A/N:

Me: Well…hey.

Ed: You sound enthusiastic. .

Alexandra: -slides in-

Ed: HEY! -hugs-

Alexandra: HEY!

Me: Ugh. Anyway.

Ed and Alexandra: FullMetal Alchemist characters, references, and other related indicia © Hiromu Arakawa. Only Alexandra, Jonathan, Alan, Sophie, and Yuki belong to her!

FullMetal Alchemist

Chapter 7: House and Home

Ed woke up the next morning feeling very warm, despite being on the floor without a blanket. He rubbed his eyes with one hand and realized that Alexandra had fallen asleep in his arms. He smiled and rested his chin against her forehead. Al snickered quietly.

"What? Al, are you awake?" Ed hissed, trying hard not to wake the girl up.

"Yeah, and it looks like you are, too," Al whispered back, trying hard not to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Ed demanded in a low voice.

"I think you like her!" Al said to him.

"I swear to God if she wasn't lying on me I'd kill you!" Ed half-yelled.

xxXxx

(Much, much later)

"Oh my God!" Yuki screamed. "A house! A real house! You bought a real house!"

"Uh, yeah," Alexandra said with a smile. "Do you like it?"

"Like it? I absolutely love it!" Yuki shouted hysterically.

"Well, good. Here, it's a spare set of keys. Go choose a room. I'm off."

"What? Where are you going?"

"To work! Where else?"

"Oh, right. I'll see you later!"

xxXxx

Alexandra wandered back towards the hostel. She walked inside and asked the manager where the Elric brothers were; he told her that they were still in their room. She thanked him and ran off to look for them. She burst into their room unexpectedly.

"Hey, guys!" she shouted happily.

"Hey, Alex," Ed responded with a smile.

"Hey!" Al exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to take you guys to church. Now, come on!" She grabbed each one by the arm and dragged them outside.

"What? Church? You've got to be kidding!" Ed shouted, trying to stop himself from being dragged along. Whoa, her left arm is so strong! Al didn't mind. He let himself be taken along.

A few minutes later, they were in the church. Alexandra seated them in the front row and ran off to the back, where she changed into her choir robe. There seemed to be something wrong. The priest looked frazzled, and the altar servers looked annoyed. Alexandra walked over to them and asked what was wrong.

"Oh, our reader didn't show up today," the priest explained. "I don't know who I can get at such short notice! Mass starts in a few minutes!"

"Oh, that is a problem," Alexandra muttered, biting her finger. The three walked out to the front. As soon as Ed saw Alexandra he ran up to her.

"Look, Alex, I don't think-"

"Oh, you, young man! Thank you for volunteering to read for today's mass. Here, here's the reading for today's mass," the priest said quickly, before Ed could protest.

"What?" a bewildered Ed asked as the man walked away. Alexandra laughed.

"Well, looks like you're stuck with it!" she told him.

xxXxx

"Oh God, it's finally over," Ed breathed, falling to his knees outside. "I didn't think I'd get out of there alive."

"It wasn't that bad!" Al said.

"Yes it was! Everyone was staring at me!" Ed yelled. "I hated it!"

"Well, Alexandra, you sang beautifully," Al told her, ignoring his brother.

"Oh, thanks," Alexandra whispered, blushing.

"Yeah, you did sing beautifully," Ed said.

"Thanks, guys…hey, are you hungry? Let's go grab a bite at Yuki's!"

"Ed is always hungry," Al laughed. Ed grinned.

"'Tis true."

xxXxx

"Well, we're here!" Alexandra exclaimed, running into the café and to the counter. She looked around and saw the small bell that was labeled 'Ring for Service'. She smiled and rang it. Nobody came. She rang it again. Still, nobody came. She started ringing it over and over and over until even Ed and Al were laughing. Finally, after about 3 minutes, Yuki came out of the back room.

"God, I'm here, I'm here! Calm down!" she yelled. Alexandra kept ringing the bell happily. "I SAID STOP!" Yuki screamed. Alexandra ignored her and this caused Ed to laugh even harder. Al had no breath left, but he was still wheezing instead of laughing. "What the hell are you laughing at, small fry?" she asked viciously. Ed stopped laughing.

"Who are you calling a pipsqueak so small you can't see him through a magnifying glass?!" he screamed at her over the counter.

"Calm down, Ed!" Al pleaded. Alexandra stopped playing with the bell.

"I didn't say that, but it's pretty accurate!" Yuki yelled to his face.

"Well you're not a giant yourself!" Ed spat.

"No, but I'm taller then you!" Yuki shouted.

"SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!" Alexandra screamed. "Yuki, shut up! Get us our orders! Two slices of chocolate cake and two cookies! And you, Ed! Stop it! I'm just as short as you are!" The three others were stunned into silence as Alexandra stood there, fuming. She stalked over to a table by the window and sat down. Yuki blinked and went to get what she asked for. Ed and Al shuffled to sit down next to her.

"Wow…" Al whispered. "I could never get Ed to shut up that quickly."

"You've got a gift," Ed said, leaning back in his chair. She rolled her eyes as Yuki brought their food. Ed's eyes widened. "Food!" he shouted. He grabbed one of the cakes and shoved it into his mouth.

"Are you hungry or something?" Alexandra asked.

"No, he just likes to eat," Al replied. Ed nodded and wolfed down the rest of the food, aside from one cookie that Alexandra managed to grab for herself. She offered it to Al.

"Would you like this?" she asked.

"Oh, no thanks," Al answered.

"Okay then, Ed, you want it?" she asked. Ed blinked.

After she saw me wolf down all that, she's offering me more? She's so sweet. He smiled at her. "No thanks, you have it."

"Okay!" She grinned at him.

Colonel Roy Mustang walked through the door and collapsed in a chair in a corner of the café, opened his newspaper, and started reading without a word. Yuki grabbed a pad of paper and a pencil and ran over to him.

"Good morning, sir, may I take your – what the hell are you doing here?" She had just realized that the patron was indeed Roy.

"Excuse me?" Roy said with a cool smile. "Is that any way to speak to a customer?"

"You're not worthy to be a customer! You're vermin! You're-"

"Is there a problem, Miss Aurion?" a deep voice asked from behind her. Yuki froze. It was the manager.

"Oh, no, sir," Yuki replied quickly.

"Did you take this man's order?" he asked firmly.

"I was just about to, sir." She looked at Roy. "Well, sir, is there anything I can get you, sir? Because, as a waitress, sir, I'm to ask you how I can help you, sir, even though I have other ideas, sir!" she told Roy through clenched teeth. Her eye began to twitch. The manager smiled and walked away.

"Don't blow a gasket, Yuki," Roy said casually, leaning back and folding his newspaper. "I'll have a coffee, and make it black."

"Yes, sir," she muttered, hurrying away quickly. Then she added, "I hope you die."

xxXxx

Ed, Al and Alexandra walked absently towards the park, kicking up snow as they went. They came to a stop by the pond. Al sat down cross-legged on the ground and Ed leaned against a tree. Alexandra walked to the shore and stood right where the ice met the ground. She stared out at the shining surface, her eyes sparkling.

"What's on your mind, Alex?" Ed asked curiously, seeing her so happy.

"Well…" She turned around to face them with a smile on her face.

"I was wondering if you two would like to live with us…I bought us a new house, and there's more than enough room to fit everyone." She paused and smiled even more at seeing the looks of surprise on their faces. "Well?" Ed and Al were quiet for a long time. Alexandra took this the wrong way. Her smile faded. "Okay, I know, it was a dumb offer…anyway, I should go home…Yuki wanted to tell me something," she lied, turning around and walking off to the exit of the park. What was I expecting? That they would say yes? They hardly know me…just because I like Ed, doesn't mean – no, no. I don't like Ed. I don't like Ed. I don't like Ed! Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted.

"We'd love to live with you, Alex," Ed said, grabbing her arm to stop her. She turned to face him and saw his smiling face. She smiled as well. His hand slid down her arm unobtrusively and he lightly brushed her hand with his fingers. He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "So can we see this new house of ours?"

"Yeah," said Al, "let's go see it!"

"Okay, sure!" she replied, smiling at them both. She took each one's hand and started off through the snow. They laughed and joked with each other until they got there, enjoying the thought of being room mates. Alexandra's cheeks were flushed, and her smile never faltered. It's wasn't because of the cold weather.

Well, she thought, maybe I do like Edward…just a bit…