Al had decided not to check on them last night and just let them rest. Pinako happened to call last night to check up on the three, and Alphonse told her about Winry getting sick. Pinako went to the train station to try and board a train ASAP, but believe it or not, the trains to Risembool are booked for a month! Al said he would take care of them. Winry woke up in the middle of the night. She was still half asleep; however, she didn't realize Ed was in the bed with her. She saw the alchemy book sitting on the nightstand next to her bed and knocked it behind the nightstand. She wrote a mental note to burn the book soon.

Al woke up early to attempt to make soup for Ed and Winry. He knows he isn't very good at cooking, so that's why he got up extra early. "It almost tastes good," Al says to himself.

The little bit of sunshine glimmering through the window wakes up Winry. She wriggles around a bit before opening her eyes. "I had such good dreams last night, and I've never slept better in my life," she says, and then coughs. She wonders why she is so warm until she realizes… someone else is in the bed with her. Under her. With their arms around her keeping her warm. Winry gasps. She slides the covers down a pinch to see one muscular flesh arm around her waist and one of her nicely crafted automail arms also around her waist.

"Ed!" she gasps. She tilts her head up and to the side to see the bottom on his chin and his neck. 'Ed slept in the bed with me? All night? Why? Did we do…' Many thoughts, some dirty, trickle into Winry's mind. She wants to ask Ed what happened, but he is still asleep. She can hear a low moan from him sleeping, which makes her giggle. 'He looks like a sleeping angel.' She feels his chest rising and falling from breathing. Sometime during the night they changed their position. Ed had slumped into the pillow, and Winry was practically on top of him, but not in a position that would squish him. Their bodies somehow fit together just right like ying and yang.

Winry lightly blows on his neck. Ed's nose twitches a little, and he immediately opens his eyes. He had almost forgotten that he stayed in the bed with Winry. He looks down at her to see the side of her face.

"Good morning," she smiles sickly.

Ed blushes, "Goo…d morn…ing." He attempted to say good morning, but his voice was very hoarse. He caught the flu. Ed pushes himself up to lean back against the headboard. He gently pulls Winry up with him, but he has some trouble. He barely has any energy.

Winry laughs and coughs in between. "Guess you caught it too. Sounds like you have it worse than me though. I feel a lot better."

Ed nods, "Tha..t's good." He holds his throat.

Winry says, "I'd hate to make you talk a lot, but I have a question. Why did you sleep with me last night?" She turns her body all the way to the side so she can look at Ed when they talk.

Ed gulps. 'This is really gonna hurt my throat.' Ed sighs, "You were… hav…ing a bad shiver… attack. Al said… body heat… works be…st so I… kep…t you warm," Ed says. He coughs into his hand. Now he looks just as pale as Winry.

Winry smiles. Her smile still looks bright even though she's ill. She reaches her hand over and starts rubbing his neck. "I'm sorry I got you sick, but thank you for keeping me warm," Winry says. Ed blushes in return. He tilts his head up to hide his redness and because the touch of her hand rubbing his neck feels good. "You've changed a little, Edward, but not too much."

'I feel… different. The old me would've jumped out of the bed immediately thinking how gross it is to be in a bed with a girl, especially Winry! But I think she's right. I have changed. Even though Granny and Roy said I grew up when I joined the military, I still felt like a kid a little. When I crossed the Gate, and lived in Germany, I felt like I've grown. At the party, Mustang said I've grown into a man, and that I'm going to make one woman very happy one day. I need to stop thinking about the past and be grateful for what's right in front of me. Alphonse… and Winry. They are my future…'.

Edward's thoughts are interrupted by a knock on the door. Alphonse opens it. "Good morning!" He exclaims.

"Hi," Winry and Ed say in unison.

Al laughs. "That didn't sound very pretty."

"Ed is losing his voice. It's going to be nice because he won't be able to argue with us for a while," Winry giggles. Ed casts her an evil glare.

Al sets a tray with two bowls of hot steaming soup on the nightstand. He pulls up a chair and sits next to the bed. "I made you two some soup. It took me forever to get it right," Al says.

"Poi…son," Ed mumbles.

"I heard that. I tried to make it taste good. I'm sorry if it doesn't." Alphonse almost sounds upset from what Ed said.

Winry smiles. "I'm sure it's fine."

"Anyway," Al begins, "I made some phone calls. First, I called your grandma. She tried to get a train back home, but they are booked for a month! Can you believe that? Even Ed and I never had that much trouble when we were traveling. The three of us are going to be here by ourselves for a while. I tried calling a doctor, but I couldn't get a hold of any of them. I also called Roy Mustang, which it took forever to get a hold of him, and asked him about this flu. He said its been going around Central for a long time. He says sorry because he just got over it before the party and brought it with him. He said it only lasts for three days, and the side effects are different for each person. Ed, I also called the school and told them you were sick. They said come back whenever you feel better. They don't want the kids to get sick. So Winry, tomorrow will be your last day of sickness. Ed, you have tomorrow and the next day."

Winry didn't hear half of what Alphonse even said. She was staring at the soup the whole time. Ed, on the other hand, heard every word loud and clear. 'Dammit Mustang, I'm going to beat your ass into the ground next time I see you!' Alphonse gets up and walks out into the hallway.

"I'm going to let you two eat and rest. I also don't want to get sick. If I get sick, there won't be anyone to take care of us," Al says while walking back downstairs.

Ed reaches out to grab the spoon. He dips it into the soup, pulls it out, and drops it on the floor. Sadly, he doesn't even have enough energy to feed himself. 'I feel like an idiot.' Ed thinks.

Winry smiles and reaches for his soup and her spoon. She feeds Ed his soup, and she eats her own as well. Once they finished she asks, "That should help your throat a lot. Feel any better?"

Ed nods. "My throat feels… a little better. Al's soup wasn't half… bad."

Winry smiles and starts rubbing his throat again. He closes his eyes and tilts his head up. "You're just like a cat," she giggles.

The eve of 2 days later…

Ed should feel better sometime tomorrow, but Winry feels as good as new. As soon as she felt better, she grabbed the alchemy book from behind the nightstand. She started a fire a couple of minutes ago and is currently waiting for it to heat up. Ed and Al are both sleeping. 'I have to burn this book. Al already read too much, and I don't want Ed to read it at all. I'm too ashamed to let him know how I feel.' Winry sighs. She fumbles the book around in her hand. Finally, she's made up her mind and tosses the book into the fire. A small tear falls from her eye.

She turns around when she hears footsteps on the stairs. Ed is walking down the stairs, or more like trying to walk without falling. He manages and immediately walks to the couch to keep himself up.

Ed sighs. "Why do you have one of my father's old alchemy books?"

Winry looks away. Ed looks mad. She says, "I found it in the ruins of your house after you and Al burned it down. I kept it so I could remember you two. I'm sorry."

"I read a couple of pages in it."

Winry started to get angry as well. Angry and upset at the same time. "You're just as bad as Alphonse, going through my things."

"That's not your book anyway!" Ed yells, and coughs afterwards. His voice is better, but his throat still hurts. After he clears his throat, he says, "How come you never told me about… some of the stuff you wrote in the book?"

"Why should I? It's not like you and Al tell me things. You rarely do."

"Dammit, Winry!" Ed yells. Before he can finish, he collapses on the ground.

"Ed!" Winry shrieks. She rushes over to him and flips him onto his back. She lifts his upper body up and slings it over her shoulder. She struggles to stand up, but she manages. She goes back into her room and lays Ed onto the bed. She stands for a moment to get her energy back. Ed isn't as light as he used to be.

"Winry," Ed moans.

"You idiot," she sighs. All of a sudden, Ed starts shaking a little like Winry did the other day from being cold. Winry climbs into bed next to him. She pulls the cover over both of their bodies and pulls him close to herself. "I'm here for you," she whispers.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

I lied. I got in another chapter before 1 month. I work more days now until school starts, but I got shorter hours like 4-5 a day. I'm still busy with other things, but I'm going to try to update ASAP. I know how the next chapter is going to go, so the update should be in about a week, but no promises. Enjoy and review!