The blonde let out a slow sigh as he got closer to his quarters. He had been feeling fine when he left the Colonel's office, light on his feet, "skippy" some could even say. Yet, as he got closer to his room, the muscles in his chest tightened and he hesitated as he reached for the doorknob.
He did not want to walk in on Al and Winry again. He hoped that she was gone so that he could talk to his brother about...things. He was rightly disappointed when he opened the door to see the back of Winry's head as she sat on the couch, her long blonde hair looking so soft and shiny as it rested on her shoulders. Ed fought the urge to turn and walk out of the room but she was too quick for him.
She turned in her seat and smiled a sad smile at him. "Will you come sit with me Ed?"
Ed shrugged, trying to look indifferent to the idea. Instead, he looked pouty. Still, he walked across the room and sat next to her, fiddling with the cuff of his red jacket, looking everywhere but at his friend.
"Where's Al?"
"He went to the river. Just like when he was little," Winry said with a soft smile playing at the corners of her eyes. "He wanted us to be able to talk."
Ed started a bit. Couldn't they just pretend that nothing had happened? "Oh."
"Ed, please don't be mad at us. We didn't want to hurt you. That's why we didn't say anythi-"
"You didn't say anything? How long has this been going on?" Ed asked in a shocked and hurt tone.
"I don't know, Ed. Four, maybe five months."
Ed stared at the floor with his mouth agape. Four or five months. So about as long as Al had a body. About as long as Al had a mouth that she could kiss.
"Please, please don't be mad."
Ed didn't know what to say. Instead he got up to get a glass of water. "Do you want anything, Winry?"
"No. Ed, don't change the subject."
"I'm not. I'm just thirsty."
Winry sighed. "We've talked about this Ed. You turned me down."
"We were eight! And I'm not mad about that, anyway," he lied. "I'm mad that you didn't tell me. That you felt you had to hide this." He didn't lie that time.
"You just seemed so lonely and we didn't want to make it worse."
Ed didn't respond. He just sipped quietly at his water.
"And besides," Winry said softly, "We thought that you and the colonel were a...thing."
Ed forced out a loud, grumpy sigh. Why did people always say that!
"Yeah, well, we're not," he said huffily, crossing his arms and plopping back down on the couch.
"Well, we know you're not now. We just thought that you guys hadn't quite worked out the details yet."
"What does that even mean!"
Winry sat quiet. "I - I don't know."
Ed pouted and stared at the floor.
"Ed, don't make me choose between the two of you. I love you both. But I've been waiting for Al ever since before he was put into that armor."
Ed tried to come up with a cranky response but could only smile lightly. It made him happy that his brother not only was in love but that someone cared about him enough to wait so long for him.
Winry's eyes lit up at the sight of Ed's smile. She threw her arms around his shoulder, still taken aback at the feeling of a completely squishy-flesh Edward, no automail in sight. "I love you Ed. And I love your brother. Thank you for raising him like you did."
Ed was quiet for a while as he thought over what she had said. He really had raised his brother. Their dad was never around and their mother died when they were so young. Al was the young man that he was because of what he and Ed had shared.
He smiled and wrapped his arms around Winry's waist and planted a small kiss on her forehead. "I love you too, Winry. Take care of my brother."
They sat like that for a moment before Ed forced himself up. "Speaking of which, I have something that I need to take care of myself."
Before he left the quarters, he turned back to Winry and she smiled. "We'll always have our wrenches, Ed."
Ed grinned. "So you've been saving all your niceness for Al."