A/N: Boy, I'm really whipping out these chapters, aren't I(kinda)? Also, I used, "Hit with shoe" thing that Orange_Singer said in a review, just to make it a bit amusing, haha.

Chapter 5

Ed's POV

"I… Love you…" I muttered, as I could feel my face heating up immensely. It was silent. "Winry?"

I stood up, and peered over her frail body, since she was facing the other way, away from me.

She was asleep.

"Seriously Winry?!" I whispered furiously. "I try to confess to you straight out, and you fall asleep!" I sighed heavily. I should hit her with a shoe. Instead of hitting her, I left. After finding Winry trying to kill herself, I had planned on calling the colonel and asking for more time to stay here. It was pretty obvious that she won't be safe by herself.

I went to the phone, and picked up the receiver. It took a few minutes, but I managed to connect up with the colonel's office.

"Fullmetal, I'd never expect you to call me at all. Maybe you want to go on a date?" Roy joked around. "Sorry, but I don't swing that way."

"You bastard, that's not why I called you. I need more time in Risembool." I grumbled, fiddling with my Automail hand.

"Why? You know you have a serious mission coming up, that you NEED to be here for." He started to get angry.

"I can't go. Winry's having some issues, and I can't leave her alone," I responded in an infuriated tone.

"What kind of problems?" Crap. He was curious now. I didn't want the entire military getting involved with this. With her current mental state, she'd probably freak out with such a huge investigation, all because of that colonel bastard.

"Um, I think it's some depression stuff… I don't know anything else." I stuttered back.

"If it's only that, you can come back in 4 days, like planned." He said. I could tell he was smirking over the phone. He just loves having control over me. Damn Dog of the Military…

"I'm not going back until I find out what's wrong with Winry." I stood my ground. I was definitely not going down without a fight.

"Fine. Then you can give up your State Alchemist position." He paused. "You know this is an important mission."

"You bastard."

"That's no way to talk to a superior," he spoke matter-of-factly.

"I don't care."

He paused. "Ed, you get 3 more days to stay in Risembool, and when you get back, I demand a full explanation from you, about everything that happened."

I didn't say anything at first, then I quietly muttered a "Thanks…"

"Would you like to talk to Alphonse? He just walked in." My eyebrows rose. Al was helping the colonel with stuff? That just seems so stupid.

"Uh, yeah, sure," I responded. It was a few minutes, but eventually I heard my little brother's voice over the line.

"Hey brother! How's Risembool?" He sounded happy. Should I tell him the truth, or should I lie to him?

I decided the latter was the worst option.

"Hey Al… Uh, Winry's a lot different from when we last saw her." I spoke truthfully. I just can't lie to Al.

"How?" His voice changing a bit.

"She seems… Um… More depressed? She's been crying a lot since I got here. And not to mention, she's super pale and frail." I paused. "I don't think she's been eating much."

He got concerned immediately. "Why do you think she's like that?"

"Well, I think it was because Pinako… She died a while ago." I paused once again. "But I don't think that's the only reason. At least not the main one."

"Really? That's so sad, I wish she had told us! So what are you going to do now?" He sounded really sad.

"I'm going to stay a little bit longer. I need to watch over her, to make sure she doesn't do anything dangerous again." I told him. "I'll probably be gone an additional 3 days or so-"

He stopped me, "Wait, wait… Dangerous again?! What happened in the first place?"

I gulped. I hated to say this to even myself, and now I had to say it to my little brother.

"Alphonse… Winry tried to kill herself a few days ago." I sighed heavily. "She's such an idiot."

"Are you serious?!" He yelled so loud, I had to pull the phone away from my ear. "Yeah, but you can't say anything about it. I told the colonel I'd report everything once I get back to Central. Also, is he knew, he'd have a lot of agents come out and try to 'help'."

Al paused before speaking, "Brother, do you think I should be there too?"

"Um, I think it's best to have the least amount of people here as possible, no matter how close they are. She's rejecting me totally, and not letting me help at all." I sounded terribly rude. "Sorry Al."

"It's fine… Just tell Winry she has a lot of people that love her, okay? I know she'll be happy to hear that."

I nodded. "Yeah, sure, I'll tell her that."

"Oh, sorry brother, but the colonel needs my help, so I've got to go." He spoke quickly.

"Okay, bye. I'll call you with any new information I get, okay?" I replied, trying to smile. Did it always hurt this much to smile?

"Bye." And the line went dead. I put the phone back on the stand. "Guh, this sucks. I hate being involved in so much drama." I sighed. I looked at the clock. 'Damn, it's late… I should get some sleep' I thought sullenly as I scratched my head. I suppose anyone would be tired at 10, when they've been watching over someone like a hawk. I was just surprised that the colonel and Al were still in Central headquarters.

I stumbled back up the stairs and when into Winry's room. After her little event, I knew I'd have to keep my eyes on her for a little while.

She's such an idiot.

Does she that I'm not reliable enough as a friend, to listen to her troubles? Or maybe she doesn't want to tell me because she thinks it'd be a burden to her, since Al and I still need our bodies back.

All this thinking was giving me a headache, and I was tired as hell from watching her so much, making sure her vitals were good, yadda, yadda, yadda.

I sat down back on the chair I was sitting in previously. It wasn't very comfortable, but it kept my head on a level where I could see her easily. It was only a few minutes until I drifted off into a deep slumber.

Next Day, Mid-morning

The sun peeked in from the shades. My eyes automatically squinted from the blinding light. I was never a morning person.

It took me a few minutes to start to function properly. I rubbed my eyes tiredly, as sleeping on a chair didn't do me any good. I yawned and looked at Winry to see if she was awake or not.

She was sitting up, silently, with her eyes looking forward, at the wall. The way the light came in, shining on her body, making her frighteningly pale and thin body, look dangerously beautiful. It was almost as if her skin was glowing. I would have probably ended up staring at her for a long time, but she whipped her head at me.

"Good morning Ed," she spoke in monotone. I snapped out of my daze and felt my face heat up. I tried to respond without stuttering, as much as I could, but it kind of failed.

"H-hey… G-good morning. How are you feeling?" I cleared my throat. She slowly turned her head back to look at the wall.

"Better." She spoke softly.

"I'm glad to hear that you're better…" I responded, feeling happier. Then I mentally punched myself for this. I was pissed off at her, because I came home to find her almost dead, and she doesn't tell me why. I shouldn't be happy. I tried to say something else. "Um, so if you're feeling better, I think it'd be best to tell me why you did it." I changed my tone into an angrier one.

"I want to hear your thoughts," She replied in the same volume as before.

"Well, at first I thought it was because of Pinako, but now I think it's something else. Something happened to you Winry, but you're refusing to let anyone in!" My voice was getting louder. She just had a straight face, with unwavering eyes. "Also, this makes me really mad, because it makes me think that you don't trust me at all." She looked at me again, her eyes changing to a sadder tone.

"I trust you, don't worry about that, idiot…" She pulled her covers up to her face. "I just don't want you to be affiliated with someone so tainted and impure."

"What does that mean?" I tried to ask her, with a more concerned tone.

She looked at the wall once more and began to speak, "It was a little before Christmas, I went to Central to visit you and Al." She chuckled. "I just wanted to see you guys once, since it's been so long." She closed her eyes, and stayed silent for a while.

"Central really is a foul place. You always make it seem to be glorious, but underneath it's shiny exterior lies a darkness that worse than hell itself." At this time, she looked up at me, with fiery eyes. "I'm never going again. I'd rather die than think about that place again."

I just stared at her. This scared me a little (and it takes a lot to scare me), but this wasn't the Winry I know. The doctor that came in yesterday said her mind being a little warped, due to lack of oxygen to her brain for a long time. Okay, so he didn't say warped, but from what I was hearing now, that's the word I'm using.

"Winry…" I just called her name quietly. I was going to put my hand on hers, as a comfort thing, but she yanked it away before I had the chance.

"Don't touch me." Her voice was full of both anger and pain, at the same time. It sounded more distressed than anything.

"You're hungry. I'm making you food," I muttered to her. I could tell she didn't want to be affiliated with me right now. She didn't say anything until I was just about to close the door, I barely heard her whisper.

"You should have just let me die…"

I closed the door, angered with what I just heard. I slammed my fist against the wall, gritting my teeth.

"Dammit Winry, tell me what's wrong!"

A/N: Thanks for reading.