Nick's Simile: (We do not own this.) Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA.

Chapter 21

Alchemy practice was over and Winry, Ed, Al, and Ella were all heading back to their apartments. Of course Ella was going to Ed and Al's as her mother wasn't going to pick her up anytime soon.

Really walking home wasn't that bad, it was cloudy outside and just starting to cool off as if became fall, so everyone was pretty comfortable. That is until Ed felt something wet on his nose. It turns out that those weren't just normal clouds.

The four began to run, and Ella almost tripped a couple of times, being the clumsy girl that she is. Thankfully the rain started slowly and they made it back to Ed and Al's apartment before it started to really pour.

"Get inside Winry!" Ed shouted over the rain after Al and Ella had entered the apartment.

"But my apartment is that…" Winry started to protest before Ed grabbed her arm and pulled her inside before she could get too wet.

"We have an umbrella somewhere around here that you can use to get home with." Ed said explaining why he had pulled her inside the apartment.

"Oh, thanks." Winry said, happy to be out of the rain.

"Now to find that umbrella." Ed said kneeling into the messy coat closet that Ella and Al had already shed their jackets into. Ed hadn't bothered taking off his jacket thinking of finding an umbrella for Winry first.

Ella and Al had already proceeded into the kitchen table and were talking, oblivious to Ed and Winry. Both looked a little flushed but were smiling at one another as they talked about who knows what.

Winry felt bad for them. She was positive that the two liked each other, but both were probably too embarrassed to do anything while at school in the presence of so many friends, she was sure that they hadn't had a free moment to just themselves. "Here it is" Ed exclaimed finding the small black umbrella that he and Al owned from back when they were younger.

"Hey Ed, why don't you walk me home?" Winry suggested wanting to give Al and Ella a little time alone.

Ed looked confusingly at her and then he heard Ella and Al laughing, and he understood right away. He looked at Winry who had her eyebrows raised and was motioning for him to follow her out the door.

"Hey Al, I'm going to walk Winry home with the umbrella. Bye!" Ed shouted as him and Winry walked out of the apartment and huddled under the umbrella together with Ed holding the umbrella between the two of them.

Al and Ella looked at one another and darted to the window curious to see if anything might happen between the two. Unfortunately, nothing did as they walked away into the rain disappearing as they rounded the corner.

Ella however was inspired seeing them together and started to go get her bag for her a pencil and her sketchbook.

"Just don't hold back telling her that you like her, like Ed and Winry are." Roy's voice echoed in Al's head. Al realized the chance he had with Ed and Winry leaving him and Ella alone. It's now or never.

Al took a deep breath and took a dive. "Ella, can I talk to you?" he asked completely serious and very worried already about how this might turn out.

Ella stopped dead in her tracks, Al sounded worried. She could sketch later. "What is it Al? Is everything okay?" she asked turning back around to face the boy.

"Not exactly." Al started and then seeing Ella's worried face, he continued trying to explain. "Ella from the moment that I met you… I could trust you…You were really nice… I was comfortable…" Al was having a really hard time expressing what he wanted to and Ella was blushing hard with all of the complements that he was giving her.

"Al what exactly are you trying to say?" Ella asked hoping that he was trying to do what she wanted him to do.

Al took a deep breath and finally spit it out. "I like you Ella."

The girl's heart stopped. "You mean like like?" she asked still a little unsure.

Al nodded and looked at Ella to see her smiling at him slightly flushed. "Me too." She squeaked out.

For a moment neither of the two said or did anything, they just looked at each other until Al couldn't wait any longer. "Wouldyougooutwithme?" he asked quickly.

Ella giggled a little at the rushed question before answering. "Yes."

Al looked at the girl wide eyed and unsure, "Really?"

"Really" Ella smiled at the boy as what she said dawned upon him. Then he rushed at her and scooped her up into his arms giving her the biggest hug ever while spinning her around with him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." He said over and over as Ella enjoyed being in his arms.

As they finally let go of one another and pulled back slightly to look in one another's eyes, Ella quickly pecked Al on the cheek, causing him to blush even more than he had been. "I don't want to take this to fast, is that okay Al?"

"Sure, I'm just glad that you said yes" Al admitted. Ella laughed at Al. "What?"

"You're just too cute when you're worried." Ella said smiling at her new boyfriend. Then to cover up a blush that was rising to her face, she quickly ran to her book bag and whipped out a pencil her sketchbook to a blank page. She then sat where she was and began to draw, knowing that maybe for a moment she could stop blushing.

Al walked over to Ella and sat down beside her and looked over her shoulder as she drew. Ella didn't even notice him there until she felt his hot breath on her neck. She looked at Al and blushed when she noticed that their faces were mere centimeters away from each other.

Al leaned forward but instead of kissing her on the lips, he simply pecked her on the cheek. "I'm not going to take this too fast, okay?" Al said a little worried about Ella's reaction to the kiss. Sure she had peaked him, but he wasn't too sure if him doing the same to her was okay.

Ella smiled warmly at him, letting him know that it was fine. Then she climbed into Al's lap so that he could see what she was drawing a little better. He was surprised at her actions, but by no means would he complain. Her sitting in his lap was just too… right. "So what are you drawing?" He asked not quite sure as she had just started the picture.

"You'll see when I finish it." Ella said closing her sketchbook.

"Why are you stopping?" Al asked scrunching his eyebrows.

"I'm sure that there is something that you would rather do than just watch me draw." Ella said realizing that she shouldn't be drawing when she could hang out with Al.

Al shook his head. "No, I like watching you draw, just like you like to watch me do alchemy."

"Are you sure?" Ella said not wanting Al to feel bored.

Al wrapped his arms around Ella and rested his head on her shoulder. "I'll watch you draw."

Ella was a little embarrassed by his actions as she blushed but she had to admit to herself that she liked the feeling of being in Al's arms. She relaxed in his embrace and opened her sketchbook and began drawing her picture.

Ed and Winry

Winry felt her shoulder getting wet. Stupid umbrella. It's just not wide enough for both me and Ed. She huddled closer to Ed brushing up against him.

He looked at her, feeling her touch him slightly. He gave her a confused look.

"My shoulder was getting wet." She tried to explain.

Ed nodded understanding what Winry was saying. "Maybe you should hold the umbrella then, so you won't get wet." Ed suggested as he handed it to Winry.

She took it, but moments later that wasn't working either, because Winry was slightly shorter than Ed and therefore she held the umbrella down a little lower. This caused Ed to hit his head on the umbrella as they walked.

After the third time that Ed had hit his head on the umbrella Winry finally decided to say something, "This isn't working Ed. You keep getting hit on the head by the umbrella. You should take it back." She said as she shoved it gently back into Ed's hands.

"Maybe you should hold the umbrella with me, that way you can make sure that it covers you as well." Ed recommended.

Winry nodded and raised her hands to hold the umbrella as well. As she grabbed the handle, Winry accidentally grabbed one of Ed's hands that were also on the umbrella. She blushed but didn't let go of Ed's, as her hand covered his.

Ed didn't even look at her. At the touch of her hand on his, he had suddenly felt nervous but hadn't said a word. They proceeded to Winry's apartment in silence.

Once there Ed tried to say goodbye. "I'll see you tomorrow Winry" Ed said as he started to walk away from the apartment.

Winry didn't want him to go though. "Maybe you should hangout here for a while Ed." She said hoping that he would. "I mean so Al and Ella can have some alone time together."

Truthfully Ed didn't really want to leave Winry yet. He had just started to go home because he didn't have an excuse to stay. "Alright Winry" he said as he closed the small umbrella and entered the apartment that Winry lived in with Aunt Pinako and her parents when they were in town.

No one was there at the moment though because her parents were still out of town on that business trip and Aunt Pinako was working at the automail shop she owned, and Den went to work with her on most days.

Winry shed her jacket and Ed followed her actions and hung his own jacket in the closet with hers. When he had finished he turned around to see that Winry wasn't in the front room anymore. He walked into the kitchen and found her heating up some water in some mugs.

"What are you doing?" Ed asked confused as he watched Winry pull out two little baggies from the cupboard.

She smiled at him as the microwave beeped signaling that it was done. "I'm making hot chocolate silly." Winry said as she pulled the two mugs out of the microwave and mixed the packets of chocolate powder into them and then handed one to Ed.

Ed took it graciously and sipped carefully from it trying not to burn his tongue. He watched as Winry closed her eyes and sipped cautiously from her own mug. 'I'll always be there for you' Ed heard her voice echo in his head. It's nice to have someone always there for you.

The rest of the afternoon flew by as Winry and Ed talked and worked a little on their homework before Ed returned to his house after the rain had stopped. Ella finished her drawing and Al was amazed at its picture like quality. When Ella's mother came to pick her up, Al hugged her goodbye as well as giving her another peck on the cheek. Then he went to work at the pet shop for the rest of the night. Overall it was a very satisfying day.

The next morning

"Winry! Winry!" Ella shouted running up to her friend as they headed to the student council room before school. Al also was also running up beside the girl.

Winry smiled as Ella stumbled a little but didn't stop rushing toward Winry. "What is it Ella?" Winry asked trying not to laugh at the girl.

"I drew something for you last night." Ella said pulling a folded paper out of her pocket. She then handed Winry the picture she had drawn the night before with Al. As soon as the picture was out of Ella's hands, she grabbed Al's hand and stood there waiting for Winry to unfold her drawing.

Winry was a bit distracted though as she noticed the physical contact between Ella and Al, and just knew that something had happened between the two. "Are you official now?" Winry asked barely being able to contain her excitement.

Both of them blushed and looked slyly at one another before nodding their heads ever so slightly.

"Eeeeeeee!" Winry couldn't help but squeal slightly for Ella. She immediately gave the new couple a huge hug and congratulated them. "Do you know how happy everyone is going to be hearing about this? Oh we've all been waiting for this to happen." Winry said very animated.

Ella knew that Winry was excited for her and Al, but she really just wanted to see Winry's reaction to the picture she drew, so she decided to mention it once again. "Hey Winry could you look at the picture I drew for you." She said trying to get Winry back on task.

Winry smiled at Ella and said "Fine I'll look at your picture." She unfolded it slowly for dramatic effect and gasped at what she saw. It was a very realistic picture of her and Ed walking away under an umbrella in the rain. Both of them had their faces looking slightly toward each other and Winry could see a slight blush on both of their faces as well. It was simply breathtaking.

"I thought that since you helped inspire the drawing, that I should give it to you." Ella said pleased with Winry's reaction.

"Is it really for me?" Winry asked incredulously looking up at Ella.

"Yeah." Ella said starting to walk again toward the Student Council room with Al following close behind.

Winry looked down at the drawing once again. She smiled happily and cautiously folded it up again and stuck it in her pocket. She knew that she would always treasure it and keep it close.

Wow, that was a lot longer than I thought it would be. This is probably one of my favorite chapters. I mean I had a ton of fluff and stuff in it. Hope that you all enjoyed it. This will be the last part of the Ella arc. Next chapter will have a time skip just warning you.

Please review.

FFG- Jo