Notes from Shardy: Don't ask what the heck I was thinking when I wrote this chapter. So before I get a bunch of people saying that Ed would never physically hurt Winry, think of this situation and Ed's over-reactions to less. In other words, you don't know that.

Chiyo and Stars: Don't you DARE give anything away. And yes, I am being slow in uploading this fic here. I learned I get more reviews that way. XD Plus, it gives newcomers time to play catch-up.

Chapter Four

Not to be cruel or anything but when Felix went home, Ed was not sad to see him leave. He really had nothing against the guy other than he wished the bastard would be so kind as to keep his distance from Winry, thank you very much! For some reason, Aunt Pinako had pushed Ed into the kitchen when the couple came back in, demanded that he try the chocolate pudding she had made for dessert, and by the time he reentered the dining room, Felix was gone.

He suddenly had the sinking suspicion he had just been distracted from something.

"Hey, Winry," he began when he managed to catch her alone. She was in her little shop in the back of the house, working on an automail leg that apparently would belong to a horse.

"Hmmm…?" was her only reply amidst her deep concentration.

"I need to talk to you about something."

"Can it wait?"

"No, actually, it can't."

Her hand holding the screwdriver stilled as her shoulders shrugged in a sigh. She should've figured. Ed never waited for anything even if the salvation of his soul depended on it. Taking off the pink handkerchief on her head, she used it to wipe the sweat off her brow. It wasn't even nine o'clock yet, and already she felt exhausted. "Well, go ahead and say it," she snapped impatiently. She had work to do; this horse leg needed to be finished by the morning.

Taken aback by her curt countenance, it was a skip of a second before he could speak. "I wanna know what's up with you and that Felix guy."

She should've known he would be quick to bring that up. Ed never sat still for anything, not even when they were children. Out of the three of them, he had been the one to wear out the word "Why?" to near extinction.

"What about him?" she countered with a query of her own, for some reason desperate to stall as long as possible.

"He acts like he's your boyfriend or something."

So much for stalling.

Taking a deep breath, Winry replied in a voice that was barely audible to her own ears, "That's because…he is…"

Edward heard that loud and clear.

"…what…?"

The word came slowly, barely an exhale of breath. She could tell that he was restraining himself, that had he spoke in normal volume, he would have exploded.

"How long have you two been…"--he almost choked on the word--"dating?"

"T-two years…"

"…"

Tears gathering in her eyes, she whirled around, yelling, "But you left me! You left! What else was I supposed to do! I didn't know that you would be coming back!"

Not that she expected him to sympathize with her, but when his eyes blazed with anger and he was quickly approaching her, she suddenly felt scared. And considering she had never felt scared around Edward before, the realization all the more frightened her. In a split second, he was right in front of her, one hand grasping each of her shoulders non-too-gently.

"You mean to tell me that while I was screwing your brains out, you already had someone on the back burner?" His words were fierce, an acid hiss, for they knew that should he speak an octave higher, he would lose it.

She nodded, trying not to wince from his grip. The colors were getting brighter and the room was becoming slightly blurry.

"And I suppose you've screwed him, too, and now we have no idea who the child's father is?"

His statement was meant to be sarcastic.

She closed her eyes tightly, swallowed hard…and nodded again.

He gawked at her, unable to believe he just saw that. It couldn't be true…and yet it was…She wouldn't lie to him. Deceive him maybe, she certainly did four months ago when he blindly chased after her like some cur in heat…

"Oh, my God, you're not kidding…" he breathed. He was suddenly consumed with a sickening feeling, as if his heart had literally burst in his chest. Once again, he saw all his hopes and dreams shatter right before his eyes. He laughed. A bitter, sardonic laugh.

And he. Lost. It.

Winry gave a small, painful cry when he squeezed her shoulders so tightly she could hear the bones groan in protest. It wasn't so much his left hand that was hurting her, but rather the one made from the very automail she had sculpted. And his grip only increased.

The room began to spin.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Winry?" he yelled. "If you had a boyfriend, why did you let me…shit! You are many things, Winry, but a SLUT is not one of them! I don't understand why you slept with this Felix guy, hell, I don't want to understand, but why me? Is it because you're a dirty whore? Is that it? I don't believe that, Winry!"

She could no longer see him, didn't have the strength to look up at him. "I…I'm not a whore…" she gasped, biting her lower lip to keep from sobbing out loud.

"Damn right, you're not a whore! So why the hell did you do it?"

A sob did manage to escape. "It was a mistake," she whimpered.

"Which was the mistake?"

She had no answer.

He brought his face almost nose-to-nose with hers, his breathing heavy with crimson rage, but her vision had gone completely blank. She could hardly hear him as he snarled, "I know I should be completely disgusted by the sight of you, but for some reason I'm not." With each word, his grip grew unbearably tight, especially the right one. "However, I will be damned if you think I'm gonna be your little fuck-buddy on the side!"

POP!

Her right shoulder under his automail popped with a sickening crack, sound of dislocating bone echoing in the small workshop. At the same time, her entire world went black as she slipped unconscious in his arms.

His first thought was OH, MY GOD, I KILLED HER!

But forcing the panic to the back of his mind as he laid her on the floor to examine her properly, he saw to his intimate relief that she was still breathing. Then his memory recollected just the previous few seconds.

Rage. Such as he had never felt before. And then she had fainted right in his arms. This had caused his anger to snap into prodigious terror at the sight of her falling with no way to stop herself. He had heard the shoulder crack. The one his right hand had been gripping.

"Winry? WINRY!" he screamed, shaking her, trying to get her to wake up.

She didn't stir.

Well, as long as she was knocked out, he turned her over onto her stomach then leaned over her. "I'm sorry, Winry," he whispered for both what he had done and what he was about to do. Then, chewing on his bottom lip nervously, he placed his human hand on her shoulder, then holding onto her arm for support, another moist crack sounded as he shoved the bone back in place. Her body jerked in reflex, but other than that, she made no movement to return to consciousness.

"Winry, please wake up!" he begged. Sure, he was probably overreacting, but the memory of his mother manifested in his mind…his mother lying on the floor, not moving, the falling fruit about her indicating that she had been okay merely moments before…

"Dammit, Winry, wake up!"

"What in the world is going on back here?" Pinako demanded, bursting into the room with Al at her heels. "We heard yell--"

The words on the tip of her tongue simply curled away and died upon seeing the scene before her: Winry collapsed face-down in Ed's arms as he stared up at her with panic and terror in his eyes.

"Aunt Pinako, I'm sorry!" Ed cried in a rush. "We got in an argument…I…then…she passed out…and now she won't wake up!"

"First, Edward, calm down before you have an ulcer," Pinako snapped. "From all the yelling I heard, it's little wonder she did faint. Pregnant women tend to do that under extreme stress. Trust me, I should know. Al, go carry Winry to her room."

Silently, Al took Winry's tiny form into his metal hold and departed, leaving Pinako and Ed alone.

"I can't believe…if only I'd known…" Ed sat down completely and hugged his knees to his chest.

"Known what?" Pinako inquired.

"That she would faint. She's so delicate now. I should have been more gentle--" He shivered with a violent chill. He had never hurt Winry before, never thought of raising a hand to her, no matter what she did, no matter how many times she'd hit him with that damn wrench…

"You're only human, Edward," Pinako replied, for it didn't take a state alchemist to figure out that Winry had spilled the beans about Felix and Ed went through the roof. "Sure, your temper is shorter than most other folks' but you've been delivered a serious hurt here even more so than her. Now whether or not that justifies whatever is you've done…well, I wasn't here so you'll have to decide that for yourself. And if you believe you weren't justified, then it's up to you to make it up to her in your own way."

Ed sat there for a moment to let the old woman's words sink in. Then he stood to his feet and ran out of the room after Al.

Pinako simply stood there taking a slow drag of her pipe, reminiscing of the good ol' days when love meant nothing more than last names and dowry offers.