Disclaimer: I do not own Full metal Alchemist.

"Yes?" Jess whispered terrified of the worst to come.

"If your refrigerator's running then you'd better go catch it!" the voice crackled over the line then the dial tone sounded in her ear.

At first relief spread through her body to chase away the horrible images that had sprung in her mind. Then almost as instantly she burst out laughing.

"What? Who was that?"

Jess was laughing so hard she was holding her sides as she slid down to the floor.

"What happened?"

"If the fridge is runnin then we'd better go catch it!" she managed to choke out between breathes.

Shae rolled her eyes but a grin was growing on her lips.

Al was a little confused, and Ed was trying to figure out how a refrigerator could run in this world.

"See, I told you guys, everything's back to normal!" Jess declared springing off the floor.

"Yeah, I guess you're right…we haven't had any phone calls…" Shae muttered still unsure.

"I mean, come on, you did say you didn't do nothin for anybody to be wanting to kill ya." Jess reminded her with her thick accent reappearing in the excitement.

"Yeah, you're right, I haven't done anything! So, of course it doesn't make sense that somebody might be after me!" Shae exclaimed with uplifting relief.

Ed's mouth pursed in disagreement but he didn't voice his opinions.

Al on the other hand agreed readily as Shae.

Ed decided to himself that even if this was the case, he would still stick to Shae like glue.

"So how does a refrigerator run? I don't get it," He asked changing the subject.

Shae and Jess stared at the brothers, who looked seriously lost.

"You two really don't get it do you?" Shae asked slowly making Jess cough down another laugh.

They shook their heads.

"Okay, Shae, I'll bet you that Al figures it out first."

"Oh, yeah? Well, Ed's going to figure it out first!"

"Kay, here's the rules, neither one of us can help them in any way, we force somebody else to tell them or anything either. They've got to come to it all by themselves."

"Fine, and if I win…I get to see what's in that trunk in your room!"

"What trunk?" Jess tried to act clueless but it didn't work as well as she hoped.

"The one that has a pad lock on it, you know the one I've been asking about for weeks!"

"Uh, fine," she groaned, "and if I win, then you have to accept five dates from Edward."

Ed gave a silent whoop, while Jess winked at him.

"What? Hey, that's unfair!"

"Oh, no it's not! It's more than fair, considering what's in my trunk!"

The two glared each other down but it turned out to be a draw after a few minutes.

"Fine, it's a bet."

"It's a bet."

They agreed and shook hands in a businesslike manner.

Ed has always thought since they had moved in that those two had been overly competitive, and he was right.

That night around 5 a.m. …

Shae sighed laying in bed staring at the flower design on the pillow cases, with a million thoughts blocking sleep.

Something rustled to the right of her bed.

All her muscles tensed and fear ran up her spine, as the imaginative images of her crazy stalker came back to mind.

Slowly, so ever slowly, she turned her head toward the opposite side of the mattress.

A dark figure was slumped in her chair by the window, with dim lights from the street barley grazing them.

"Shae?" the voice whispered so softly and clear that she thought she might faint from relief.

"Ed, what are you doing in my room?" she hissed sitting up, staring at his dim honey eyes.

"Nothing."

"What do you mean nothing? Get out!"

"I won't bother you, I promise. Just let me stay in here for a while."

"Why? What do you want?" Shae mumbled grumpily.

"I just needed to get away for a while…" he said trailing off.

"Get away from what? Everybody's sleeping," She said a little softer.

"I wish,"

"What are you talking about?"

"Jess is the only one really asleep…well for now, anyway,"

"Where's Al?"

"Probably on the roof or back in the living room,"

"What's he doing up?"

"He can't sleep…"

"Is something bothering him?"

"No, I don't think so…I think I've only made it worse," he whispered to himself more than to her.

Shae stared at the man she had been so mad at for the past few days, and couldn't help but feel horrible that she had ignored him when obviously something was plaguing him.

"What do you mean 'worse'?"

"I mean, I think I've only made it harder for him. He doesn't eat or sleep. He's always spaces out like he used to when," he cut off looking away from her.

"When, what?"

Why? Why was this girl so easy to talk to? Why did he always want to tell her everything that pained him? Why did she always listen? Ed asked himself. He didn't know what to tell her. Should he try and explain as best as he could or should he just tell her not to worry about anything and walk away?

What should he do?

"Ed?"

She wouldn't understand even if he told her. Why bother her with his worries?

"Never mind, sorry, I woke you up." He got up and walked quietly to her door but she stopped him.

"Ed, are you all right?"

"Yes. I'll see you in the morning, G' Night, Shae."

"And Ed, I'm not really mad at you. You just…scared me."

Ed paused with his hand in mid turn on the door knob.

"I scared you?"

"I'm scared that if I agree to go out with you, I'll mess things up and you won't forgive me…"

Shae watched him turn with a large grin on his face. Her eyes narrowed a little and embarrassed heat crawled up her cheeks. She had just told him her honest feelings and here he was laughing at her.

"That's it? Really?" he asked, much too excited in Shae's opinion.

She didn't answer wishing she could just hide under the floor boards for the rest of her life.

"That's the best thing I've ever heard you say!" he laughed plopping down on the bed with a thump.

"What do you mean that's the best thing I've ever said?" she said defensively.

He leaned shyly toward her and kissed her cheek softly.

"I doubt there is anything that I wouldn't forgive you for." He whispered into her ear before he leaned away and slowly got off the bed.

"Now, get some sleep, you'll need it for tomorrow." He said and left her to her overwhelming thoughts.

She flopped back against her pillows, not caring by when he meant about needing sleep for tomorrow. She was already dreaming over and over again the sweet moment he had just given to her.

Around noon…

"Okie dokie, people I'm going to the market, anybody need me to pick anything up for them?"

"Uh, Jess?"

"Yep?"

"I don't think you or Shae should leave without me or brother."

Jess caught Ed's firm nod out of the corner of her eye, but she didn't bother to look at him, instead she looked at Shae, who was pretending that she was scribbling down something in her beloved journal.

Jess didn't need much more than a second to read the silent thoughts of her friend though. She already knew that Shae would still be unsure to leave, and she should be.

"All right, then, whose coming?" Jess asked begging mentally in her mind…

Ed, come on…help me out here buddy…I don't trust myself not to fall head over heels for your brother; you'd better volunteer Edward…

"I'll go, we need to have a talk anyway," Ed said oblivious to Jess's lit up face.

"Kay, let's go," the brunette chimed and led the way out into the hallway.

Ed followed her closing the door behind them, while Jess had already started down the stairs.

Once they stepped out into the damp street, Jess turned to whom she considered one of her best friends.

"Thanks, Ed, for coming with me,"

Ed gave her an odd look and said slowly, "Your welcome, I guess,"

"No, I mean, I don't think I could stand much more than a few minutes alone with Al, so thanks for saving me."

"Why do need saving from him? He doesn't have any horrible addictions…well, only if cats count."

"He likes cats?"

"Are you kidding me? All through our travels, Al would pick up stray cats all the time and beg me to keep them."

"So you don't like cats?"

"Sure, but at the time…we didn't really have a permanent place, so it wasn't really possible."

"Well, as soon as I move back home I'm getting a dog, I miss not having one to keep me company."

"You have a apartment full of people, how could you be lonely?"

"Dogs are different from people, they can't hurt you with words and they comfort you even when you don't think you need it. My dogs, Sarah and Annabel, were my best friends for a long time."

Ed let her continue to ramble on, since she had a tendency to do so.

As Ed watched her pick out fruit and veggies at a stand, he could understand why Al liked her so much.

She wasn't model attractive or anything, just ordinary, but the way she seemed to enjoy every little thing and laugh so easy, made him think of Al himself.

Jess led Ed to different stands with easy confidence in what she was looking for.

Shae re-surfaced his mind at almost every other step he made.

He loved the way he could lose himself in those deep earth brown ink eyes of hers. He loved the way she gave thought to things that made everyone else laugh. He loved the way she laughed when few did. He loved the scent of her and from his one kiss, the taste of her. He loved the way she loved to write…He loved her.

The thought caught him so off guard that he actually stopped in mid step.

"Oooohhhh, these strawberries look wonderful, what do ya think Ed? Should we get some?...Ed?"

M'kay, sorry 'bout leaving ya'll with a sore cliffy. This one wasn't that funny but I couldn't think of anything hilarious to put in here. Thanks for the reviews!

Oh, I'll give ya a little taste of what happens.

Even simple bets can have the price of relationships or bitter memories.

Well, I'm not gonna let too much get away!

I'll try to update soon, see ya's,

P.S. sorry about grammar and spelling errors, I'll try to edit everything soon!