Winry Rockbell opened the font door, expecting the knocks.
The male were there as she predicted, greeting her with a wincing smile.
'Ed!' she grinned happily and confused by his sudden return ' why are you home so earl-' her smile quickly lowered down into a frown when she saw his appearance.
Ed's honey colored hair tied previously into a ponytail was now flowing and loose, draping over his slightly tattered coat, while several scratches and cuts marred his face.
Hint's of blood here and there, but that didn't stop winry from instinctively reaching for his flesh arm and leading inside with a worried look.
Pulling his coat off him, she hung it on the brass coat rack next to the door and laid his boots by the stairwell.
'ed' she sighed and sat him down on the small leather sofa in the living room after placing away his things. 'what happened this time?'
He just grunted a nothing in reply, shifting his eyes to the floor and tightening his mouth.
'ed...' she called again, furrowing her brow at his coldness. Trying to get a better look at his eyes to see what he really was feeling , she quickly got frustrated at his loose hair blocking them. She swiped off a brown elastic hair tie from her wrist and took a seat beside him. Turning to his back, she reached out and gathered all of his silky hair gently into her hand and felt him shiver in pleasure at the tickle her soft hands had given him.
Too bad she wasn't facing him however, because the moment her fingers reaching for his hair caressed the nape of his neck, a blush crepped a way up to his cheeks.
Her look of worry melted into a warm smile at Ed's shivering. As soon as she slipped his hair into a final loop of the clip, she stepped off the couch and knelt in front of him, but he still wasn't able to make eye connect with her. She stayed for a moment, seeing if he would respond in any manner, but they just sat in silence.
Unknown to her was the guilt that she brought upon him with every gesture, him knowing that she thought he was getting into trouble again.
She got up sighing that she was off to prepare dinner since auntie pinako was in the next town over with al, meeting an old friend.
Before leaving the room completely, she looked sadly at ed's frowning face and empty eyes, her heart heavy in her chest.
'I wish you'd open up to me sometimes, ed'
As winry exited to the kitchen, ed caught a glimpse of her sorrowful face, and felt a pang of the same sadness stab his heart.
He apologized to winry in his thoughts over and over again before laying out vertically to rest on the couch. He couldn't tell winry what he'd been doing. It was going to be her eighteenth birthday soon, and he didn't want to ruin his surprise for her.
Dozing off, the last thoughts in his mind were of the hotheaded blonde's face.
'i'm so sorry winry'