Disclaimer: FMA and its characters belongs to the wonderful Arakawa-sensei, and the plot of this story belongs to me.

A/N: I'd like to thank all the people who took the time to write a review, you guys have no idea how happy it makes me feel to know that what I'm writing is enjoyed, after all the brain storming, doubts and the insecurities I go through while writing. I hope this chapter is up to par =)

She slammed the door in his face. Riza Hawkeye was furious, and extremely irritated at what just happened during their walk back from the marketplace. 'How could he...ARGH! I can't believe he had the nerve to do that!'

It had been a week now since their return to central, and during that time things were going rather well between them. They had let down their guard down more and were slowly discovering one another outside of the whole work scene. They have been spending more time together after work hours; Roy would sometimes come over and accompany her to take Black Hayate for his daily walks at the park. They ate together more. Aside from having lunch at work, they also had their dinner with each other almost every night now.

Occasionally she would bring whatever leftover work they had her house and he'd come over to help her with it. Often times they would quietly sit and enjoy each other's company as they read their books on her sofa, or sit and talk for hours about everything and nothing. All of these things occurred mostly at Riza's place. As good as things were going, Roy never spent the night over though and they'd always part just before midnight.

It was slowly turning into a ritual that neither one of them could do without. Sometimes, they would find themselves blissfully pondering the idea of living together…

'Is this how married life will be like?'

Today however, was not one of those times…

Riza stormed inside the house, unleashed Black Hayate and went into the kitchen. With very little tolerance, she slammed the bag of weekly groceries onto the table. The dog followed her and hurried over to his bowl in the corner to get some water to drink.

She instantly left and strode into living room, taking off her white long coat; she threw it onto the arm of the big brown sofa and flopped down onto its cushions. Aggravated with the heat she suddenly felt, she hastily unbuttoned the first two buttons of her blue shirt then smoothed out her black skirt with a frown.

Hayate run toward his mistress and looked up at her. He saw how upset she looked and whined. With a swift jump he landed by her side, lied down and placed his head on her lap. She looked down at the black dog with a sigh, and patted his on the head.

"You're the only one who doesn't give me a lot of grief." She whispered with a small smile, calming down a bit.

Roy Mustang leaned back against the door to Riza's apartment, his eyes closed, head bowed and arms crossed over the grocery bag he held against his chest, a mischievous grin plastered on his face. He patiently waited outside, giving her a couple of minutes to cool down.

'Hmm, things went far better than I expected,' he mused to himself.

After several minutes later, he decided it was time to go inside. He then propped himself up, turned around and cautiously opened the door, making sure no flying objects would hit him in the face, before he proceeded.

He abruptly dropped the bag off at the kitchen, then took off his black trench coat, and dumped it unceremoniously on one of the many cardboard boxes that lined the entrance. With his hands in his pockets, Roy strolled over to the living room and saw Riza sitting on the couch with her legs tucked under her, patting the dog's head that lay on her lap. She looked like she'd settled down a bit, so he leisurely walked over to her and sat by her side.

When she felt his presence in the room her whole demeanor changed from calm to tense and the anger returned. She didn't show any outward signs however, her expression hidden behind that stoic mask of hers. Completely ignoring him, she had her head bent down, not taking her gaze off of Hayate.

"Riza?" Leaning his head to one side, to get a better view her face.

She showed no response, aside from her hand occasionally patting Black Hayate's head, who closed his eyes with content.

"Aww come on Riza, don't be this way," he whined.

She raised her head sharply, and met his gaze with a glare. He winced, then gave her a sheepish grin.

'My my Riza, this new side of yours is quite intriguing...' He thought.

"How could you do and say such things to my friend?" She finally said her voice composed and at same time incredulous

"I was being friendly?"

"That was not being friendly, that was being ridiculous, and in front of her boyfriend! Have you no restraint?"

"It wasn't anything serious; I don't understand why you're so peeved about it, and I hardly think she minded." He shrugged, clearly lying. He smiled inwardly enjoying the fruits of his little plan.

She gave him a disbelieving blank stare. He looked back at her innocently. And then she frowned.

"Okay…I'll be the most un-charming man you've ever seen, the next time we run into her," he said with exasperation. Then quickly mumbled "not in front of her boyfriend at least…"

"I heard that, don't think I didn't!"

"Fine, I won't even look at her let alone speak to her, how's that?" pretending to be annoyed

"I'm serious, Roy!" she scolded "and would you stop pretending to be the one who's been wronged here?" clenching her fist in aggravation, she never understood how he was the only one that could easily manage to wind up, the otherwise unshakeable Lieutenant was beyond her.

"Do you not have any restraint, whatsoever?" She repeated after a few minutes, knowing full well that he didn't.

"No I'm afraid I don't…" He blankly stated

"You're impossible!"

"And yet, you like me." He grinned, moving closer to her.

"You're also irritating and exceedingly troublesome."

"And, you still stay by my side," he softly said and moved even closer, reaching out to touch her cheek.

"Don't... even think of touching me." Her voice was icy cold and menacing, Black Hayate opened one eye when he heard her tone and looked up curiously; when he saw no threat was present he closed it again.

Roy paused and gave her with a mock hurt expression.

Riza stared at him, clearly unconvinced, then let out a deep sigh.

"Never act that way with any of my friends, ever again." putting emphasis on the last part.

He had to stop himself from grinning, absolutely riveted at having pushed her buttons yet again though this time, unlike all the other times, her responses were not what he expected and he was overjoyed.

"I won't…"

After a moment of thought, she added, "and don't even think about acting like that with any other woman, for that matter…"

His lips formed a smirk, "I won't…" He murmured, shaking his head.

She raised an eyebrow and eyed him skeptically.

"For you, I'll try harder…" he coaxed soothingly. Although he really didn't have to try, since she was all he ever saw and needed.

She rolled her eyes and finished his sentence, "to make my life miserable, right?"

He gave her a wide grin, leaned forward and gently kissed her forehead. Then he suddenly pulled her into his arms and hugged her snugly.

"Oh my dear Riza, how I like it when you're jealous," he teasingly whispered in her ear.

I hope you guys will tell me what you think and give me any ideas that might help shape up the story...What do you think, is it going too slow or too fast? How's the flow of the storyline, is it confusing or just right? Give me your best shot, I promise to take all your comments and suggestions into consideration. =)