Chapter 3
"O' Lovely Stranger"
Winry rubbed her nose gingerly, eyes watering as she squatted by the small hearth. She rubbed her hands together before the flames, skin turned bronze by the warm light, eyes heavy lidded. She sighed heavily, and glanced over her shoulder at Ed and Al's room. The two of them had been in there for a while leaving her to her own devices, but she wasn't complaining. It gave her a chance to recollect her wits. She had finished her breakfast half heartedly, which now sat in her gut like a lead brick, and had had the intention of confronting Ed about the whole diary thing… but his obvious tact to avoid having a conversation with her was enough to give her cold feet.
"Stupid." She muttered and stood to her full height, stretching her legs lazily. What was left to do now? Four days in a house with two men was driving her stir-crazy, boredom had its nasty claws in her and she feared what would come from it. Perhaps she would busy herself with cleaning?
She looked around the living room for something to occupy her time, but to her aggravation found that Al had cleaned the mess he and Ed had made earlier. She had straightened the house nearly three times since the storm hit, there wasn't much for her to do really, and the realization made her even more infuriated than she had felt before.
Maybe a game?
They had attempted to play old maid the second night of the storm, hadn't they? Her face dropped. That had ended horribly. Ed had cheated the entire game and couldn't accept defeat, so she had beat him until he had surrendered.
"What do you mean a re-do?"
"Exactly what I said! This card sucks…"
"Why, you got the old maid? Haha!"
"This is so lame, I don't want to play anymore!"
"Oh come on, Ed! Its just a game."
"It's STUPID!"
It had made her feel good, but Ed had been peeved for quite some time afterwards. Games and Edward didn't exactly click. So what then?
She looked out the window. The snow raged on outside, flakes slanted in the bitter wind rapping against the glass like a thousand tiny pebbles. If it wasn't so nasty outside, they could have had some fun out there, like when they had been younger. The thought made her smile slightly.
It had been before Ed and Al's mother had died, before things had gotten complicated. They couldn't wait for the snow back then. Hours they would play, snow angles and badly attempted snowmen. She really missed those days.
A door slammed down the hall and Winry jumped, eyes wide. She glanced over her shoulder as Ed and Al walked sullenly back into the living room, Ed's arms laden with more books and magazines. Winry fumed.
"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" She barked as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Ed rolled his eyes. "These aren't yours." He held up a magazine with a smiling young woman on the cover.
Winry narrowed her eyes and stepped closer. She ripped the book from his hand and nearly fell over laughing. "Love Cutie? Edward, is this yours?! This is a girls magazine!"
Ed snatched it back, his cheeks pink. "Yeah, and--?"
Al chortled from beside them and gave a half hearted shrug as he wandered into the kitchen. "I'm going to clean out the fridge, see what's still good and what's not. Try not to kill each other, okay?"
Winry watched him go and muttered. "Why is it that he's sounding more and more like a father rather than a stupid kid?"
"Because he's not a stupid kid anymore, Winry." Ed grumbled as he took the magazine from her hands and threw it into a pile beside him on the couch after taking a seat with a huff.
She watched him carefully as he shuffled through the giant stack of kindling applications with a slight frown. Why was it that he had to be so moody? She wasn't stupid, she knew that Al had grown considerably from everything that they had been through. Ugh, his emotions were more of a rollercoaster than hers were, and she was the one with all the estrogen! She took a seat beside him and busied herself with the untouched pile on his lap. She looked over the cover at the smiling young faces and opened it randomly. It opened to the horoscopes and she snorted. If she had been into that sort of thing, she would have read it. But those kinds of things were silly and ridiculous, for weak and insecure girls.
Well… it couldn't hurt to skim it.
'Lucky color: Yellow'
She looked over to Ed, eyes falling over his smooth blonde locks tied back in its trademark braid. His hair had grown, the long rope of hair nearly down to his waist now. Yellow.
'Beware of storms!'
Winry's face dropped. Huh?
'A chance encounter with a stranger may lead to relationship problems!'
Winry raised her brows nearly to her hair line. Seriously? People actually believe this crap?
'Mind yourself with something goes missing! Keep your cool and it will return!'
… What?
'Today Venus inspires us to tell our feelings and to be honest with ourselves! Don't hold back!'
Winry swallowed the lump in her throat and looked to Ed, cheeks flaming. It was pretty dead on. Her diary had gone missing, and the snow storm… but what was this stranger bull? She shook her head and looked back to the page. Horoscopes were crap.
'Don't eat bacon.'
Infuriated, Winry ripped the magazine clean in two and stomped over to the fire and threw both halves in with sick satisfaction, face flaming hot from embarrassment. She watched the pages curl, cute animal forms of all the signs turning brown and catching fire. It was a coincidence. Horoscopes were for silly insecure girls. Anyone who took them seriously deserved to be led around by the nose like a lost puppy.
And that bacon was DAMN good.
She turned around to take up her place beside Ed again, but was caught by his gaze, intense eyes looking straight through hers. What was this? She could feel the acute sensation of pins and needles in her arms, her legs feeling wobbly. She was nervous. She had never seen that look on his face before.
Her stomach went cold and her breakfast threatened to resurface at a sudden thought.
Ohmigosh. Maybe he DID read my diary.
It was possible. The expression on his face confirmed that something had climbed up his ass. She tried a weak smile and took a step towards him before he got to his feet, magazines and books clattering to the floor. Winry wasn't sure how to react as he closed the distance between them and tucked a few strands of wild platinum hair behind her ear.
Breathe…. Remember to breathe, girl! She reminded herself.
"Winry…" He began, hand lingering at the tip of her ear.
Winry laughed nervously, a high pitched giggle as she batted his hand away. "Edward! What's with all the seriousness! I'm going to go see what Al's up to!"
Coward. Just run away…
Ed caught her hand in his and held her fast as she turned. They stood there for the space of a heart beat, Winry unable to turn to face him for fear that her face would betray everything she had built to keep her emotions in check, Ed's warm hand clasped tight around hers, gentle yet firm, pleading with her not to run away without ever having to utter the words.
"Winry--"
BANG! BANG!
The two jumped, Winry's hand slipping from Ed's grasp. She turned and looked to him with surprise. "Wha--?"
BANG BANG BANG!
"Is that the door?" Ed asked turning towards the foyer.
Winry's heart leapt into her throat and she hurried through the living room, Ed hot on her heels. He reached for her hand, halting her just inches from the front door. She turned to him with anger. What was his deal? Someone was out there!
"Winry, don't!"
"Are you serious?! If someone is out there, we have to let them in!"
Ed frowned as Winry ripped her hand from his and threw the large door open. Snow poured in through the door, soaked her feet and the bottom of her sweats. The wind was intense, bitter cold that sunk straight into her bones. Winry couldn't stop her teeth from chattering as she squinted her eyes against the slanted snow.
A hunched figure stood in their threshold, coat collar held up around his ears with blue tinged bare hands. He was soaked straight through his heavy jacket, frost adorning his bangs and the dark hair on his chin. Crystal blue eyes looked up with surprise, lips purple and quivering.
"Ah--!" Winry squeaked as he flopped forwards, crawling towards them until he managed to wrap his arms around Winry's legs. Her heart beat thunderously in her ears as she froze where she stood, unable to make her brain process what exactly her body was experiencing.
"T-T-Thank y-y-ou-u-u…" He muttered, face muffled in her sweatpants.
Edwards stalked past her and slammed the door shut, locking it before turning towards them. His face looked… strange.
"Lets get him to the living room, I'll grab some blankets and some dry clothes." He walked by her, shoulder lightly brushing hers before he called into the kitchen. "AL! Grab the kettle! We need to make something hot to drink!"
Winry watched his back before she looked down to the man clutching her for dear life. She gently pried him off her before she squatted down to look him in the eyes. "Are you… oh…"
His face was the color of cream, all hard angles and sharp planes. Handsome, to say the least. Long shaggy black hair clung to his eyebrows in clumps of ice, splashes of grey across his cheek. Frostbite?
He said nothing more, obviously because he was incapable of anything more than clattering his teeth. Winry offered him a warm smile, there would be time to figure out what the idiot had planned on accomplishing by going out in the middle of a damn blizzard later. "Let's get you warmed up."
