pairing: ed/winry, modern-day, high school, cliche, alternative universe! yay!
rating: k+ for language
summary: al suggests the unthinkable; ed just man up and ask her already.
a/n: all i have to say is theSE DORKS wow this was so fun to write you have no clue writing socially awkward ed is too entertaining
enjoy!~
"Prom?!" Edward practically spits out his water; eyes bulging. His face immediately becomes red at the prospect his brother suggests; asking Winry Rockbell to prom.
Winry.
Winry, as in the Elric brothers' childhood friend.
As in the crazy gearhead who lives, breathes, and sleeps for tinkering and engineering.
As in the stubborn, hot-headed girl with a mouth (and a wrench) to match her attitude.
As in the girl who, despite it all, still manages to be one of the most generous, kind-hearted people he's ever met.
As in the girl he's very, very obviously been crushing on since… well…
He wasn't even sure how it happened, honestly. You can't put a date or a moment on it. For as far as he could tell, he'd felt this way about her for… ever. It was only a few years ago he'd been able to come to the conclusion that it was… love.
He cringes at his thoughts. That is so fucking lame, Elric. Pathetic and hopeless. You've had this pitiful crush on her for how long now, and you don't even have the balls to tell her?
Alphonse snickers to himself; his brother's discomfort evident and, admittedly, quite entertaining. "Yeah, it's next weekend! Didn't you know?"
Ed scoffs, rolling his eyes. "Do you think I'm that fucking dense? Of course I know that! It's plastered all over the damned school, and she won't stop talking about it!" He softens slightly at the mention of her.
Al catches on. "Well, if she wants to go so badly, then why don't you ask her?"
Ed grunts. "And why the hell should I? I don't wanna dress up in some damn monkey suit, have to stand through an hour of goddamned pictures, pay for some high-class dinner and tickets, then bake in some shitty, stuffy dance hall surrounded by all these imbeciles. Sounds like the exact opposite of a pleasant evening, if you ask me!"
Al points his fork in his brother's direction, raising a knowing eyebrow. "But Winry would be there. It'd make her really happy, Ed."
Ed casts his gaze at his lunch, suddenly very grateful Winry has another lunch block. He considers the truth of Al's words; she would be thrilled, that was for sure. And wouldn't that make it all worth while, just to see her having a fun time? Who knows, with her, it might end up being enjoyable, too.
Al glances at his brother, seeing the gears grinding in his head as he weighs the pros and the cons. Al smirks to himself. Maybe these two will finally, finally get past their stubbornness to see how good for each other they are.
It was obvious enough; even if his own brother was too blind with doubt and fear to see that she very clearly reciprocates the feelings he holds for her. But it isn't Al's place, as much as itfrustrates him not to, to outright play matchmaker. He just has to give his brother a push in the right direction and maybe, just maybe…
Al shrugs, grabbing his apple and taking a definite bite out it. "Just something to think about, Brother."
—-
It's the next day when she sits adjacent to him, sketching away about some engine when he shakily brings up the dreaded topic after a night of debate within his mind.
"…so, uh," he says, leaning back in his chair trying to sound as casual as humanly possible. It makes it easier that she's almost completely absorbed in her work. "Prom's next weekend."
She barely reacts; too consumed by her sketching. She probably figures he's just trying to spark up a conversation in the quiet study hall. "Yeah," she mumbles, frowning at the paper and erasing her markings fervently.
He exhales shakily, but quietly enough that she fails to notice. "You going?"
"Well, that'd be quite difficult, considering I don't have a date," she replies, a hint of irritation and bitterness lacing her voice. She doesn't look up.
His eyes widen momentarily and he lets his guard down. "You mean no one's asked you?" He asks, secretly relieved and almost in disbelief. She was Winry, and yeah, sure she was a pain in the ass sometimes, but that side of her was mostly directed at him and sometimes Al. Around everyone else, she was pleasant and headstrong and pretty and Winry. How could she not have a date?
That gets her attention and she turns her sapphire gaze to meet his. "…I never said that."
He chokes under those damn eyes of hers and she takes the opportunity to explain. "Jamie asked me, last week."
Jealousy flares inside of him. Jamie? That backwards, bland, hillbilly had the gall to ask her?
"…and you turned him down?"
"…yeah."
She doesn't elaborate; looking back down at her sketches. Case closed.
They sit there for some odd minutes and he wonders why. Why did she reject him? Sure, this guy was nowhere worthy of being her date, but if she really wanted to go that badly…
He coughs, his nerves spiking up again as she turns to look at his with those fucking eyes again. He frantically averts his gaze, and for a second, they settle on her lips.
Her round, pink lips that he can't help but wonder what they taste like, what they would feel like on his.
He panics; wrong wrong wrong place to look. His eyes fly around the room; refusing to land on her.
"Well, in that case, I was thinking. Um, maybe, I'll go with you? I mean, we could go together, if you want." His eyes meet hers at the last second, and his anxiety over the whole damn thing triples in that one moment.
Bad, bad, bad move, Elric.
She stares at him; her expression completely unreadable.
Shit, shit, shit. She's gonna say no, she's gonna say no. She's pissed, I can see it. Damn it, this was a terrible idea; the worst fucking idea. Prepare for rejection, Elric, because it's gonna hurt like a punch in the…
"Did… did you just ask me to prom?" She asks quietly, pensively with that calculating look on her face. The one he has memorized too well; one blonde eyebrow arched, eyes narrowed slightly, lips pursed, wrinkles forming on her forehead.
"…yeah. Yeah," he says, a little bit more confidently the second time around.
She probes him with those knowing eyes and he's so sure she's gonna reject him before the unexpected happens.
She smiles that brilliant warm smile; the one that makes her whole face radiant and vibrant and glowy and just draws people to her.
"Sure, Ed. I'd love to," she beams before a blush reaches her cheeks. "I mean, yeah. Yeah, that sounds nice."
He blinks at her for a second and he swears, someone could hear his heart beating across that damn school.
She said yes she said yes holy fucking shit she actually said yes.
He did it. He actually fucking did it.
He's going to prom with Winry Rockbell.
Holy shit.
He's going to prom with Winry Rockbell.
His mind is racing a mile a minute, and he can't wait to rub it in Al's face, that shithead. He's over the moon, she said yes, he's in disbelief, maybe he's got a chance, but he somehow manages to regain composure in 0.025 seconds.
He grins back at her, ignoring the thumping in his chest and finding himself suddenly unable to waver from her gaze. "Cool."
—-
He walks with her as far as he can; making small talk and jabbing her in the ribs when she suggests she not wear too high of heels so her height won't surpass his at prom. She laughs at his evident height complex, slapping him across the shoulder when they meet an intersection and she turns to go to her class, sending a genuine smile across her shoulder as she leaves him. He returns the grin, though not before a slight red blush spreads across his face.
That only elicits another giggle from her as they part.
—
And the minute she pivots on her heel, sure that he is no longer with her, she can't contain it a second longer; she freaks, flails, and thrives.
Because that dork; that absolutely aggravating, obstinate, pigheaded moron finally did it. He'simpossible, really, and it gets him into trouble too often (she sometimes thinks she's the only one who can match his stubbornness and set him straight) and yet more kind-hearted and caring than he'd ever own up to. He's infuriating and somehow considerate and impossibly handsome at the same time, but that's why she fell in love with him.
She smirks to herself; took that idiot long enough.
There was a reason, after all, she turned Jamie down.
She's had her mind settled on a date, on Edward, for a long while now.