Winry was locked in the bathroom, sitting in the tub so that she could think alone. She had cried a little, but mostly it was resolve that washed over her as she thought through all of her options. Obviously, Ed was still with her because he had nowhere else to go-not because he loved her. In light of Roy taking an interest in Ed, she felt a little more comfortable doing what she was about to do. Ed will be okay. Roy will take care of him. So she steeled herself, scrambled to her feet, and emerged from the bathroom with a plan.
The next morning, Ed was curled up on the couch reading an old alchemy book when she slowly strode over in front of him and stood directly in his line of sight. After a moment, and realizing that she wanted to talk, Ed peered up from his book equal parts concern and confusion. Winry was sure that he wanted to talk about last night, but she couldn't let him because then it would be that much harder to say these words.
"Winry…I—"
"Wait Ed, I really think that I should—"
"No really, I don't know what I did, but if I was out of line last night—"
"It's not about that—wait no it kinda is but—"
"Because we can talk about it and work it out whatever it is—"
"Hold up I need to say that—"
"You know that I love—"
"ED I NEED YOU TO MOVE OUT!"
Winry finally screamed before he could tell her he loved her. She didn't think she could stand to hear the lie one more time.
The silence that fell after her declaration was suffocating. Ed stared at her blankly, unable to register what she was actually saying. She almost took it back at the stunned look on his face. Almost. But she reminded herself that this was for both of them and crossed her arms in what she thought was a more convincing stance. The silence extended until she felt like she had to explain, or at least be the one to break it. Ed was getting a stubborn set to his mouth, and it seemed prudent to head off this argument before it could begin.
"Ed…I know, okay?" She began softly, looking anywhere but at his face. "I know you don't really want to be here with me. " She hugged herself and settled her gaze on the floor, "So…" She took an unsteady breath, "So it's time for you to leave. I think."
And then she dared to pit her resolve against those golden eyes.
His eyes were curiously blank, not unlike the night before. He looked sad, but not surprised, which sent a flash of anger running through her veins and propelled her to say the rest of her speech,
"I deserve more than someone who doesn't really love me. So do you, for that matter. We can't go on pretending that this is what makes us happy." She clenched her fists by her side, "You. You don't make me happy." She turned briskly and walked through the hall to the stairs, but paused briefly at the bottom to say, "Please be out of my house by tonight. I can't stand it anymore." Before escaping back to her bathroom, gritting her teeth against the tears that threatened to run in rivulets down her cheeks.
The door slammed from the other side of the house and Ed sat, wondering what on earth had happened between yesterday afternoon and this morning to provoke him being kicked out of the house. His next thought was somewhere along the lines of, "Where the fuck am I supposed to go?" He stood slowly, listening for any sound of movement from Winry upstairs. He couldn't hear anything, so he assumed that she was hiding until he was gone. Which meant she was serious. He sighed and blew his hair out of his face. "I guess I'll pack my stuff." With some despair he eyed the contents of the room, "What's here that even belongs to me?"
Roy wasn't really surprised to get a call from Winry that evening. He knew that she had come to trust him. She sounded upset, so he assumed that Ed had instigated another fight and, like a gentleman, urged her to come talk to him about it. Anything that kept Edward lazy and unwilling to come back to the military had to be averted as much as possible. But when Winry arrived at his door, crying and incoherent, he suddenly wondered what he had gotten himself into. She threw herself into his arms and hugged him while he patted her back awkwardly and gently steered her to the couch. He brought her a glass of wine, and ¾ of the way through it she calmed down enough to actually explain what was going on.
She stared into her glass, and he sat down on the couch next to her with the bottle in his hand, ready to refill her if she started in with the hysterics again.
"We broke up, me and Edward." She started, almost mumbling her voice was so low.
"What?" he asked, his voice almost cracking on the question. Broken up? What is he doing?
She nodded and set her empty glass on the table, "And now I don't know where he is. He's gone."
Roy started drinking straight out of the bottle. He could feel all of his dreams and aspirations slipping away as the vision of Edward disappearing into the night swam into his head. Where on earth would he go?
Wordlessly, he handed the bottle over to Winry, who began taking long draughts as the silence lengthened between them. Roy could tell she was waiting for some sort of consolation or words of comfort, so he haltingly touched her shoulder and told her, "Don't worry. He's a smart guy. I'm sure he's okay, wherever he is." But even he could here the bitter edge to his tone. Damn him. He's going to ruin everything. She set the bottle on the table, empty, just like the glass next to it, and caught his hand before he could draw it back from her shoulder and fixed him with a stare that he would describe as piercing if he couldn't see the alcohol beginning to hit her with a vengeance. "Roy. Please." She was gripping his hand in both of hers, and she was tearing up again. "Please. You have to protect him. You have to find him, and help him. Please promise me." Her voice took on a desperate edge, "Promise me."
Roy looked at her and saw the ferocious gleam in her eye that told him if he refused he might get hit. So he placed his remaining hand on top of the stack of hands and solemnly said, "Winry, I absolutely promise to protect Ed and take care of him. You don't have to worry anymore."
She smiled a boozy smile and then threw her arms around him and kissed him.
Roy was so taken aback that he didn't react for a moment. But when it did occur to him that Winry was kissing him, and pretty enthusiastically…well the gentlemanly part of his psyche was never really all that big anyway, and it couldn't be denied that Winry was exceptionally good at kissing…so maybe there wasn't really any harm in just some kissing, right? Besides, he thought as he ran his fingers through her hair and pulled her across the couch on top of him, it wasn't like she and Ed were still together, was it?
Then she started undoing the buttons of his shirt and spreading kisses down his chest and he lost the capacity for rational thought completely. His fingers went to work on her clothes, tugging the buttons apart and running his hands all over that creamy white skin. She sighed into another kiss, and he could feel the longing and frustration and arousal in her urgency. It was such an unintended, and delicious turn on. For some reason, knowing that Ed hadn't been taking care of her, and wondering how exactly Edward Elric made love got all tangled up in his head.
Suddenly, all he wanted to do was get Winry to tell him he did it better.
He scooped her up and pushed her back so that she was underneath him. Feeling her all along his body and through the thin fabric of his slacks elicited a small moan as he captured her mouth with a kiss again. Her hands were eagerly exploring and it was obvious she was a little intimidated by what she felt. Her eyes grew wide as he leaned his full body into her, and she started mewling softly when he cupped her breasts and reached around to pull her bra off. He teased her nipples gently, completely absorbed by her facial expressions, and this electric thrill that the sense of competition had ignited in his libido. All he wanted was to strip her and fuck her senseless over the side of this couch; but he held himself back, wanting to frustrate and tease her until she begged him for it.
So far she wasn't disappointing him.
As he trailed his lips along her jawline, gently skimming his hands along her waist, she began to squirm and her breathing got labored and frustrated. Her hands snaked over to his belt and she started undoing it before he captured her wrists and restrained them above her head with a smirk. Patience, he thought, is not a quality Edward possesses as he leaned down to whisper in her ear,
"All good things, to those who wait."
He bent down and swirled his tongue around her nipple, while keeping a firm grip on her wrists with his arm. His other hand deftly unclasped the front of her jeans, and the sound of her zipper being undone caused her to stiffen under his hands. He glanced back up at her face; she was suddenly tense and nervous. He brushed a light kiss across her lips and relished in the way her body melted under his attentions. Slowly, he let go of her arms, fixing her with a stare that made her leave her arms above her head, and pulled her jeans off. He hooked her panties around his finger and slid them down and off too.
She shivered as the psychological disadvantage of being naked while he was still half-clothed registered. He set about teasing her even further, and he smiled at how easy it all was. She responded to everything like she had never been touched before. Clearly Edward is a less than gentle lover.
By the time he got himself naked and slipped inside her, he had forgotten why he was supposed to think this was a bad idea.
