It was the summer heat that finally drove Ed over the edge. Clad in a damp black tank top, with sweat beginning to form above his brow, the young adult knocked heavily upon Winry's door. There was a muffled groan that sounded, before the sound of footsteps approaching towards him. A few minutes later, the door swung open and a exasperated Winry stood in front of him. It didn't take a word from Ed's mouth to understand what he meant, and she grinned faintly at his silent suggestion.
"Beach." They agreed in unison.
They'd consulted with Alphonse, who was sitting in his room hunched over some research materials, but he'd quickly dismissed the two of them with a wave of his hand, promising to meet up with them later. Moments later, the duo was practically running down the stairs, ignoring the calls from Granny Pinako to slow down. They giggled giddily to each other, stumbling through the doorway and embracing the scorching heat of Resembool's summer. Ed grinned, gazing up at the cerulean sky that was speckled with wisps of small clouds, the sun bright and beaming down on them.
They headed towards the local river, Winry almost skipping along happily beside Ed, energetic and excited to cool herself in its calm waters. Ed grinned at the sight of Winry pushing forward, like a puppy trying to drag his master along, and found that he had to stifle a chuckle before she heard.
When the sound of the river could finally be heard, the two rushed forward, stumbling down the sloped hill towards the rushing water. Winry didn't hesitate to run straight into the clear waters, pushing forward until she was up to her knees. She turned back to her friend, waving him to come in as well.
"C'mon, Ed!" She beamed. Ed hurriedly threw off his hoodie, jogging forward into the water until his red swim trunks were thoroughly drenched.
They began with childish play, splashing each other with the water, and tackling each other into the waves. After a while, though, Ed found that he had a nagging desire burning at the back of his mind. No matter how hard he willed it to go away, his boyish urges would always force his eyes to graze over Winry's body, noticing how the pale yellow T-shirt clung to her skin, revealing the outline of a black bikini top underneath it. Frustratingly, the shirt was heavy when it was wet, so it also just barely covered up the matching black bikini bottom. Ed found himself travelling down Winry's smooth, tan legs more than once, and he always had to remind himself to look away before she noticed.
Winry, on the other hand, was quite aware of Ed's sneaking glances, and made sure to give him many opportunities to admire her body. Although she was flattered and happy that he'd noticed, she refused to remove the yellow T-shirt. Throughout the years Ed's presence was lacking in her life, she'd somehow grown 2 cup sizes, and it wasn't something she liked to show off. In fact, she was very self conscious about her large chest, and seldom wore very revealing clothing out in public.
But now, with the person she loved ogling her so affectionately, she was beginning to feel a little more comfortable in her own skin, and she quite liked the attention.
"Hey," Ed began, bringing Winry back from her thoughts, "Why aren't you taking off your shirt?"
There it was. The dreaded question. Immediately after the words left his mouth, Ed's face began to take on a more pinkish hue, while Winry stared across from him, dumbfounded. Instinctively, she crossed her slender arms over her chest, hoping to ease the tension that'd grown between them.
"N-No reason!" She stammered reluctantly, "I just don't want to get burnt by the sun!"
Ed nodded, knowing that the question he'd just asked was incredibly embarrassing. A long pause was accentuated by the sounds of the waves lapping on the shoreline.
"Didn't you put on sunscreen before we left?" He asked, thinking out loud. Winry jolted at the realization that she had, in fact, slathered a large dosage of the white substance over her body before they'd left for the river.
"Yeah, but you know," She lied, "Just making sure!"
The ridiculous answer deemed to be unconvincing in Ed's vision, and it showed by the way he stared at her with a bleak expression. Winry began to feel foolish for lying to her best friend, he could always see through her petty lies, anyways, so there really wasn't any point.
"I don't look good in bikinis.." She squeaked, staring at the ground. A small hesitation was quickly broken by the sounds of loud laughter bursting from Ed's lips. The laughter started out softly, quickly growing into belly-aching guffaws, until he had to clutch his stomach to keep from falling into the water. After regarding him for a few seconds, confused, Winry began to chuckle despite not understanding what the joke was.
"What's… So funny?" She asked between giggles. Ed straightened, his laughter dying down as he wiped a tear forming in the corner of his eye.
"Nothing is, nothing." He grinned to his friend, admiring her modesty. He was happy that Alphonse wasn't here at the moment, because he got to see this part of Winry, and keep it all to himself. With a jolt, he wondered if Winry had ever had interest in another boy while he was gone, if she'd ever had feelings for someone else… It was a very real possibility, but for some reason, he hadn't considered it until now. Something clenched his stomach as his gazed hardened, and he turned back towards the beautiful blonde before him. "Take it off."
Surprised, Winry's eyes widened at the strength of his voice. The deep command almost willed her to involuntarily take the garment off, but she quickly shook the idea from her head, grinning questioningly as she took a small step back.
"No..!" She laughed half-heartedly, watching as a mischievous grin grew across Edward's face. He took a step forward to match her stance, and Winry could easily tell where this was going.
The blonde fell backwards into the water, the density of the waves causing unneeded resistance against her already futile attempts to get away from the one she loved. Her mouth caught some of the water, her giggles causing her to accidentally swallow it and break through the surface, gasping and coughing for air. Seconds later, Ed surfaced beside her, a worried expression dragging across his features.
"Winry?!" His voice was slightly raised, and he placed a firm hand on the girl's shoulder, "Are you okay?"
Winry glanced at the golden-eyed boy, a plan playing through her head as she thought of a way to use his concern to her own advantage.
"No…" She put on the most pitiful look, hoping that her act would cause Ed to forget about his original plan. "I swallowed water…"
Ed's face softened slightly when he realized that it wasn't life threatening, and Winry felt the hand on her shoulder ease it's grip a little.
"O-Oh," He stuttered, "Are you… Gonna be okay?" He wasn't sure how he should help, swallowing water like this wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but he figured that she'd get over it pretty soon.
Winry nodded a little, trying to shake herself from Ed's grip and step away. In that single instant, her entire ploy fell apart, and Ed's hand gripped on the hem of her T-shirt, swiftly tugging the sopping material over her head with a flourish. Both Ed and Winry's eyes widened when the swimsuit top was revealed, and she immediately squealed and covered herself with her hands, sinking below the waves. Ed blinked, still entranced by what he'd seen moments earlier. He dove below the water, grinning a toothy smile to the scarlet-faced Winry. She quickly averted her vision, hiding behind her long eyelashes, and Ed could feel something squeeze his heart.
Without thinking, he grabbed hold of Winry's shoulder and pulled her close to him, pressing her face against his chest firmly. He was running out of breath, but he needed to tell her something quickly, he knew he wouldn't be able to tell her face to face.
Through gurgling words, he murmured something into the blonde's ear, and her eyes widened at the sound. It couldn't have been right, she probably didn't hear him right. There was definitely no way he said that, not to her.
The duo surfaced, gulping for air as they stared into each other's eyes. Ed's mouth was a tight line, a slight blush traversing his cheeks. He quickly grinned and stepped back, breaking their fixed gaze.
"Um-"
"Hey! You guys!" Winry was quickly cut off by Al's call, he waved to them as he came closer to the river.
Although Ed was usually happy to see his beloved younger brother, he couldn't help but think that this was the worst possible timing for him to show up. Alphonse waded into the water, swimming forward with a boyish grin as he caught up to the two. A smirk tugged at his lips as he noticed the blushes on both of their faces, Winry's bare chest, and a pale yellow T-shirt held tightly in his older brother's hand.
"Oh, I see." He muttered below his breath, "Anyways, dinner's ready." Whoops. Seems like he came to check on them at the wrong time. He swam back to shore, slipping his sandals back on a wishing his brother good luck. He hoped they wouldn't realize how stupid it was for him to swim out into the middle of the river to tell them that dinner was ready...
Ed glanced to Winry, and they simultaneously burst into a fit of giggles, paddling slowly back to shore.
Later that night, the house was dark and silent, only Ed and Winry remained awake in the silence. The evening had been spent with soft chatter and laughter between the two of them, but Winry knew that she needed to get to sleep at some point. She got up from the old couch, stretching her arms above her head and allowing Ed a small peak at the bottom of her stomach, where her shirt lifted just barely to reveal smooth skin.
"I'm goin' to bed." She yawned, clasping the railing as she slowly stepped upstairs. Ed quickly jumped off the couch, following her a few steps behind.
They'd only reached halfway up the staircase when Ed began snickering behind Winry. She quickly spun, a questioning look displayed across her expression.
"What?!" She accused, a grin tugging at her lips.
"Well, Winry," Ed chuckled to himself, "You're not going to believe this, but… You're really sunburnt!"
"R-Really?!" She lifted the bottom of her pyjama shirt up, gasping at the horrible red tint.
Ed grinned, rubbing the back of his head.
"Sorry, I should've kept it on." He apologized, "But you know…" He looked away, cheeks turning a darker shade of pink, "You're beautiful either way."
There it was. That word was all the confirmation that Winry needed, to know that she had, in fact, heard him correctly at the river. And she couldn't deny the incredible happiness it made her feel.
"I guess I'll just have to put on more sunscreen tomorrow, huh?"