Dancing in the Rain
Chapter Six
Winry blinked in surprise. Did he say what she thought he did? Was he really going to tell her what had happened to him? All the answers she had been searching for? No more sneaking around? The girl was almost giddy, but didn't dare show it. She could tell by the look on his face that the story was far from a happy one.
Quietly, Winry pulled a chair up to Alphonse's hospital bed, her wide eyes glued to Edward as he prepared to speak.
"Well," he said. "I've never told anyone about this.. so I'm not sure where to start." He paused for a moment, closing his eyes. "I guess, it started about two years ago. I'd just got home from school, and was heading back to the small little house that we owned. It was nothing like the mess I live in now. Yeah, I guess that's where it started...
Edward ran home, he raced through their yard, up the nine stairs to their back porch, over the plant that was always in the way but no one cared to move, towards the door, into the house. He tore off his shoes, took seven and a half steps to the couch, where he flipped over the back and landed soundlessly on the couch, where he proceeded to turn on the Tv.
As soon as the loud box of pictures was on, he got to his feet, moving over to the kitchen. He grabbed a pot from under the counter, filled it halfway with water, poured the noodles for ramen inside, put it on the stove, and turned it to Max. He then turned to take his place back on the couch.
The boy had obviously done the routine before.
As soon as he plopped himself down on the couch, and turned to watch whatever seemed to interest him, a brown-haired woman stepped through the door, heading over towards him. "Edward," she said, causing the boy to grab the remote, flick off the Tv, and drop it. He had been spotted, there would be no escaping his fate now!
"Yes mother?" he asked, sitting up to look at her.
"You're brother's been sick again, and I have a large migraine. Could you please go down to the store and pick up you're brother's asthma medicine, and could you pick me up some headache pills?" She asked sweetly.
The blonde groaned. "Aw mom, can't dad do it? He has a car, it would be faster then having to walk all the way to the pharmacy."
His mother shook her head. "You're father's locked up in his study. I already asked him but he simply didn't hear. Please Edward?" she asked, using her fake puppy dog eyes to persuade him.
With a grumble, Edward got to his feet. "All right, all right, I'll go."
"Thank you." She said with a smile, placing a kiss on his forehead. "There's some money on the counter. You can use that." She said, as she turned to head back up to Alphonse's room, where there was no doubt that the poor boy was fighting off his horrid Asthma.
Edward turned, grabbing the money off the counter, and pulling on his shoes, he headed for the door. Out the door, over the plant always in the way but no one cared to move, down the nine stairs which he cleared in one jump, through the yard and out the gate.
He had been to the pharmacy many times. His brother often got bad Asthma attacks, and thus, it was up to Edward to pick up his medicine. It wasn't as though Edward minded doing it for his brother. On the contrary, he wanted to do anything he could to help his brother get better. Edward walked towards the pharmacy, it was about nine blocks away from their small little house, but in all truths, Edward didn't mind the walk. It gave him time to think to himself, and god knew he never got any of that anywhere else.
As soon as he stepped inside, he headed over towards the place he knew had headache medicine. He picked up a bottle that looked relatively good, then headed towards the counter. The old man smiled at him as he approached. "Edward," he said, as the blonde set the bottle on the counter. "How are you? I haven't seen you in a while," he said, moving to get Alphonse's medicine.
"Good," Edward replied, as he took out the money and set it on the counter.
"Is Alphonse doing better?" he asked, general concern in his voice.
"Yeah. A lot." Edward replied. "He really wants to get better, and I think he will. For a couple of weeks he was out at school, and we thought he was doing great. He just took today off because he started coughing this morning, and my mom got worried."
"Ah yes, that sounds like Trisha," he said, setting the bag on the counter and collecting the change. "God bless her heart." Edward smiled, grabbing the bag and heading for the door, he waved, and the man waved back. "Take care!" he called, before the young boy raced out the door.
Edward headed down the street, a grin on his face. He still had some extra money. Might as well blow it, Edward mused. As he slowed his running, he stopped by a candy store. He figured Alphonse would need something to brighten his day, considering Edward knew how much his younger brother hated being stuck in bed all day.
He stepped inside, looking through the isles before grabbing a surprise bag. Alphonse loved them. He paid for the bag before stepping out, and heading towards his house.
His interest was drawn by the small bag, as he felt around, tying to see what was inside. As he neared his home, a sort of foul smell caught his nose, and his eyes started to burn with ash. He frowned deeply, and looked up, trying to find the source of the putrid smell.
When Edward saw smoke rising from the direction of his home, he paled.
Not caring anymore what was in the bag, he took off full speed towards the house. He didn't know it if was his house that was aflame, and he didn't care. He just wanted to see his parents, and his little brother. His legs burned with agony, and his eyes burned from the dry air. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears as he bolted with all his might towards the house. He got through two blocks of complete running, and then he spotted his house in the distance and froze.
It was completely lit aflame. The back door which he always used was surrounded with flames, the nine steps were all but ash, and the plant that was always in the way but no one cared to move was engulfed in the hot steamy flames.
Edward dropped the medicine and candy, and raced towards the house. He thought he heard sirens in the background, but didn't care. He looked around his house, for any signs that his parents, Alphonse, their cat Glory was out safely. He had to find one of them. Just one.
He didn't find any of them.
He found a few spectators, all gazing up at the house in awe, as though it was a fireworks display. But he didn't see his family. Edward turned with frightened eyes towards his house, and bolted towards it. Someone held him back, and he heard people telling him it was too dangerous, but he didn't care. He blocked out the sounds and ripped himself free, running with full speed into the house.
As soon as he was inside, he found himself coughing from the smoke. He placed his hand over his mouth, as he moved through the flame engulfed house, trying to find someone. He called out names in the process of searching, but it was muffled by the sounds of the fire breaking down the wood, the sirens outside, and his hand.
As he came to his father's study, he knocked loudly on the door. He knew his father was inside. He tried calling out, but it was useless. Finally, he kicked open the door. Big mistake. At the chance at new air, the fire literally flew out of the room and towards him. Edward put his hands in front of his face to protect himself, but it only resulted in them getting badly burnt.
Edward fell to the floor with a cry of pain, clutching his burnt, and bleeding hands. Tears of agony and fear rushed down his face. It hurt to touch anything. He felt as though he would pass out from a combination of smoke inhalation, and pain. He couldn't let himself.
He got to his feet, ignoring the crippling pain in his hands, and tried to get into the room. The fire burned brighter then before, and he stumbled back. He knew he could never get inside.
He managed to get upstairs, and into his brothers room. He spotted Alphonse sitting on the edge of his bed, hacking horribly. Edward pulled him to his feet, and without hesitation, onto his back, and started to help his younger brother out of the house. He didn't think about anyone else at the moment. He had to get his brother out. He didn't need to be a genius to know that Smoke plus Asthma equals bad.
Finally, Edward stumbled out of the house, and was greeted by several firemen, who took Alphonse off his back, and then hurried into the house. Edward turned frightened eyes back towards the house, and tried to get back inside. He was easily gabbed by a man twice his size, and held back. "Let me go!" he cried out. "I have to help my parents!"
"Kid, your burn wounds are bad, plus, you've inhaled too much smoke. Let the professionals handel it." Someone said from behind him. Edward calmed slightly, still watching with horror-struck eyes at his childhood home was easily consumed by flames.
Suddenly, the two men that went in after Edward and Alphonse had stumbled out came running out. The problem with this picture was that Edward didn't see either of them with his mother or father. He turned wide eyes back to the house, and watched as it collapsed into itself, causing sparks and flames to burst up into the sky.
"My parents are still in there!" he yelled, trying to get to his feet but found he was still being held back. Tears poured down his face, as he watched his house collapse into itself. Everything he loved, everything he held dear, it was all slipping away. It was all gone! There was nothing he could do to protect it!
"NO!" he screamed, using all his might to try and free himself, although it did little. "You can't take them away from me! I won't let you do this to me!"
Edward then fell forwards, being released from his hold, and collapsed into the grass. He wanted to run and get his parents, but Edward found he had no strength left in his legs. So instead, he laid there in the grass, and sobbed. He stayed there, crying out long after the fires had been put out, and everyone had left.
... It turned out that the cause of the fire had been the noodles I had left on the stove. Alphonse had slipped into unconsciousness while I was bringing him outside. He then moved from unconsciousness into a coma, and here we are," Edward finished, as he turned his accusing gaze back up at her, as if to say; "satisfied?"
Winry gazed down at the floor, trying to take in all the information. It was certainly a mouthful. Finally, she gazed back up at him, then down at the gloves still on his hands. "So that's why you..."
Edward followed her gaze, before slowly taking off his gloves. Although it seemed the burns were healed, the scars were still plainly on Edward's hands. "Yup," he said. "I don't need people asking questions." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Is there anything else you want to ask me while we're on the subject of 'My pathetic excuse for a life'?"
"How can you live alone like that?" Winry burst out, her eyes misting over. "That place, it looks horrible! Don't you have someone looking after you?" She cried.
Edward shook his head. "I receive a check in the mail once a month from the government. With that, I pay the bills. I usually depend on hospital food. I'm slowly saving up though, for when Alphonse wakes up and I have to pay the nasty hospital bills." He said, wincing at the thought of them.
"Don't you cook?" she asked.
"I burn water." He said simply.
Winry's gaze fluttered back to the ground. "Edward... I didn't know. I'm so sorry." She whispered, her voice cracking.
"Don't start crying on me!" Edward said urgently. He didn't much know how to handel crying girls. "I'm fine! I could've gone to live with my uncle, but I didn't! I chose to live this way! Okay? So no feeling sorry for me, and no crying!"
Winry tried to brush the tears from her eyes with a nod. "That's it, I've decided."
Edward blinked at her. "Decided what?" he asked, unsure if he truly wanted to know.
"I'm going to take care of you." She said simply, as she rose to her feet.
This comment caused a frown to grace Edward's features. "I'm not a child. I can take care of myself."
"Clearly you can't." Winry said, all traces of sadness brushed aside. "You're house is a mess, you eat hospital food. I say you need a woman's touch."
Edward, to say the least, was speechless. "So what, you're going to be my mother now? Are you planning to move in with me too?"
Winry smiled. "No I won't go that far. But from now on, I'm going to look after you."
Edward frowned. "You don't need-"
"I want to." Winry interjected, shutting the blonde up immediately. It was silent after that. Winry stared into those Golden eyes of his she found so intoxicating. She wished she could just stare into them all day, even though she knew that was foolish. Finally, she tore her gaze away from them, and turned to look at the ground.
Edward gave a sneer after regaining his composure. "Fine. Do what you want." With that he turned and left the hospital room, letting the door slam behind him.
Winry smiled. She knew that was the best Yes she was going to get out of the boy.
---
He was surprised to hear the doorbell ring. His doorbell had never wrung. Not once. Mostly because he had no friends. No one that desired to come near the small apartment. The only call he would get would be the loud knocking of his land lord when his rent was late. Then again, he never wrung the doorbell.
Come to think of it, he didn't even know he had a doorbell.
It had been several days since the day at the hospital, and Winry had seemed kind of spacey. He had no idea what was wrong with her, and he didn't want to know. It was Wednesday, and he had just come back from a visit at the hospital. He wanted to enjoy the rest of his night before turning in, and considered not even answering it.
Unfortunately, whoever was at the door found it fun to continually wring it, until Edward finally pulled himself from his spot on the couch, and went to answer it.
He pulled open the door and was surprised to find Winry standing behind it. "Winry." he said blinking in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
She smiled at him, and held up a bag filled with several different food items. "I came here to make dinner." she answered.
He frowned. He hadn't thought she was serious when she said she was going to take care of him. "You're kidding... right?" he asked, a little stunned.
She pushed him aside with a smirk. "I also brought some disinfectant. Before I cook anything in that kitchen of yours, I want to make sure there's nothing growing in there." She replied, before skipping off towards the kitchen.
Edward frowned deeper, and closed the door, following her. He was speechless. Not every day someone skipped into his house and started cooking for him.
She came to the stove and started unpacking her bag. He spotted different cans and a knife, and several more utensils. "What do you have for pots?" she asked.
"Um.. pots..?" he said rather intelligently. "Under the counter I think." In all truth, he hadn't touched the pots since he had moved in. Some charity organization had given him a bunch of stuff so he could live on his own. The only things he had managed to savage from the fire had been the pictures, and some of his father's books. Everything else was given to him.
Winry pulled out a small pot and twisted in her hand before looking at him and smirking. "Well," she said. "I should be done in about an hour. Go entertain yourself until then."
---
Edward was seated in his living room, books and papers scattered all over the floor. It was mostly homework he had gotten from school, but also his own work he had got from some books he had taken out from the library. That was how Edward kept his mind busy. He had to fill his mind with imposable mathematical equations and scientific theories or he would dwell on past mistakes.
"So you do do your school work."
Edward nearly jumped out of his skin when she spoke. He hadn't even heard her enter. She stood over him, holding a plate full of mouth watering stir-fry. Edward nearly drooled as the scent filled his nose. "Yeah well," he scoffed, covering up his hunger.
She bent down next to him and offered him his dinner. Without hesitation, he snatched it. He hadn't eaten yet today, and it was starting to take it's toll. "Aren't you going to eat?" Edward demanded after he had nearly finished the entire plate. He noted she had spent the entire time staring at him, and it was starting to creep him out.
She merely smiled. "Nah. I already ate."
He frowned. "So what?" he asked, as he scooped rice into his mouth. "Are you going to do this every night?" Not that he was complaining.
"Yup," she said, standing. "I'm going to cook for you, and clean up this mess of a house, then maybe, if you're willing, I'll teach you how to take care of yourself."
He shot her an odd look. "Why are you doing this?"
She merely smiled. "Because I can."
A/N: Yay! Chapter six is up. Okay, one thing though. I want to keep all my readers. I don't want like, half the people to just disapear because everyone knows what happened to Edward. Trust me, things are going to get exciting. I've written out nearly the entire thing. And trust me it's good. Just to make sure I don't lose any reviewers here, in the coming chapters, we have Betrayal, sadness, anger, an Envy appreance! More about Alphonse will be coming up. Also, there will be some romance later. I promise you, just because the big secret has been revealed, the story will not get boring.