Long story as to why I haven't updated...really sorry, I'm at work now and if I'm caught, I'll get in trouble. Don't mind the spelling errors, I'll fix it as soon as I get my own computer and stop having to sneak around at work.

Chapter 13 - Safe Return

"I told you it would work." Aria smiled as she led Edward back into his own room.

"You're a lifesaver...at least for Al, because if I got in trouble for covering for him, I would have killed him..." He glanced at the inhabitance of his room. "Speaking of which, what the hell are you still doing up, and in my room no less." Ed scowled at his brother, zoned out in front of his TV.

"Shh, pretty colors...you ever notice that the TV is just made out of tiny squares." He squinted and leaned forward. "Never noticed before...wow...look."

Russ snickered. "This is amusing." He nudged Al in the head, he bobbed a little and then went back to a regular sitting position.

"I knew you had more than one drink, look at you, you're wasted." Ed accused him.

"I only had one..." Al reitterated.

"He's telling the truth. Can't you smell the smoke on his cloths?" Leo pointed at him.

"Smoke?" Ed inhaled through his nose. "Yeah...what the hell were you buring, you smell like a burnt pine tree."

"Do you know what a hot box is?" Al questioned his brother.

Ed thought for a moment. "Not really."

"I didn't either till it was too late to prevent anything." He shrugged.

Russell piped up again. "It's where a few people sit in a car and light a joint with the windows up. Get's you really high. And then we have what happens in Al's case, where they hotbox an entire baby barn."

Al nodded solomly. "I just went out there to sit with the guys, and one of them lit up, what I thought was a cigarette, but then again, I should have asked when I noticed that they told me not to open the door. Yeah...I feel like I'm merging with the floor."

"What?!" Paninya said suddenly, followed up by a laugh. "I guess they call it dope for a reason." She stifeled the rest of her laugh.

Edward scoffed. "You can't possibly be that stupid...didn't you notice the difference in the smell of the smoke?"

He shook his head. "The barn was dusty, so before they started, my allergies acted up...I couldn't smell a damn thing...and sorry for messing up the back seat. I don't know why, but after I managed to be let out of the barn, I was so hungry. I couldn't stop eating."

Leo, at that point, came to a realization. "Oh, the munchies. I suppose that makes sence."

"So...how do you feel now?" Aria asked shyly, no sooner did she ask the question was she proded by Paninys, with a sly look on her face.

"Feel? Well, it's hard to discribe...I feel like when I rub up against something, like my cloths or other objects, that tey're petting me back. Or like, I'm sticking to it...it's weird."

The whole group stared strangly at him, except for Russell who nodded. "Yeah, you're pretty high. You'll be fine in the morning...how long did you stay in the hot box?"

Giving a few moments to think about it, he shook his head. "I don't know..." Al was quite confused at the fact he couldn't remember. "...It could have been five minutes...could have been an hour...I remember doing things while I was in there, I remember talking...but I don't know how long it all took...that's weird."

"Don't worry about it." Russ gave him another nudge. "You'll be fine."

Slowly, Al opened his eyes to meet the morning. "Uhh..." He yawned and was met with a horrible taste in his mouth, almost like he'd been swishing with glue. "Ehh..." He swung his legs over th side of the bed and it felt a little strange. "That's weird..." He moved his fingers around and tilted his ehad from side to side. The high feeling that he expirenced last night, still was with him in the morning. "The hell..." He stood up and walked for his door, his legs felt like rubber and buckeled beneath him as he walked. He closed his door behind him after leaving the room, only to be met with Ed, who was waking up at the same time just a little ways down the hall.

"Morning...how you feel?" Ed rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Funny..." Al balanced himelf as he headed for the bathroom, he needed to get the taste of whatever it was in his mouth, gone.

"Yeah, Russell said you 'd more than likely feel weird in the morning. You're probably burnt out...or still high. He said if you were in there for too long, it would stick with you for a day or more. It's normal...well, as normal as this situation is going to get."

"Oh yeah? Then maybe you can explain this horrible taste in my mough. I brushed my teeth before I went to bed."

"Yes, I can. Pasties. You get it from smoking pot."

"I didn't though." It was true, though Al was exposed to it, he didn't actually put any sort of apparatas close enough to his fact to constitute actually 'smoking' the stuff.

"You're splitting hairs. Just go brush your teeth, I'll get some coffee made."

Ed threw some coffee grounds in the machine and turned it on, and waited for the boiling water to start trickeling down. The smell of coffee was so comforting in the morning. Espically to his father. He turned around to see his dad with his head down on the table, his arms encircleing it, in all it's painful swoleness. "How you holding up?" Ed smirked as he addressed his father.

"Holding up? I'm not even holding my head up, so you can only imagine." He grumbled.

Ed thought for a moment. "Not really...but you have my sympathies."

There were a few brief moments of silence and then Von piped up again. "Is the coffee done yet?" He asked hopefully.

"No...I just turned it on. You should invest in instant coffee...but then you'd still have to wait for the water to boil." Ed reasoned with himself.

"I'm hungry." Al said as he stretched on his way into the kitchen. The quick rush of blood to his head when doing so in an upright position caused him to nearly double over. "Woo, head rush. So what are you making Ed? Anything good? Bacon, sausauges, eggs...anything?"

Ed blankly stared at him. "Coffee."

All looked disapointed, he sighed. "Good enough." He took a cup from the cupboard and laid it on the counter. "Triple-triple." He said as he left the room.

Edward looked frustrated. "I don't work at Tim Hortons there Al." He frequently got annoyed with Al's pushy attitude.

"Fine, just fill the cup and I'll get it when I'm done."

He could hear Al head into the bacement for some reason, probably to find some cloths, yesterday was the day his folks did the laundry. He heard the coffee begin to percilate and his phone begin to buzz. "Huh?" He picked it up and didn't notice the number right off hand until the name came into play, it was Winry. She sent him a text message. 'come ovr need hlp w/project hurry plz!' Ed momentairly cringed at the txt-speak but quickly shut his phone again. "Hey dad, mind if I take the van? Aria needs help with some yard work." He lied. Not because his father wouldn't let him see Winry, but if Al asked him where he went, he would more than likely just tell him.

"Coffee first, then you can go."

Ed laughed. "Sure." His dad was usually pretty leinaint with the vheicals, unless he was going somewhere, or if soemthing needed to be done. "Did you want food?"

Giving it a little thought, he spoke up. "Is there still cucumber in the fridge?"

Ed peeked in the fridge. "Uuuhh...yes." He grabbed it from the crisper.

"Good, that, some salt and knife, just leave it on the table...I'll move in a few minutes."

After tending to his father and brother's coffee, he had taken the van and drove directly to Winry's house. He pulled up along the opposite side of the road rather than using her driveway. It was empty and he knew that her parents owned a vhecial, so he left it open for them. He went up to her door and knoced. No sooner did the second knock land on the door that Winry opened the door, grabbed Ed's arm and pulled him quickly inside. "Did anyone see you?" She questioned him abruptly.

"...no." Edward announced, slightly offended, it was like she was ashamed to have him seen here.

Sensing his discomfort, Wirny smiled. "Dont' take it the wrong way. At Clauses party last night, there was a college boy there who was obessed with me. Wouldn't leave me alone. He even said that he was going to beat up anyone I was dating because HE wanted to date me. As if." She rolled her eyes. "He was an ass, and he was so drunk...I don't know how true what he said was, so it's better safe than sorry. I think his name was Ron...maybe Roy. I can't remember."

Ed nodded, slighlty confused. "Alright then." He didn't understand the ownership some people placed on other people, but he just let it go. Best not to ask qestions, except for what she wanted help with. "So, what's the trouble?"

"AH!" Winry yelled abruptly. "Right. Yesterday my mom decided to cash in her 'complete care' warranty with the Dell laptop because she just wanted a new one. So she takes it to the bathroom, fills the tub up and fires it in...my project is due on Monday."

Ed's eyes widened. "Wait...your warranty covers water damage?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Apparently, it covers acts of stupidity, but not acts of god. If it was to get struck by lightning, it wouldn't be covered, it it gets rained on, not covered, but you through it into a bathtub, you get a whole new system."

He stared blankly for a moment. "Logic was obviously not something they took to heart when making that broken rule up."

"It would seem. But you see, the problem with her doign that, it that my bio project was on it, and she neglected to get me to transfer all my writing, projects and music I downloaded. Everything is GONE! I need to go somewhere after supper for cheerleading, and then I'll be gone till midnight on Sunday...do you think you can help me get it done before supper?"

Ed smiled. "Possibly. But, something's always better than nothing. I take it you have another computer."

"I have three." She smiled.

Al poked his head back in the kitchen after finding something decent to wear. He still felt strange, but he ignored it, at least he could think straight now. He saw his father sitting at the table eating slices of cucumber and salt. "Where did Ed go?"

Von sipped his coffee and glanced at his son. "Not sure. He just told me that Aria texted him saying she needed help with yard work." He shrugged. "I believe he took the van."

Al caught sight of a small Sanyo phone laying on the counter, brown in color. Quickly snatcing it up, he headed for Ed's text message history. "Let's see here..."

"Alphonse, don't snoop in your brother's phone."

"Hey, if he didn't want me looking at it, he shouldn't have left it here...I should have got the Katana too, my Chocolate sucks..." He proceeded to snoop. "...wait a sec..." He took his phone out of is pocket and slid it up and proceeded to go through his address book. The number that texted his brother just little while ago, matched up with Winry's. Al figured either Winry randomly gave him Aria's number, or Ed was liying. 'Oh, it's on.' He laid his brother's phone on the counter and shoved his phone back in his pocket.

After three long hours of working on Winry's bio project, they finally decided to relax while it was printed off. "So, did Al say that he enjoyed himself last night?"

He shook his head. "He was too out of it when he got home and I left just as he was getting up in the morning."

"I see." Winry nodded as she took in the information. "So you didn't get a chance to ask him about what he and Clause were doing last night then. I tried calling her, but there's no answer."

Ed's face went pale. "Him and Clause? ...I thought he liked y-- someone else."

Winry shrugged. "I guess not because they were all over one another in the living room and then they went upstairs for a while...do you think anything happened?" Winry folded her arms as she sat on the edge of her bed.

Edward sat with his back facing her vanity with it's three angled mirrors. "If Al managed to get lucky, I'm sure it would have been the first thing out of his mouth...then again, it was potentially with Clause...so maybe that's why he didn't mention anything." Ed thought about it a little more. "Come to think about iit, he didn't seem to be hiding anything. I can't really say one way or the other."

The young blond girl nodded. "I'll try Clause again, see if she's there." Winry checked her belt for her Cell holster, but came up dry. She pointed to her vanity. "Can you pass me my cell?"

He peeked over his shoulder and saw the Razr on the Desk. Picking it up in his hand, he examined it. "It this a Razr version 1? They don't make these anymore."

She nodded and took the little piece of equipment from Ed's hand. "Yeah, go figure, any cell phone that works, they discontinue...what's teh modle of your phone?"

Ed reached into his pocket. It's a Sanyo Katana...and it's not here. Shit."

"Did you leave it downstairs?" She questioned.

"No, I forgot it on the counter at home, I'm sure of it...I don't remember putting it in my pocket...damn! What if Al finds it? He's nosy, he'll see that you texted me."

She rolled her eyes. "So, I'm allowed to talk to who ever I want."

He nodded in response. "Yeah, well that doesn't stop him from bitching at me. Oh well, I'll cross that bridge when I get there." He watched Winry dial Clauses number and then put her on speaker phone.

"Shhhh." Winry shushed him. "If she knows there's anyone else in the room, she won't say a thing."

'Hello?' A voice echoed through the speaker at a crisp volume.

'Hey Clause, how you feelin'?" Winry began a casual conversation with Clause then finally managed to work it in such a way that they got on the topic of Al. "Speaking of wasted, did you see Al at all during the evening? I heard he was trashed."

'Yeah, I did.' She snickered. 'He and the boys went out and hot boxed the barn, he was so stoned. It was funny. Why?' She questioned, no underliying suspision in her voice.

"That's all? That's good, I heard someone say that you and him went upstais for a while."

'We did.' She stated. 'I only went down on his though, nothing major...and I also went down on Carlo too, but don't tell anyone. He had a pint of Aquaveet and said he'd share if I did. But who cares, I got something out of it right.'

Ed looked horrified. 'Carlo?' He mouthed. 'He has a girlfriend.'

Winry silently nodded as she finished her conversation with Clause. "There you have it." Wirny carefully closed her phone and laid it on her pillow.

"Looks like I have some words that I need to say to Al when I get home."

"Seems so." Winry agreed.

So yeah, I'll try to update again...this time, I'll be a little quicker about it...and maybe I'll run the spell checker...because this chapter must have been LOADED with errors.

Sorry again. P