A/N: after the last Royai drabble, I needed something happy. So here's this Romance/Drama 3-parter. The last chapter will be uploaded on Valentine's Day.

I drew the inspiration for the first chapter from the Bachata song "Darte un Beso" (Give you a kiss) by Prince Royce. Royce - Roy? :D? :D? I'll see myself out

Enjoy!~

The epiphany crashed into him like a steam-engine train going full-speed. It was a paralyzing moment in his life. The moment placed him at an unfamiliar crossroads between following the rules and following what his heart told him.

His mind reasoned that it was foolish, a dead-end, and wasn't worth the hurt feelings. The implications that came with the epiphany not only jeopardized their efficient superior officer-subordinate relationship, but their long-standing friendship. But reminiscing their shared memories in the past, seeing her every day, and what they could do for the future only made it easier to silence those doubts.

For the first time since Ishval, his heart moved him to action and it was like jumping into a rabbit's hole.

The façade of the serial dating Colonel became harder and harder to maintain. He became increasingly interested in the leisure activities his Lieutenant partook and what she did in her time off. Because of his façade, his attempts at her attention weren't taken seriously.

Intrusive thoughts gathered at night time. The playful jabs and tension between them only enabled him further. His mind play the sounds of her voice calling out to him, "Harder, Colonel" in the sultry voice only she could manage. He would shake his head clear like it was sin, feeling the heat gather at his cheeks, only to silently welcome them.

Roy Mustang's realization that he was in love with Riza Hawkeye arose on a warmer-than-usual winter morning. The office became stuffier than they all had anticipated, but the First Lieutenant was the first to nonchalantly shed her military coat, revealing a dark, tight-knit thermal underneath. Like that, it became warmer for him without experiencing a change in the room's temperature.

Havoc spoke up, "Hey Lieutenant." Jean waited for her to look up and she hummed in response. "How about we take those sweater puppies to the dog park?"

The Colonel watched her stare at him, poker faced, expecting a rigid response from his stoic subordinate, "Jean, you don't have the requisites to handle these 'sweater puppies'."

'Jean? Jean?! Since when are they on first name basis?' Roy's face twisted and his brow furrowed in confusion.

The eruption of noise from the other men, hooting and laughing, from Hawkeye's response shook him from his thoughts. Havoc had admitted defeat by offering no response with an embarrassed grin, sinking in his chair. She smiled triumphantly.

First Lieutenant Hawkeye taking off her jacket was not the catalyst. He knew she was attractive before, even as they grew up together - from the first moment as the timid girl in the rickety Hawkeye Manor to the hardened solider he saw now. But he couldn't explain the twisting feeling in the depths in his gut about this interaction.

Another soldier decided to chide in, Roy decided not to look up. He wound himself up in his own thoughts that he could bore holes into the form in front of him.

"Get back to work." Hawkeye said in the stern voice he expected Havoc to receive.

'Is there something going on between them?' His eyes searched the paper in front of him, as if they contained the answer.

"Sir?" He looked up, unaware of the bewildered look on his face. "Is this apparel, specifically this shirt, within military policy or not?" She asked him.

Gripping his pen, he looked at her, then the shirt and immediately glanced back down. "Yes, it's fine." He tried to maintain composure, but there were curves and her figure and had she been working out? Specifically, her pectorals, because they were not perk-

"Colonel?" He nearly leaped out of his skin and to see his Lieutenant in front of his desk. She spoke again in a quieter voice, "Are you feeling well, sir? You look pale."

'What is this?' He felt tense. Was it in his head? Did he eat some moldy bread? He managed, "Yes, I'm fine." He tried everything within his power to relax. He figured resting conjoined hands on his desk instead of tightly gripping a pen and clenched fist would look more natural. "How can I help you?"

Hawkeye handed a small stack of papers to him. "Here's the report you wanted." She returned to her normal tone. He nodded - like normal - as he grabbed them from her. But Hawkeye had another sheet of paper in her hands that she was sliding around the edges with her thumb and index finger, as if she was fidgeting. "I'd also like to request leave on behalf of Second Lieutenant Havoc," Hawkeye raised her voice so it could carry, laying the leave form on his desk. "So that he may get the requisites to take my sweater puppies to the dog park."

The office erupted in uncontained laughter from his unit. He noticed Havoc's face turning bright red, but she upheld her stern front.

He gawked at her for a split second before forcing his mouth to form a half-cocked grin. "That's very funny, Lieutenant." It was subtle and miniscule, but he'd eat his own shoe if Roy didn't just see Hawkeye's lip twitch slightly upwards at the tight corner of her mouth. Without thought, Mustang continued, "There isn't enough leave in the world in order for me to approve this." The room erupted again in approval for his comment and his smirk was genuine.

"Right, sir." Her reaction that followed threw him through a loop. Before heading back to her seat, she looked down, raising her eyebrows briefly, and mumbled under her breath. "I don't know about that."

Suddenly, the air from his lungs emptied out of him and a sense of unfamiliar dread sunk his gut - unsure if she had just confirmed fraternization with Havoc or if he was imagining what she said.

That evening, Roy gazed pensively at the untouched plate of food in front of him. Figures blurred by him as time went by. He noticed the table move from restless tapping on the other side. He turned his head upwards and an annoyed, but pretty lady on a date glared at him.

"Are you just going to sit there and stare at your food?"

"No," he reassured, shifting in his chair. "You were telling me about your dog Bitsy."

The girl sighed loudly, "That was five minutes ago."

He shook his head, "That's right. I'm sorry, Elizabeth."

Her face contorted like he had just slapped her mother, scoffing, "I can't believe this! My name is Catrina!" Catrina got up from her chair, gathered her things and stormed off towards the exit.

Of course, it was. What was he thinking? He didn't even try to stop her.

His walk home under the streetlights was filled with a similar stupor. The thought of Riza and Jean in a relationship occupied his mind, but it bothered him the most. Jean was his buddy and Riza was one of his closest friend. As a lenient interpreter of the fraternization regulations, his friends deserved all the happiness in the world.

As he kicked a rock into a sewer opening, Roy mulled the thought around in his head that Jean just wasn't right for Riza. She joked once in a blue moon with an incredibly dry sense of humor, Roy knew she didn't go out much, she was rigid, and married to her work.

His fingers ran through his hair. Riza needed someone to take care of her, who's head wasn't in the clouds and got her jokes, if she ever made any. She needed someone who already understood her past, her dreams of the future, her nightmares, and the scars on her back. Someone like him.

A set of fireworks flared off in the distance and as the lights from it shone in his eyes, Roy Mustang had realized.

'Oh. '

He was in love.

Tl;dr: roy mustang has a cher from clueless moment