Urgh! I know I made you wait this long, but I'm a slow writer [I'll try to be faster next time!]. Okay, this is officially Elricest. It's mild of course [at least for now].

Warnings: Elricest, a simple plot, grammatical errors, funny sentences, spelling errors.

**I need a beta-reader.**

New Home

"N-Niisan... Are you sure all these are necessary?" asked Al in wonder, standing at the once empty living room of their new apartment, that now was filled with mountains over mountains of boxes of new furniture. They'd had no possessions, except for a few sets of Ed's clothes and the silver pocket watch the older male used to carry, now they had not only a new apartment, but all brand new furniture, books, beds, and even Al finally had clothes of his own. After years of wandering around in Amestris from city to city they'd finally a place of their own, each of them got his own bedroom, his own bed, his own... things! Al had things!

He was so excited, so very excited, yet when the men that they'd hired to collect their new purchases and bring them up to the apartment kept coming with another sofa, another chair, another bookcase, and kept coming back, Al started to feel sorry for them since they looked really tired.

"Of course, Al! It's our new home that we're talking about here." Ed said with a big smile on his face, slapping his brother's back "There, put it there." he told the man who was carrying a large (heavy) wooden chest of drawers "And be careful! Don't drop it!" he yelled at them. The men groaned. Al sweat-dropped, Ed had bought too many things... They were only two people after all, they really didn't need all that.

"A package for Mr. Edward Elric." a voice came from the opened door. They looked toward it to see a delivery man, carrying a large box over his shoulder. Al narrowed his eyes and gave Ed a very suspicious look. Ed laughed nervously and approached to the man.

"Yeah, that's me." he signed on the others notepad and pointed at the floor "Here, put it on the floor." he said. The man nodded and stepped inside, putting the package carefully on the floor, before looking up, a little confused at the obvious mess in the apartment, and the sight of sweaty half naked men who were actually dragging themselves all around the apartment to put the new furniture right where Ed wanted it. "What... are you staring at?" the older Elric asked in a low threatening tone, which made the poor delivery man jump in his spot.

"N-Nothing!" the man hurried to say "Have a good day!" he said before making his way out of the door and down the stairs.

Al sighed "Was that really necessary, niisan?" he pouted. Ed shrugged.

"Here, this is the last one." one of the men said as they put the new sofa right in the middle of the living "Finally! Ahah!" they all said simultaneously and were about to sit on the sofa, until-

"Don't sit on my couch, I'm paying you to work not to relax!" Ed barked. The men sighed and made their way to Ed, as the shorter male took out his wallet and wrote a check for them. He handed them the check and watched as their eyes gleamed with joy at sight of the number that was written on it.

With a smirk on his face, one of them shoved the piece of paper into the pocket of his jeans and gave Ed a goodbye salute"Nice working with ya." he said, before heading to the door. The other men walked right behind him, barely "So much energy from such a small bean kid..." one of them muttered as they reached the stairwell.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" the building shook, as the scared men ran out of it into the streets. "COME BACK HERE AND LET ME SHOW YOU WHAT THIS SMALL BEAN CAN DO!" Ed shouted after them, making them run even faster. He paused then to breath, looking miserable.

Al smiled at him sheepishly, patting his auto-mail shoulder "Don't take it too hard, niisan, remember I'm still shorter than you." he reminded. Ed looked back at him, calming down a bit as he straitened his posture, blinking at Al. Somehow it seemed like... No, this couldn't be...

He stepped closer to Al until their foreheads touched... Wait, their foreheads touched? His eyebrows furrowed into a frown. It'd been only a week since Al had woken up, and last time he checked he was the taller one between them. Al still wasn't taller than him, but he was on the right way to be. Was this supposed to happen? Al was a growing healthy boy so it probably was. Ed's frown deepened, he didn't remember himself growing this fast at the age of ten. That was... annoying. Why did everyone have to be taller than him! No, it wasn't because he refused to drink milk, right? He shuddered. Just the mere thought of that taste... blech! he stuck out his tongue.

Al was a little confused from the faces Ed was making, so he just bypassed his brother and closed the main door behind them "Niisan, are you okay?" he asked as he took off his shoes. Ed muttered something to himself as he made his way toward the package that the delivery man had brought, he ripped the warpper around it and opened the carton to reveal a row of books, being organized neatly inside it. When would they stop studying? Probably never, so he'd decided to start and collect alchemy books that hopefully one day woud be a part of their own private library. He was ambitious, and yes, he knew it, but it would be so cool!

He took out one of the books and ran his left hand over the smooth hard cover, smiling to himself. "Niisan?" Al called, as he plopped on their new sofa. Ed looked over his shoulder with a smile, he put away the book and walked over the sofa to sit beside Al.

"Yes, little brother?" he asked feeling the soft texture of the upholstery underneath his flesh hand. Their new home. It'd been awhile since they had some place they could come back to. It was like a dream to have all that they had wished for, he felt so strange... so very strange... was that happiness?

"I just..." Al began, but then shrugged "This place is so big! I can't believe we're living in Central now!" he exclaimed. Ed laughed. Well, he was still committed to his job as a state alchemist so they couldn't live too far away. Hopefully, everything would calm down now that Dante and the other Homonculi were gone, but... so was their father. They hadn't even gotten the chance to know him so well. At least Alphonse had talked to him a little before, but it really hadn't felt special, not like he had hoped for. That man... He was their father technically, but since he hadn't been there when they'd most needed him, being around him felt like being around a stranger. Now he was... he'd disappeared.

Frowning at Al's saddened expression, Ed scooted closer to his brother and cocked his head so that he could see Al's face better "Al?" he questioned "What are you thinking about?"

The younger boy shook his head "Nothing important..." his eyes looked a bit glossy as his gaze fell on Ed's auto-mail arm. This was the arm his brother had given in order to save his life, he felt guilty he'd promised so many times he'd get Ed's arm back. Now, it was impossible. His hand rose from his lap to cover Ed's mechanic hand. It was cold, yet smooth to the touch. Looking up, he saw Ed's surprised expression "I'm sorry, niisan." he lowered his gaze back to their hands, as his hand closed on Ed's and held onto it tightly before reluctantly letting go a few moments afterwards.

Golden eyes grew bigger at the apology. Ed didn't care about his arm, the only thing that mattered right then was that Al was back and safe. "Stop apologizing!" he grabbed the retreating hand in his, his lips curling into a deep scowl "I don't care living like this for the rest of my life, I'm pretty used to it anyway, so stop worrying about it." his eyes burned in determination as they locked on Al's. The younger Elric just sat there, his eyes slowly being filled by warm moisture, it stung, but he still insisted to not shed any tear. No, not now in front of his brother. Both of them always tried to keep those hurt feelings inside, he really... shouldn't cry now.

He sniffled "...But niisan-"

"No, Al. Just don't think about it." Ed said firmly. Usually, Al wouldn't let his brother order him around like that, but at the moment he found himself nodding at the command. Ed didn't seem quite satisfied at the brief nod, as the left corner of his mouth sank even more downward into a deep wrinkle "Don't you realize...? You're the..." he paused, as Al looked up at him. Their eyes met, and he found himself being drawn forward, his hand leaving Al's as his arms crawled around the younger boy, as though on their own. They closed around Al as he let his head lean against the others shoulder "...You're my most precious... thing in the all world." he whispered into Al's neck.

Al accepted the hug, a bit surprised from the unusal show of affection. The loving words made him gasp, but he hurried to return Ed's hug nonetheless, pulling the older male closer to his chest. He understood, now, or at least thought he did. Ed shifted closer, burying his nose into the crook of Al's neck as he hugged the thin body in his arms even tighter, squeezing. They had... never hugged like this before. Of course, Al didn't mind, but he hadn't seen it coming from Ed. This was... a little strange.

"You're mine as well, niisan." he said after a few silent minutes where they just sat their holding each other. Al could see from the corner of his eye that Ed's eyelids were already down, it really looked like the other was asleep, but he knew better. The hug seemed like it would never end, but finally Ed pulled away, avoiding Al's searching eyes, as a faint blush made its way to his cheeks. Al smiled a little at the sight.

"Don't tell Winry, okay?"

He nodded.

"Not the colonel either."

"Don't worry, niisan, I won't tell anyone. It's our secret now!" he promised.

Their secret? Ed blinked, but then a wide grin spread over his face "Alright then!" he exclaimed, and jumped to his feet. Al sweat-dropped from the sudden change of moods. "Let's go out to eat!" Ed said, suddenly full of energy from an unknown source.

"But niisan, shouldn't we buy some groceries and eat here now that we have a house?" Al asked in wonder.

Ed raised an eyebrow "But neither of us know how to cook." he said. Maybe if Winry didn't go back so soon they could manage something, but as for now, Al was the only one who actually knew how to use the stove, and he wasn't a great cook either.

"So we'll learn." Al said "I think we have a few cooking books here, right? Cooking is science too, niisan." he told Ed, starting to plan in his head what he could cook for dinner. It would be so much fun! He could bake a lot of apple pies just like Gracia's! He better call her right now and get the recipe! Alchemists could be great cooks if they just believed in themselves. Ed rolled his eyes, he really didn't want to eat another one of Al's 'famous' stews. Maybe now that the younger boy had a sense of taste, he could improve his cooking, but not right now, please, he was starving here, and besides-...

Suddenly, they both looked up at the closed door when a series of knocks were heard from the other side of it. Blinking, Ed stepped forward and opened the door to see second lieutenant Jean Havoc standing at their door with a cigarette hanging between his lips as usual. The young soldier was wearing his casual clothes, which meant this must have been his day off. What Ed didn't understand was: what Havoc was doing there.

Al stepped behind his brother, peeking over the others shoulder at their visitor who just stood there and gave them a short salute. "Hi, Jean, you came to visit us?" he smiled up at the much taller soldier. In the past week, Havoc had really supported them. He was a good person and Al considered him as a friend. Of course, they hadn't told anybody yet where their new apartment would be, except maybe...

"The colonel..." Ed muttered gloomily.

"What was that, niisan?" Al asked.

Ed hurried to wave his hands dismissively at his little brother's curious face "N-Nothing! H-Hey, Havoc! We were just about to leave the house, right Al?" he asked quickly, Al nodded his head a little confused. Havoc just rose an eyebrow in wonder, and only then seemed the two brothers to notice the package he was holding in his hands. It looked quite heavy, too.

"But it would be rude to go now, niisan." Al said and opened the door a little further "You can come in, Jean! Please make yourself at home!" he said excitedly. It was the first time he had ever said such a thing, and it felt good. The taller male muttered his thanks through the cigarette in his mouth as he stepped inside and put the package on the floor. Ed looked a bit annoyed they were suddenly 'interrupted', yet a little curious to know now what was in the package. He hoped it was for them.

"Oh, wow, this is nice." Havoc looked around the new apartment "Here, I got something for you two. It's for yer new home." he said and pointed at the closed package. If Al had a tail, it would have been wiggling from side to side right then, since the boy looked so excited. Havoc chuckled as Ed's sulk was wiped away from his face and he joined the excitement around the mysterious package. The wrapper around the medium sized carton was ripped off to reveal a large amount of fresh fruits and vegetables. Al gasped; there was a cabbage, and apples, and even mangoes! This was a great present! This way they didn't have to go buy it themselves.

He smiled brightly at the soldier, as a pinkish color sneaked to his cheeks "Thank you, Jean! This is great! Isn't it, niisan?" he asked eagerly, holding a small watermelon in his hands. Havoc chuckled and ruffled Al's dirty blond hair as the young boy giggled, holding the fruit to his chest. Yesh, he wanted to taste all these! It had been ages since he got to eat a watermelon!

Ed didn't say a thing, though, as he looked down at the package's contents in disappointment. That was it? But Al looked so happy. He frowned, "Stupid Al, you'll drop the watermelon if you keep holding it like that." he told Al and took a hold of the large fruit.

"No, niisan, I'll be fine!" Al protested and pulled the watermelon closer to him. Ed growled and was about to yell, that because he was older he should be the one who decided about those things, but then something, or someone tugged on his braid and he yelped.

"UH! What's this? Big brother is jealous?" Havoc smirked through his cigarette, sending his large hand to ruffle Ed's hair as well.

In three words: very bad move.

"Jean, are you okay?" exclaimed Al, as he reached the injured soldier who were laying at the moment on the floor, counting stars. "I'm sorry!" he apologized, even though he didn't do anything wrong. Ed only pouted like a little kid as he tied his hair into a low ponytail. Damn it, did Havoc have to come right now to annoy them? Couldn't the soldier come other time? He grumbled to himself. Al shot him a glare as he helped Havoc to stand up again. "Niisan, that wasn't very nice, Jean bought food for us, the least you could do is to thank him." he said with a frown.

Havoc held the side of his injured head, taking out another cigarette from his shirt pocket "That's okay, Alphonse, I should have seen it coming." he smirked as he lit a smoke. Ed snorted and crossed his arms, as Al just ignored Havoc's words and Ed's childish behavior and picked the watermelon from the floor again, inspecting it. The apartment fell silent.

"Well, I think that I'll be going now..." Havoc said, looking back from Ed to Al, and from Al to Ed, waiting for something to happen.

Silence.

Really, Ed didn't mind to see Havoc going away. This was what he'd wanted from the start, what he was worried about was that Al wasn't talking. Knowing his little brother, the silence was very dangerous at time like this. But then, Al finally looked up at Havoc "Thanks for the fruits. Come visit us again." he said brightly, holding the melon to his chest. Havoc smiled and waved at them as he stepped outside the still opened door.

"I will, I will." he promised "Bring Alphonse to the office sometime, uh Ed?" he said, before closing the door behind him, leaving them alone again. Ed approached the door, and locked it after Havoc, before looking back at Al, who was busy dragging the package of fruits and vegetables to the kitchen all by himself.

"Hey, you shouldn't do it alone, let me help and then we can go out to eat." he said and was about to help Al, when the other boy just ignored him and just kept pushing the carton on the floor. "Al?..." Ed frowned, ducking so he could peek at Al's face. A small cute pout graced the younger boy's lips, as he finally reached the kitchen, a bit breathless as he dropped to his knees and managed to push the heavy box next to the counters. He couldn't understand how Havoc had succeeded to carry it all the way up the stairs. It was so hard only dragging it! He looked around, excepting to find Ed still being standing there, but when there was no sign of his older brother in the kitchen, he poked his head out into the living room.

Now, it wasn't his fault Ed had been such a jerk all week to people who just tried to help them out. Today was the last straw. Al maybe hadn't shown it, but he was angry at his brother's behavior, Ed had done it. A small thank-you couldn't hurt anybody, right? he looked around, unable to spot Ed anywhere. Was this kind of a trick to make him apologize again about something he didn't do? Well, he wasn't going to fall for it. Not today. With that decision being made, Al walked back into the kitchen and crouched next to the package that Havoc had brought them.

After inspecting the fruits and smelling each, he picked a large mango from the pile. It looked fresh and ready for eating. Looking back at the kitchen entrance from the corner of his eye, he stood up. Still no signs of Ed, he noted. Fine. Let the other sulk in the corner if he wanted to, Al wasn't going to feel sorry for him. And so, the younger Elric peeled his mango and cut it to pieces, very messed pieces, but at least he tried his best. Since he had gotten his body back, his fingers shook when he tried to write or do complicated things such as cutting a fruit nicely. Maybe it would pass with time, he hoped it would.

He sat at the table to eat his mango slowly. It was already close to the early afternoon and Ed's offer to go out had been forgotten. It wasn't like Al wasn't hungry, it was just that he was still mad at his older brother, or at least looked like it. In truth, he was pretty much a forgiving person, so he couldn't stay mad at Ed for too long. And 'too long' wasn't months, or days, not even hours. 'Too long' was minutes.

Half an hour passed, and he went to the living room and sat there alone for a little while. Still, waiting for Ed to show up and say he was sorry. No one showed up, and nothing really happened, and he started to wonder where was his stubborn brother, anyway. Must be in his room for sure - was the obvious assumption. Yet, he didn't move from the sofa. He didn't see it right to go and apologize because he was angry (although he'd stopped being angry a long time ago). Edward had to grow up already.

So he waited and waited. An hour passed, and then two. It was starting to get dark outside, but he was still sitting on the couch, hugging his legs close to his chest. His determined look had been long ago replaced by a frown, and his eyes weren't opened widely in alarm as they'd used to be. Now, they lookedliddedand tired.

Slowly, those eyes were closed as his forehead hit his knee and soft snores made their way out of his mouth. Ten minutes later, a certain blond decided to show up. He'd been indeed in his new room all this time, putting away the books he had bought along with other few things. Somehow he understood why Al was so angry. Havoc was one of the people who'd been very kind to them since they'd return from the lost city. It was understandable that the younger boy grew attached to the soldier. Ed appreciated the attention, too, but only to some extent.

He rose an eyebrow as he scanned the living room. It was too quiet... except this one thing: a snore? He tiptoed toward the sofa stealthily, poking his head so he could take a better look of the source of this snoring sound. What he found was no other than his little brother, head resting on top of crossed arms, which sat on bent legs. He would be sore if he kept sitting in this position and Ed knew it. Very quietly, the older boy climbed onto the sofa and sneaked to sit next to his sleeping brother. Al looked even younger in his sleep, he tended to sleep very deeply too. An earth quake could pass unnoticed by him and he would still be sleeping peacefully, like nothing had happened. Sometimes, Ed used this tendency to his own advantage, and other times he was worried something bad would happen to Al without the younger to even notice.

Right then, bad thoughts weren't there to interfere him as he just sat there and watched Al for long minutes. A sad smile touched his lips when the other started to mumble unintelligent things in his sleep, and brought his flesh hand to tuck some strands behind Al's ear before leaning down, his lips ghosting briefly over the soft skin of the others forehead before pressing against it for a short precious moment. It was only at times like these, that he could bring himself to show such affection. He absolutely meant it, earlier that day, that Al was his most precious thing, it was actually more than that. He didn't know what he would do without Alphonse, it was like his brother was his missing half.

"Nnn... niisan..."

He flinched, watching wide eyed as a soft smile tugged Al's lips a little upward, but that's it. Al kept sleeping. Sighing in relief, Ed moved away to sit on the other side of the sofa and waited. He didn't have to wait for long until Alphonse finally showed signs of waking up. It was getting late by then, and the apartment turned a little darker.

Blond eyelashes, which rested until then on a bed of soft fair skin, stirred a little before they were lifted upward to reveal olive gems. Al let out a grunt as he rose his head from his arms and yawned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He was oblivious to the person who was sitting next to him and just stretched his arms above his head. He wondered how long had he been waiting for his stubborn brother. His head turned to his left, as though invisible magnet urged him to look at that direction. There, sat a silent Edward, a sulk decorating his lips, and it was obvious to Al, for some reason, that he had been there for sometime now.

A gentle smile appeared on his lips "Were you waiting for me?" he asked in triumph. Why was the thought of Ed swallowing his pride to come and apologize so satisfying? Al didn't know, but he couldn't deny it. He always felt important whenever Ed came to him and admitted he did something wrong.

"Of course, I was." was the reluctant response, which made Al giggle a bit at his success.

This was enough for him to start to talk with his brother again, but there was still something that was bothering him "Jean was really nice to us all this week, right? I wish we could thank him somehow for all he has done for us." he said kindly. Another annoying thing that had happened this week too, Ed thought to himself; Al started to call Lt. Havoc by his first name. They weren't that close, so why? Al was too thankful, too nice.

His expression turned into a scowl "Really, Al, it wasn't like we asked of him to do all those stuff." he said, sounding a little hurt without meaning to. Luckily, Al didn't notice the change in his tone and just glared at him.

"Niisan!" he whined "What has happened to you? You weren't very nice to anyone these past few days!" he accused. The truth was that Edward hadn't seem to be very nice to anyone since Al had woken up. Well, anyone but Al. This was a little... strange. Again.

Ed just crossed his arms "This isn't my fault everyone tends to try to be helpful all the time now! This is my vacation, Al! Our vacation..." he muttered softly "We can manage alone." he grumbled. Al blinked. Was Ed being...?

He grinned "Are you jealous?" he asked with a knowing smile "Nee niisan?" he teased. The surprised look he had earned made him smile even wider, his big brother looked so cute being embarrassed! And it was so easy to tease him too, albeit a bit dangerous...

"HOW DARE YOU TO TALK THAT WAY TO YOUR HONORABLE AND KIND ONIISAN!" Al could swear he could see trails of smoke coming out of Ed's nostrils. He hurried to sink back against the sofa, trying to make himself look more smaller as he tried to get out of this kind of situation. It wasn't wise to fight with Ed twice at the same day.

"Hehe, I didn't mean it that way! It is okay to be jealous once in awhile!" he tried to make things better. It was so obvious Ed was being jealous. Probably from all the attention Al had been receiving instead of him since last week. He snickered.

Ed examined Alphonse's expression and narrowed his eyes when his eyes landed upon the others smiling mouth. His own mouth opened as he inhaled oxygen deeply into his lungs, as though he had something really big to say, but then he sighed. Al didn't know what he was talking about anyway... he crossed his arms "Well, If you must know, I'm not jealous, I am hungry." he muttered. Al blinked "So let's go out to eat." Edward muttered before getting off the sofa and making his way toward the main door. "Don't just stare at me, com'on!" he called.

Al, who was still in shock that Ed actually decided to just drop their arguement, nodded briefly before following his brother. What was this? Where was the tantrumEdward was supposed to be throwing at him at this very moment?

They made their way silently down the stairs and out of the building, none of them daring to talk. They simply were at a loss of words, being drawn into deep thinking. Ed looked like he was about to explode, while Al just kept wondering, not really paying attention to where he was walking. The street was quiet, there were a low number of people walking around, cars barely passing by. The streetlights were turned on already, even though it was still bright. The sky turned into a darker shade of blue, clear of clouds. It was a bit cold too, yet very pleasant. Al smiled to himself, giggling when he noticed people that passed by them seemed to recognize Ed but not him. He was sure that now no one would mistook him for being the state alchemist.

"Niisan, is it far?" he asked, after a walk of ten long minutes "I'm hungry." He didn't recognize that region, it was a part of the town he had never been at. The lights were dim, even at those hours, a long wide sidewalk full of stores, cafes, restaurants, and especially the crowd. There were many people there, families and couples, taking a walk or just enjoying their time by doing some shopping or eating and drinking. It was really a beautiful place, did Ed...? Were they about to eat here?...

"Nope! Here we are!" Ed announced, pointing at the entrance of one of the restaurants. There was the name of the restaurant in big red letters just above the door. It said: Lew's. It looked fancy and expensive, the kind of a restaurant Al would expect to see couples on their date going to, or at least some kind of a special occasion like a birthday. He had never been to those kinds of restaurants before, but sometimes he dreamt about taking a girl to eat in a similar place. Of course being with his brother instead of a girl wasn't a disappointment, yet he must admit, he didn't expect Ed to actually... This seemed like it was planned, too. Was it really?

They walked toward the entrance, Ed being the first person to move and open the door for them both. Al accepted the gesture as he passed by his brother with a confused smile. This must be an apology for Ed's behavior all this week, Al thought, it must have been. He knew how Ed had hard time to express his feelings, he was much better just showing them, and what was better than taking his beloved cute little brother to a fancy restaurant? Al smirked, he shouldn't be thinking highly of himself, he had been told he was cute just too many time.

As they sat down at a table near one of the large windows there, Al noticed something: Niisan's face looks a little pink. The other looked flustered too. It was... cute in a way, but Al wished he knew what made his brother blush like that "Hello, welcome to Lew's, I'm your waitress for tonight. Here are your menus~!" he blinked, looking over his shoulder to see a young black haired woman wearing the restaurant uniform. It was a short dark dress with a grey apron on top of it with the logo of the restaurant. She handed them the menu and waved goodbye before she continued to the next table. Al looked back at Ed. The other seemed a little more serious now as he inspected the menu. Maybe it was only Al's imagination, but maybe...

He cleared his throat "This looks like a nice place..." he said casually as he picked up his menu and started to examine the many titles of dishes the restaurant served.

"Hehe, it is, isn't it?" Ed replied with what sounded to be a mild embarrassed laughter, something that was very rare, a side of Ed not many got to know. It made Al smile a little, since he thought it was cute. Again. Cute. However, this same thought made him feel uncomfortable too, and he shifted a little in his chair nervously playing with the edge of his right ear with his fingers, a habit he'd developed since the time their mother was alive. He always did it when he was nervous, impatient or even just bothered. Something was going on... Edward was being too nice. It's not like the older boy was never nice, but... "Al? Something's wrong?" came the worried voice of concerned Ed.

"No." was Al's response, but the younger didn't look up this time he just kept reading the menu, only then noticing the fat price that was attached to each title. Could they really afford it? Ed was a little too hasty to spend the taxpayers' money, wasn't he? but since he was a state alchemist, Al guessed they had enough money to eat there... and only for this special occasion (that probably was Ed's apology to him). "Niisan...?" he called then, lifting his gaze to meet with his brother's golden eyes "Is this why you were angry?... Did you plan to take me here?" he sighed, leaning his head on both his hands. Ed was too easy to read sometimes, and it made sense too. Havoc had come just when they'd been about to leave.

The blush that soon inhabited the older males cheeks approved that theory, but it still didn't explain about Ed's change of behavior throughout the week. Maybe it was just Al's imagination after all? "Don't talk nonesense, Al. Don't you like it here?" Ed asked in a demanding tone.

"Of course, I like it, niisan!"

"So shut up and tell the waitress your order."

"Uh?" Al blinked and looked up to see the waitress waving at him sheepishly as though saying: 'Oopsy, interrupting something?'.

Oh that was not what Alphonse had expected to get as an answer... Ed was obviously hiding something, but what? Nothing made sense. If Ed were jealous of him, he shouldn't be taking him out to an expensive restaurant. Well, it didn't matter now. A dinner was a dinner and he was just making the nice waitress to wait for him. He shot a suspicious glare at Edward's direction before looking back at his menu and making his order. Oh, he would find out what Ed was hiding...

There's nothing you can hide from me, niisan. I will find out eventually.

A/N: Was it too abrupt when they went to that restaurant, I wonder...