedly as well as his belt, lifted the covers and slipped in behind her, his chest pressed to her warm back.
Another content sigh escaped Winrys lips at the contact.
He just smiled, tucked himself even tighter around her and closed his eyes.