Author's Notes: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the first chapter of this. I'm glad there are other Ed/Winry fans out there. I'm going to try to update this as soon as I can. But it will probably be every 3-5 days. I'm working on this while doing school work.

But anyway, onto the next chapter.

Chapter Two

Phone Call

Ed stood quietly in one of the long corridors of headquarters. In his cool steel hand, he held the receiver to the phone and his other hand sat posed above the numbers. He was prepared to dial the number that he had called so many times and ask the girl he thought of as a sister to come all the way to Central to attend a ball. There was nothing out of the ordinary for something like that. After all, it wasn't like a date. It was more like a favor from one close friend to another close friend.

And yet, deep down within the pit of his stomach, the nerves were beginning to grow more and more. He felt his heart racing as his hand began to tremble slightly over the numbers. If he didn't know better, he could have sworn that he heard the pounding of his heart echoing through the quiet hallway.

'Come on Ed,' he chanted to himself, 'You're being ridiculous. This is Winry. Only Winry…' Nodding slightly, he grinned as he pushed down the first few numbers.

Suddenly, a small voice echoed in the back of his mind, 'Yeah. You'll be able to have Winry here with you. And see those beautiful eyes and hold her close as you dance the night away.' It spoke tauntingly, as if it knew the actual truth.

Slamming the phone down, Ed turned away and hit against the wall hard. He stared up at the ceiling, and took in a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

'This shouldn't be this hard,' he found himself saying silently.

"Gracia told me that she was excited for the ball," Hughes smiled broadly as he walked along the hallways with Havoc. The blond haired man just smirked at Hughes' happy comments about the ball. After all, that was all he was talking about the entire morning. What Havoc found even more entertaining about it was that Roy actually threatened Hughes to leave his office by way of flames in order to shut him up about the ball.

Reaching into his coat pocket, Havoc retrieved a pack of his cigarettes. Placing one into his mouth, he proceeded to look for his matches, "Yeah. It should be entertaining." He grumbled, patting his chest.

Adjusting his glasses upon his nose slightly, the black haired man gave a small chuckle, "I wish Elisa was old enough to attend. I think she would look so cute in a little dress and her hair all done up like her mom's." he spoke dreamily.

During these moments in time, everyone knew it was better not to question Hughes and just agree with him. Havoc was no exception only because he learned his lesson the hard way. It was over something so trivial that he had forgotten it. But, Hughes ended up carrying on for at least a good forty-five minutes about how brilliant his little girl was. It was standard to think that your child was bright, but to call her a child prodigy at the age of three, Havoc just couldn't come to terms with that. But still, he bit his tongue and let it go.

As the two men came to turn the corner, Havoc halted in his steps. Looking down the hallway, he noticed the young blond haired alchemist leaning against the wall, his face full of distress. Ed looked like he had paled a great deal as if he was going to be sick. His eyes were closed with his head tilted up, letting his ponytail fall over his shoulders.

Hughes took notice of the boy as well, "Ed!" he called down the hallway, raising his hand into the air. "Hey Ed!" But the boy didn't even move. He remained perfectly still as the two men approached him.

'This is weird,' Hughes thought to himself as he and Havoc walked, 'I wonder if something's wrong.'

"This shouldn't be this hard…." Ed muttered quietly, forming his hands into fists as the men approached him. The alchemist was trembling slightly as he kept his eyes closed. Hughes and Havoc could only stare at each other with looks of question on their faces as they stopped before the teen and studied him. They had never seen Ed in such a state before, as if the world was going to end.

Opening his eyes, Edward looked forward, right at the two older men, "Damnit, I'll just call her!" he shouted, not even realizing he was being stared at until it was too late to take the words back. Ed looked directly into the faces of two of his higher-ups and felt his face grow extremely warm. His golden eyes widened in surprise as the men stared at him, small grins growing upon their faces.

"Uh…I…" Ed stammered out, trying desperately to let his reddening face subside with no such success.

Looking over at Havoc, Hughes let his smile grow even more. "Now this is something I thought I would never see from him," he told his companion mischievously. Letting his eyes glance back over to Ed, the man nudged him slightly, "Edward Elric….trying to call a girl for a date."

But Ed shook his head franticly, "Its not what it looks like! I was just trying to," he started.

"Call a girl to see if she would go with you to the ball." Havoc finished the statement; his grin was equally at large as Hughes'. Seeing Ed's now glowing red face, the blond haired man let out a small chuckle, "Don't be embarrassed Ed. We're just messing with you." He said, patting the boy on the shoulder. "So, who is the lucky girl?"

Ed didn't smile or move an inch. He wore an expression of complete and utter seriousness as the two men awaited an answer. His gold eyes aimed towards the floor, letting his bangs fall to hide his face.

Hughes let his smile fade as Ed's expression became clearer to him. "Edward, who is it?" he questioned, becoming slightly concerned.

Biting his lip, the youth withdrew a long, drawn-out breath. Looking up at the two men, who were now towering over him, Ed gulped slightly. "It's….It's Winry…" He muttered quietly, feeling as if his face couldn't turn any redder.

Havoc almost let his cigarette fall from his lip at the mention of the name. His eyes widened as he continued to stare at the young man in shock. From all the times he had seen Ed deal with Winry, there was nothing but a tension between them. Whether it be screaming or the throwing of tools, they always seemed to be at each other throats. Taking his eyes from Edward, Havoc turned to Hughes, almost certain he would see the same look of surprise he had.

And yet, the Lt. Colonel didn't have an expression of surprise or shock upon his features. Instead, there was a small smile creeping up on the sides of his lips. His eyes were soft and seemed to be filled with understanding towards the boy's situation. Granted, Havoc knew Edward pretty well, but it was Hughes that knew him better than anyone else.

"I see." The black haired man spoke quietly, causing Ed to look up at him slightly.

Taking in a deep breath, Hughes moved closer to the short blond so that he was directly in front of him. He could see that Ed was trying to avoid his gaze even more, seeing that he was moving closer to him. But, never the less, Hughes remained where he was.

"I understand your position Edward," he finally spoke, his voice quiet so that only he, Havoc, and Ed could hear him.

Looking up even more and exposing his flustered face to the Lt. Colonel, Ed joined Havoc with the shocked expressions, "I….I don't know how to ask her. I don't know if she'll say yes. And if she doesn't…" His voice seemed to trail off, casting his eyes off to the side.

Hughes looked back at Havoc, who had relaxed somewhat. He smirked slightly at his higher-up, as if he too felt the boy's pain. Both of these men had almost seemed to forget about that first time way back in their high school days of asking that pretty girl out on a date for the first time. Granted, Havoc still had to do it every now and then, but he had almost seemed to get used to the rejection, unless it was because of the Colonel stealing his date. The happiness of getting her to say yes and the sad heartbreak of her saying no hung in the back of their minds as both men looked back at Edward.

"Ed, I know Winry well enough to know that she will not say no to you," Hughes finally said, grabbing the boy's attention.

Frowning slightly, Ed began to open his mouth in protest, "But—"

"There are no buts Edward," Havoc added on, "Just call her and ask. Make it sound very casual." He grinned slightly, breathing in on his cigarette.

Looking at the two men, Ed felt his nerves begin to diminish. It wasn't the end of the world that he was calling Winry for a date. She probably wouldn't think of it as anything more than getting him out of being alone at something that would probably prove to be nothing more than just a fun night out with a girl that he had cared about since the day he met her.

Straightening up, the blond alchemist smiled broadly, "You're right," he told them, causing the two older soldiers to relax more. "There is no harm in this, right?"

"Exactly," Hughes agreed with a smirk. Reaching over to the phone, he took it off the receiver and held it out to Edward. "Go on. Call her."

Without a moment's hesitation, Ed took it from Hughes and turned around to face the numbers. Taking a deep breath in, he began to dial Winry's number swiftly. He kept his eyes focused on the number pad as Hughes and Havoc stood back, watching him carefully. Dialing in the last digit, Ed pulled his hand away and placed it into his pocket.

Ring….

'I'll be fine,' he thought to himself.

Ring….

'Just ask her and it will be as easy as anything else you've done.'

Ring….

'….why isn't she picking up?'

Ring….

Gritting his teeth together, Ed felt his temper starting to rise, "Damnit Winry. Pick up your stupid pho—"

"Rockbell Automail! This is Winry speaking, how can I help you?" The cheerful voice filled his ear as he cut himself off from saying something he might regret in the end.

Ed froze for a moment at the sound of the girl's voice, almost as if every ounce of confidence had escaped him. He stood there in silence, unable to get the words out of his mouth in order to speak to her.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" her voice asked to the silence that was being presented to her on Ed's end of the line.

Shaking his head slightly, Ed swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. Clearing his mind of the unnerving thoughts, he found his voice again, "Uh, Winry?" he questioned slightly to her, not used to hearing her perky voice.

"Edo?" She questioned back, "Edo…is that you?" her voice was filled with a soft sound of shock in her tone. It almost seemed that she was in disbelief that he was actually calling her.

Smiling slightly, Ed felt himself relax even more, "Yeah. It's me. How are things going?" he asked quietly, looking over his shoulder. Hughes and Havoc gave him a small nod of encouragement, making Ed seem to be slightly more embarrassed than before. Trying to not blush again, he turned back to his conversation.

"Ed, you sound weird," Winry stated bluntly, causing Ed to raise an eyebrow.

"Weird? I just asked how you were." He retorted, slightly offended.

But the girl sighed, "What do you need? Every time you call here, you usually need something. So which limb is acting up?"

Frowning at her comments, Ed growled, "I'm not calling for a repair job. I'm calling to—"

"Have you outgrown your leg again? Remember, even the fewest inches can make it unstable." She cut him off, sounding more annoyed.

"ARE YOU CALLING ME SO SHORT THAT I'M TINY COMPARED TO A GRAIN OF SAND?" he exploded, causing Hughes and Havoc to jump back.

The two men stood in silence with wide eyes as watched the young alchemist flail about wildly, shouting and arguing with the girl he was so scared to call all of 5 minutes ago. They both seemed utterly confused at the current turn of events. Nodding to each other, they thought it best to move back towards where they had entered this whole situation and wait for the insults to stop flying over the phone. Moving quickly and unnoticed, Hughes and Havoc darted around the corner.

Havoc was first to peer his head around the corner, "Do they do this often?" he questioned, a hint of fear in his voice.

Mimicking his subordinate, Hughes adjusted his glasses slightly, "I think its how they show they care," he paused to see Ed slam his fist into the wall out of a comment that seemed like she had compared him to a tiny little flea. Gulping slightly, he laughed nervously, "I could always be wrong on that. Don't quote me."

"Gotcha…" Havoc retorted as he continued watch the scene from a safe distance.

Within a mere minute of exchanging insults in between each other, Ed found himself punching the wall in frustration, "I knew I shouldn't have called you! This was stupid in the first place. This dumb ball…" his voice trailed off, realizing what he had just said.

"A…..ball?" the girl's voice questioned, seeming to forget about the argument as if it never happened.

Feeling his heart sink slightly, Ed sighed into the phone. Leaning onto the receiver, he placed his head upon the cool metal hoping that it would get rid of his headache that was starting to form from this whole situation. In a way he blamed the Colonel for this, only because Ed would find one reason or another to blame him.

"Yeah," he began bluntly, "I have been invited to the annual winter ball here in Central in about a week or so. It's mandatory that I attend and I was hoping that you might want to go with me."

It took Ed a moment to realize what exactly had happened. After all that drama he put himself through to try to find the courage to ask Winry, he had managed to ask her in his regular tone as if they were discussing the weather. And now, he had thrown it out there to the girl and all he could do was wait. He felt his heart moving slightly into his throat as she was silent on the other end of the phone as the question was being thought through.

Winry took in a deep breath, finally breaking the silence she had given him for at least a minute or so. "Ed….I'm…This is…" she stammered slightly, searching for the words to say. At last, she had settled on her final words. "I would love to go with you."

Ed's face lit up at the sound of her answer. Of late, the large smile that spread across his face was a rarity, seeing how he was always busy. "Really?" he asked, just making sure she wasn't pulling his chain on this whole situation.

The girl's voice giggled sweetly. "In all honesty, I never thought I would ever get a phone call like this from you of all people Ed."

"Eh?" He asked.

Winry laughed even more, ignoring his comment. Letting the girlish giggle subside, she became more relaxed again. "I'll be in Central in a few days. I'll call you to let you know when I will be arriving."

Nodding to her words, Ed regained his cocky-like grin once again. "Alright. I'll let Al know you're coming. He'll be glad to see you."

And with that, both teens exchanged goodbyes and the worries the young alchemist had were put to rest. Placing the phone back on the receiver, Ed lowered his head for a moment, taking in what was said and the situation he had just put himself him. Winry had agreed to be his escort to the ball. The one girl that he saw in his dreams every night. Her smile that no matter what he went through made him feel somewhat better. It was because he knew she was there for him.

Backing away from the phone, Edward jumped into the air, "She said YES!" he screamed, acting out of his original stature of not liking to show too much of his feelings. His hair tangled around him as he jumped about, making it messy and whatnot. But at that very moment, Edward Elric didn't care.

Hughes and Havoc removed themselves from their place of 'cover' and hurried over to the boy. "Congrats Ed." Havoc said happily, his regular smirk returning to his face.

"We told you she would say yes." Hughes added on, patting the boy on the back.

Looking up at the two men, Ed kept his smile going strong. "Yeah, now that part one is out of the way, its time to settle the second part of this whole thing."

The two older men looked at the boy with questions on their faces, "There's something else besides asking Winry?" Hughes questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Nodding, Ed sighed, "I have the date. Thanks to Mustang, I have the outfit," he paused, staring Hughes straight in the eye, "…..Can…. Can you teach me how to dance?"

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please read and review