Disclaimer: I do not own these characters nor do I make any profit from these words.
In this story Roy and Winry have never met in person. They only know of each other because of Ed's big mouth. :) The pairing is going to be Roy/Winry later, but as of now the couple is a 21 year old Winry who is married to an OC. Any relevance to a real person dead or living is strictly coincidental.
Winry Smith, once Winry Rockbell, was a strong, confident, and steadfast woman who was a well-known auto-mail mechanic and only in her twenty first year. To the outside world she had everything she could ever ask for, but behind the walls she was suffering in silence. Winry was married to a decorated soldier who was an amazing man as far as the public knew. Smith didn't hit her, sure they had their fights, what newlyweds didn't, but he never raised a hand to her. He didn't cheat on her with other women despite their lack of sex life; Smith was a good man. And yet, Winry was miserable.
They had bumped into each other on one of Winry's many trips to Central to patch up Ed's auto-mail. They had kept in contact over the years; making time to meet up for dinner whenever she was in Central, Smith sneaking off duty to run to the nearest phone booth and call her. They could talk about anything, no matter the subject.
The young blond longed for passion, but passion was not Smith's strong suit anymore. Sure when they were younger and before they were married he was like a teenager. He couldn't get enough of her and she was captivated by him. Smith was her first true love, Winry didn't count Ed since that was puppy love, and Smith was her one and only sex partner. She couldn't get enough of him and he couldn't get enough of her.
Then the Lior uprising happened and Smith was called off to the battle. Ed had told her he would try to keep an eye on Smith, but there's only so much one small fry can do. Smith came home in one piece, and with a few scars, but it was the mental wounds that took the toll. After they got married Winry was on eggshells most days, worried of doing something that would send his mind back to the war. As time moved on their talks grew shorter and shorter while his trips to battle grew more and more frequent. Winry understood that he had ghosts that haunted him, and she still loved him. However, as time dragged on she began to question if she was still 'in' love with him.
Winry sighed deeply as she sat in their house in Central. She missed Ed and Alphonse. A smile played across her lips for a moment at the thought of them, then it was gone. The two of them were never anywhere long enough for her to be able to call them. Ed had swore to Smith on their wedding day that if he ever struck or cheated or did anything to hurt Winry he would personally shove his auto-mail foot up Smith's ass. Smith never did and probably never would, but on nights like this as Winry sat alone in the quiet, she almost wished he would.
If he hit her or cheated on her then she would have a valid, unquestionable reason to leave him. No one would badger her about it; they would just nod and give her a smile or kind word. The dejected blond knew that wouldn't be the case if she were to leave him now. No, everyone would just look down on her for leaving a decorated war veteran without giving her a chance to explain.
Winry felt like she was slowly dying, becoming frozen in place in the tense atmosphere that made up their house. After all, this wasn't a home. Homes don't feel like this. Homes feel welcoming and full of love, not uneasy peace that threatened to shatter at the wrong word or phrase. The brightly colored decorations she had picked for the house did little to brighten her mood as she looked at the mounted clock yet again.
Smith was out with his friends again, Winry assumed. He hadn't come home from work and she hadn't gotten a call from the office telling her he'd be late so out with the friends was the only thing left. He was probably drinking the night away despite the fact he had work tomorrow and that she was home alone.
Winry stretched and readjusted on the couch. She wiped her aching blue eyes and tried to continue reading her mechanics book. The words didn't seem to want to process in her troubled mind and the numbers swam in her vision. Groaning in frustration she blew a lock of blond hair out of her eyes and snapped the book shut. Glancing at the clock again she grew even more agitated; it was ten o'clock and he still wasn't home.
Had she been single she wouldn't be home either. She'd be out with the girls in Rush Valley drinking and having a good time. Talking about mechanics, different metals, oils, and men. Winry sighed in longing at the thought and then her sigh turned into a groan. She was not single, not living in Rush Valley, and not familiar with the city enough to walk about at night from a club since he had the car. Stranded once again she huffed and stormed into the kitchen. Grabbing some chocolate she thought of drowning her sorrows in some ice cream like she normally did. Getting a glass of water and sipping it she thought more on that. Why did she have to be the one who waited up for him? Glancing at the clock again her delicate eyebrow rose as a thought formed.
After chewing viciously on her lip Winry smirked and whipped out of the kitchen and upstairs. Yanking her closet open and surveying her clothes she decided on a snug pair of high-waisted black pants, a blood red button-up fitted short-sleeved shirt, and red pumps. She finished the look with a wide buckle belt that helped show off her small waist. Turning around on the spot she liked the look and pulled the pencil and screwdriver from her hair allowing it to fall past her waist in wavy tendrils. As Winry went into the bathroom to throw on some make-up she thought her plan over once more.
She'd walk around the block to the pub and get a drink or two. Smith should be home by the time she decided to come back and then he'd get a taste of his own medicine. For once in his drunken life he'd have to wait up for her, and when she walked in that door he'd remember why he should stay with her more often rather than leaving her for his friends and the bottle.
"Good plan." Winry muttered as she smirked and checked her reflection once more before grabbing her purse, locking the house, and setting off at a brisk, excited walk to the pub.