Warnings and Disclaimers: Any and all characters from the anime or manga Fullmetal Alchemist do not belong to me. I only torture them for some stories. There may be some teenage content in the story but it is very limited. This story is set after the movie which means there are some spoilers and if you have no idea what any of this may be about, then don't come crying to me please. It's not my fault, I warned you -:sheepish grin:-.
Seasons
Summer: Consequences of Stupidity
Chapter 11
By: RomanceFanFicLover
Ed lay on the soft hotel room bed, the heat from the fresh summer day beating down on him in the form of sunlight. He stared blankly at the wall in front of him, ignoring the heat; he had been doing it for the past two days. Just lying there, and maybe eating or stretching every now and then.
Roy watched from the doorway; Ed had left the door unlocked, he never left the door unlocked in the middle of the night. That left the Fuhrer with one conclusion: Edward Elric was going through 'that' time of male adolescence.
"Oh, Edo!" Roy called into the room happily. His grin faded when Ed barely even stirred on the bed. "It's rude to ignore your guest."
"I didn't invite you in, therefore you aren't my guest." Ed lolled his head over to the side, blank eyes staring at the Fuhrer coldly.
Watching Ed's reactions carefully, Roy started talking. "You look like you haven't been sleeping the past two days." Ed nodded earnestly. "Why?"
"Thinking." He wasn't lying, Roy noted. Maybe it wasn't those kind of dreams after all.
Nodding quietly to himself, Roy thought his next statement over in his head before speaking softly. "You look worse than Havoc when he's been dumped." Ed flinched visibly. Jackpot. "So what happened between you and Miss Rockbell?"
"Nothing." Ed snapped fiercely, partially lifting himself off the bed to glare at the Fuhrer; Roy had hit a sore nerve.
"Come on now, if you don't tell me how am I supposed to help you?"
"I don't need your help, I'll sort this out on my own…suffer the consequences of my actions…"
"OH MY GAWD!" Roy screamed as he stared at Ed with wide eyes.
"What!" Ed eyed Roy nervously; he was getting that weird look in his eyes.
"YOU DIDN'T!"
"What are you babbling about?"
"YOU GOT MISS ROCKBELL PREGNANT AND YOU SENT HER HOME IN SHAME!"
A thick silence fell over the two as Ed stared at the Flame Alchemist, completely dumbstruck. "I-….WHAT!"
Riza winced out in the hall at the sound of the millions of Ishvaran and English curses that Ed placed on the Fuhrer. Peeking her head through the doorway, she noted Ed's angry flush and Roy's nervous laughter. Sighing softly and shaking her head, Riza returned to her position in the hallway.
"I can't believe you said that…" Ed muttered, now that he had calmed down.
"Well you wouldn't tell me what was wrong! It wasn't my fault!" Roy whined, nursing the bump that sprouted on his head. "You're so cruel sometimes Fullmetal. You shouldn't treat your superiors like that."
"Then don't make ridiculous assumptions about your underlings." Ed snapped viciously at him. "Get out."
"But we just started bonding; don't you want my advice on women?" Roy grinned as he readjusted his military uniform and straightened himself out.
Grabbing to object closest to him, which happened to be a vase, Ed flung it in the Flame Alchemist's general direction and smirked in satisfaction at the alarmed yelp and smashing of ceramic against the wall.
Minutes later, the door closed and Ed rolled over again, staring at the blue and yellow vase that lay broken on the floor. 'Broken blue and yellow…' Ed winced at his own thoughts; he was constantly reminding himself of the broken and betrayed blue eyes that stared up at him through yellow strands of hair to bid him goodbye.
Getting up, Ed headed towards the living room that was attached to the bedroom; he wanted to get away from anything that reminded him of her. Stepping out into the bright room discouraged Ed, but he pulled the blinds shut and settled into the red couch anyways.
"Winry…" That was all he could think about. Her name, her face, her hair, her hands, her eyes…the eyes that looked at him with such grief. She hadn't objected when Ed had insisted he stay in Central. He had said that he was sick of Risembool, that there was nothing good enough for him there.
The moment those words spilled from his lips, he felt incredibly stupid. The whole purpose of this was to keep her away from him because he wasn't good enough for her. Not the other goddamn way around. It had been two days since he had left her and Al at the train station and she might as well had not left, she was basically there haunting him anyways.
Everything about her seemed to be burned into Ed's mind so well now that he could create millions of her and have every inch of every single one exactly like Winry. Well almost, he didn't know…well…all of her.
Shaking those images out of his head, Ed focused on his heartbeat, trying desperately to catch up on some much needed rest. A loud creak and a string of familiar sounding curses shook Ed from his newly acquired sleep. His sleep-ridden eyes lazily outlined the figure of a young woman…in overalls…and a tube top…with long bangs coming down beside her face.
"WINRY!" Ed shot up into a sitting position on the couch, staring wide-eyed at the doorway. She was just there. He was certain she was there. She had stumbled into the doorway and when he noticed her, she left. "Winry!"
Jumping off the couch and racing to the door, Ed looked back and forth across the hallway. Nothing. Not a single person.
"Winry…?" His hoarse voice whispered to the empty hallway before heartbreaking sobs echoed through the carpeted hall in replacement.
"Riza, did you hear that?" Roy turned near the end of the hall.
"It sounded like Ed" she confirmed before poking her head out into the empty hallway. "Edward!"
Riza watched as he strangled out a whisper and slumped to the ground in tears. Snapping out of her daze, Riza knelt next to the state alchemist. "Roy!" He appeared by her side. "Make a phone call to Risembool, this is ridiculous." Nodding, Roy opened the emergency phone protector in the hallway and dialed the well-known number.
"Hello, Rockbell Automail." A soft voice answered the phone. It was the voice of someone who had been crying.
"Hello, is this Miss Rockbell? Winry?"
"Roy?" Winry's voice perked up slightly in surprise.
Glancing at the young man, still shaking with sobs, Roy continued. "Ed is…sort of in trouble. Could you make an emergency trip down to Central immediately? We'll pay the ticket expenses." A particularly loud wail and scream of 'Winry' seemed to have caught the girl's attention.
"Of course! What's wrong!" Her voice was much stronger, although a hint of panic was sneaking into her voice.
"I'm not sure; I'll explain when you get here. Please hurry, he's even harder to handle when he's upset." Hanging up the phone, Roy made his way over to the two blondes, wrestling for control.
Riza yelped in pain as Ed yanked her hair and shoved her away from him. "Get away from me!" A slap ricocheted through the now-quiet hallway and Riza looked up to see Roy's hand raised and Ed cradling his red cheek.
Ed took in a shaky breath as the slap gave him support to gain a little control of himself. Looking up through his bangs at Riza and Roy, then down at his tear soaked shirt and pants. "I'm sorry…I don't know what came over me…"
Roy turned when the blonde muttered an apology and proceeded to struggle to his feet, fresh tears streaming down his bruised cheek. "Ed, you're a smart man. I know you are. So why are you being so idiotic?" Roy scolded harshly. Riza placed her hand on his arm reassuringly.
"I-I don't know." Squeezing his eyes shut against the tears that wouldn't stop, Ed dropped back down to his knees. "I don't know…It just…It just hurts, so much." Chuckling harshly, Ed leaned back against the wall. "I'm pathetic."
"No you're not; you're an idiot in love. Go wash yourself up. You'll be having a visitor tonight." Ed nodded numbly and dragged himself back into the room. "Don't hesitate to call if you need something." Roy called out before the door snapped quietly shut.
Sliding down the locked door, Ed broke down into tears again. Everything felt so wrong! So, so wrong! "I need her…" Ed realized solemnly. Nodding to himself, Ed got up and headed into the washroom, he had a lot of cleaning up to do.
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Winry fidgeted nervously in the leather seat in the very warm, very small car that Roy and Riza were taking her to Edward's hotel in.
Twisting her black skirt in her fists, Winry stared out the window nervously. The last time she had seen Ed, he had treated her less than kindly. She knew he had issues with sharing his emotions, but did he have to be such a JERK!
The Flame Alchemist watched in amusement as the blue-eyed woman's emotions swirled between nervousness to depression to anger. Roy smirked as anger seeped further into her expression; this was what he was hoping for.
The car ride was silent and it only fed wood to the fire of Winry's anger. When the car approached the front door of the building Winry didn't hesitate to jump out despite the fact that the car was still in motion. "Miss Rockbell!" was shouted out behind her, but Winry didn't miss a beat as she leapt up the steps, two at a time and stormed towards the information desk.
"What room is Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, staying in!" Winry demanded as Roy came jogging to her side.
"Oh Fuhrer, you're with this girl? Edward Elric's room is on the fifth floor, room number 299. He was asked to not be-."
"Thanks, Lady!" Winry waved to the desk clerk and pressed the elevator button repeatedly and impatiently. "Come on, come on, come on…" she muttered, her brows furrowing in the pressure of her pent up anger.
The elevator crept up each floor slowly until the fifth light lit up and the doors creaked open. Fighting her way through the barely-open doors, Winry ran down the hallway in search of the door number.
"289….291…293…295…297…299!" Placing her hand on the knob and twisting it while slamming her shoulder against the white wood, Winry barged into the room and headed for the door with a light on under it. "Edward Elric! You are a total jerk!" Winry pointed at the half-naked Elric who glanced at her over his shoulder; one hand holding a cup to the mouth that held a toothbrush, and the other hand holding up a small white towel around his waist.
"Winry…?" Ed mumbled around the toothbrush, eyes wide in disbelief. Time slowed as the cup dropped to the ground and water spilled across the floor, forgotten.
Winry's anger instantly flew away from her as she stared into his golden eyes, full of emotion and full to the brim with tears. "W-Winry…?" She watched as his rough, flesh hand reached for her face tentatively. When she didn't pull away, he reached more confidently until their skin made contact with each other.
Ed stood there, one arm stretched out with his hand placed softly on the girl's cheek and the other arm still clutching the thin towel that clung to his hips desperately. He wasn't sure yet, he had to be sure. Taking a step towards her, Ed stared into the blue eyes he had been so used to seeing, that he had missed so much. His body was inches from hers, his mouth inched from hers.
Winry stayed perfectly still; Ed was so close to her, so very close. She could feel his breath tickling her lips and the extra warmth of his body after his hot bath heated her skin. "Ed…" She whispered just as his lips reached out to her own.
Ed wasn't sure what he was doing; he was supposed to be more careful, he wasn't supposed to kiss her. But oh, how he enjoyed it. Her soft lips were so inviting and the slight coolness of her hands from the early summer night air contrasted powerfully with the heat that was emitted from his shoulder and neck.
Winry's thoughts were lost to her; sure it wasn't her actual first kiss, but it was her first meaningful kiss and that meant a lot. Her head swam with his heat and she desperately tried to grasp the anger that had helped level her so many times before. She sighed, half in relief and half in loss as Ed stepped away from her reluctantly.
"Ed…"
He avoided her eyes, looking down at the towel that was still in the death grip of his right hand. Tucking the end of the towel into the other side, he secured it enough to have both arms free as he turned to face Winry's wrath.
"W-What…WHAT WERE YOU THINKING LEAVING ME ON A TRAIN TO RISEMBOOL ONLY TO MAKE ME COME ALL THE WAY BACK! DO YOU WANT TO DIE?" Winry screamed at the top of her lungs and pulling out her favorite weapon.
"I NEVER TOLD YOU TO COME BACK!" Ed countered as he ducked a swing of the metal wrench that Winry flailed towards him. Her aim had gotten better.
"WELL WAILING MY NAME INTO THE HALLWAY SURE AS HELL COUNTS!" Winry jabbed back, taking another swing at the golden head.
"Y-You…? The Fuhrer…?" Metal connected with bone and Ed fell to the ground groaning. "Ow…"
You stupid, stupid…jerk!" Winry sobbed angrily and Ed looked up at her through his bangs.
"Winry I'm- OW! Cut it out with that damn thing I'm trying to apologize!"
"YOU STUPID, ULTRA-SMALL MIDGET! STUPID LITTLE JERK! YOU TINY SPECK OF MAN! YOU INSOLENT LITTLE…," finally releasing the wrench as she flung it at Ed, Winry spun around to a loud crack and the thud of Ed's head against the floor, "…micro-boy…?"
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"..and then I threw the wrench at you and you got knocked out. And then, that was when your towel fell off and I screamed and the Fuhrer saw your….your…"
"Yes! I get it!" Ed snapped through the blush that suffocated his face as he boarded the train.
"I'm sorry, Ed. It was an accident I swear." Quickly changing her tone, Winry added, "You deserved it anyways."
Ed glared at her from over his shoulder as he got into the tiny compartment that was left. Winry followed him inside as the conductor shouted to all last boarders that the train was about to leave.
"How's the train?" Roy asked from the platform as Winry stuck her head out to say goodbye.
"The compartment is a little small, thanks though." Winry replied, smiling.
"Oh, small? Unlike our surprisingly un-little friend who's pouting inside." Roy smirked as the train began to leave the station. "Be prepared for that Winry!" Roy shouted as the train gained speed.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!" Ed's braid flailed in the wind that the train created as Roy waved happily in the distance. Pulling himself back inside the compartment, Ed blushed furiously and demanded that Winry immediately play cards with him.
They decided on poker and the game began. An hour or so later, Ed sat in his boxers and black shirt; the train was starting to heat up. Swiping furiously at a bead of sweat on his forehead, Ed concentrated on the cards in his hand once again. He was absolutely sure he was going to win, even though he no longer had his coat to cheat from.
Winry glared down at her cards in faked-frustration. She knew Ed had been cheating but she hadn't said anything. Now, however, he had nowhere to run if his cards were bad, and she was one hundred percent sure that she was going to win the hand.
Blue eyes opened wide in amazement as Ed threw down his cards on the make-shift table they had made out of a suitcase. Giggling triumphantly, Winry threw her full house hand onto Ed's two pairs.
"Ha! I win! Give me back my stuff!" Grudgingly, Ed complied and handed over her wrench and lock-picking tools.
"It's because of the heat. Why's it so hot in here anyways!" Ed complained heatedly, shuffling towards the window on his right where the nighttime scenery flashed by.
Winry watched as Ed struggled to open the window wider. "Ed, need help? I think it's just a little rusty."
"Don't be stupid I don't need a girls help." When the window still didn't budge and Winry looked at him victoriously, Ed huffed angrily, "Fine I'll just alchemize a bigger window."
"Ed! Don't be stupid! Grabbing his left hand before it made contact with his right one, Winry tugged his arm away form the window and studied it closely. "See? I only need to tighten that screw and it will work."
After tightening the screw, the window still would not budge. "I told you I don't need a girl's help! You're always in the way! You made it worse." Ed declared before promptly shoving Winry out of the way, disturbing some of the cards that lay on the suitcase between them.
Winry shoved back, "No I don't! I know what I did wrong, just let me-"
"You're an idiot! Stick to your machines, this is a window. It's different, let me do it!"
"Ed, don't alchemize it! You'll get in trouble! Don't ignore…" In the flurry of motion, the suitcase became dislodged from between them and cards flew into their faces, distracting them long enough to find them both on the floor between the seats in a tangle of limbs. "…me?"
Ed held his breath as he stared into Winry's very close face. The memory of the kiss they'd shared in his depressed-state back at the hotel haunted Ed's mind as he became aware of every single place on his body that she came into contact with. "W-Winry, I-"
"Are you alright we heard a noise outside and…! Oh my! I'm sorry, it's just that usually the newlyweds are in the other car and-!"
"WE AREN'T MARRIED!" Ed shouted at the stewardess. The woman's nervous expression fell and was replaced with one of disgust.
"Then please withhold from that activity on the train!" She shouted rudely before slamming the compartment door shut and stomping away from it.
"Ed! They probably think badly of us now!" Winry scolded angrily as she shoved the heavy alchemist off of her and stood up.
Ed stood up too as Winry was about to sit down. "Stand up and face me!"
"The train is moving! We'll fall!" Winry protested angrily, despite the fact that she began to stand again.
"No we're not! If I'm right then there won't be any rough ground for another 15 or twenty minutes!" Ed countered as he leered at her challengingly.
Winry Rockbell never backed out of a challenge made by Edward Elric. Ever! "So what are you going to do! Transmute me to the floor?" Winry asked, jabbing a finger-nail into Ed's chest.
"You'd probably just cry like last time I transmuted something near you." Ed smirked.
Gasping at the unfair insult, Winry shuffled closer to Ed. "What about the time you cried when a rabbit jumped out of a bush and scared you?" Although the insults were strange, they still worked efficiently and soon both were in a heated insult-battle.
Ed shuffled closer to Winry again, now nose to nose with her and glaring viciously into her eyes. "I'm not the mechanic who cried through someone else's automail surgery even though the person wasn't crying themselves!" Ed shot back in response to her last insult.
The train car jostled everything dangerously and the light in their compartment flickered dangerously before going out completely and the train car shook violently once again and came to a halt.
A voice came on the P.A system as stewardesses hurried through the cars. "We're sorry for the inconvenience but we are afraid the train may have hit an animal and we have stopped the train to have a look." Many children wailed woefully at the news of the animal's death and the car continued to overflow with anxious activity..
Winry Rockbell and Edward Elric however, were in too much shock to react to the announcement. When the car had first moved, Winry had grabbed onto Ed's shirt in fear and on the second shake, Ed hand grabbed her to prevent her from falling. The result was Ed lying on the red seat and Winry lying on top of him, rather uncomfortably.
But that wasn't the shock.
Winry froze at the feel of hot breath that signified that there were warm lips once again just mere inches from her own and Ed held back the moan that formed in his throat. Darkness still enveloped them and Ed decided to be daring. Darting out his tongue to moisten his lips, the muscle made contact with something above it as well, and Ed quickly returned his tongue.
'She tastes…tart.' Ed decided mentally. He was tempted to kiss her again but he held back, pushing his head further into the cushion.
Gasping at the wetness that brushed across her lower lips, Winry narrowed her eyes into the darkness at Ed's face. His face was one of deep concentration and Winry's eyes lit with determination as she swallowed her fear and leaned her face forward slightly.
Ed gasped softly as Winry's soft lips made contact with his own and a shiver of delight ran down his spine. Just as quickly as they descended, her lips were gone and so was her body. Sitting up, Ed adjusted his shirt and stared into the darkness ahead of him.
The lights flickered on and the two blondes made eye contact before looking away.
"I'm going to get some sleep before we get to Risembool." Winry yawned calmly as she stretched out on the chair provided to her.
Ed nodded quietly and proceeded to look at everything in the compartment but her. Temptation finally became too strong and Ed glanced at the sleeping girl. Sighing in defeat Ed stretched out on his side of the compartment as well.
Sure, Ed had changed dramatically over the years of his journey and had finally matured. But nothing could have prepared him for the change that this girl, no, that this woman made him undergo.
He had fallen hard for this girl, and now there was no turning back.
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A/N: -le gasp- You guys are so mean! Having such little faith in me :( I'd never tear apart Winry and Ed, they are too cute:P
Xoxoxoxo!