Chapter 28: Assumptions

Al smiled when he walked into the apartment to find his older brother lounging on the couch with a book over his face and arm slung over his chest. It was traditional to find his brother sleeping somewhere with a book over his face as of lately. He had told Al that with his promotion came so much work he could fully understand why Mustang slacked off so much. Apparently the pay was far worth it and when Winry wasn't on an automail call or designing a piece, she was preparing for the wedding. Al had heard them up at three am arguing over the type of cake just a few days ago. In his brother's defense, Winry had already won the guest list battle, décor battle, and where to book rooms for the guest traveling from Rush Valley and Rizenbol. He could have at least gotten a ten tier cake, despite how unlikely it would have been to structure.

"Hey brother, I'm back with some take out." Al called, smiling as Ed stirred and slid the book from his face. He groggily directed his gaze to his younger brother who was taking out various containers. They weren't sure when the girls would be back from their day of shopping and neither Elric felt much like attempting to cook.

"Wha'chu bring back?" Ed asked, sliding sleepily off the couch.

"Xingnese," Ed stopped in mid stretch.

"Not gonna be quite the same as the authentic, dom't you think?" Al laughed and shrugged a shoulder. He was aware of this, but at the same time, he had grown so accustomed to eating Xingnese food and found himself craving it the past few days.

"I suppose you're right, but I wasn't really in the mood for anything else." He admitted as he sorted the food. Ed yawned widely and leaned into the counter.

"We should ask that girlfriend of yours to make us some authentic Xingnese. She cooks, right?" Al fought back the blush that threatened to take over.

"She's not my girlfriend, brother." He informed causing Ed to raise an eyebrow.

"What do you mean? You brought her here with you as your guest… She's attending the wedding as your guest." The look Ed had on his face suggested that it wasn't only him that had assumed Mei and Al were dating. "In fact, Winry and I assumed you were together since neither of you turned down the idea of sharing the room."

"There are two beds in there!" Al defended but Ed simply waved a hand at him in a dismissive manner.

"Well yeah, but still!" Ed argued and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Al… you're hiding something."

"W-what're you talking about, brother!" Al yelled, face reddening. Ed wrinkled his nose.

"There's something going on between you and the bean sprout… I know it."

"Ed!"

"Tell me!"

"NO!"

"Tell me, Alphonse!"

"Brother, let go of me!"

"Ed? Al?" Being held in a headlock and shoving at his brother to get free, Al's face reddened when his eyes fell on Winry, Mei, and Riza all staring at the wrestling brothers in confusion. While Winry looked annoyed, since they managed to knock over food in their little tumble, Riza remained stoic and Mei looked shocked.

"Hey, you're back early." Ed stated, though his grip around his younger brother's neck didn't lessen. Winry's eyes narrowed further.

"What the HELL are you two doing?" the blonde growled. At that, Ed released Al, stiffening some as he took in the mess.

"Winry-"

"I'm going to go put these bags in the room, and when I come out of the room, this mess had better be cleaned up. Do you understand?" The pair of brothers nodded silently as Mei scurried around Winry, shooting Al an uncomfortable smile as the women made their way back to the room. Al shot a glare at his now mumbling brother.

"What?"

"This is all your fault."

"All you had to do was tell me the truth." Ed accused. Al huffed.

"Shut up, brother."