There was no one in the world Edward was closer to than his brother. There were very few instances in which Ed didn't want to be around Alphonse—everything just felt more natural when they were together, like something broken had been mended. Still, it was an unavoidable fact that Al was a year younger than Edward, and so they shared no classes.

As such, the two brothers made it a point to have lunch together every day, outside beneath a lone beech tree the school had neglected to cut down. On occasion, Winry would come and sit with them (though this happened less often, now, since Ed had so awkwardly broken up with her), but mostly it was just them, Edward and Alphonse, together for that brief point of the day.

However, as close to sacred as the time was, there was something Ed valued even more: keeping his brother updated. It felt horribly wrong if there was something important happening in Edward's life and he didn't talk to Al about it.

And strange as it was to say, Ed thought, at this point, that Envy counted as something important…so he had invited the green haired boy to have lunch with them.

Of course, as Edward led Envy outside to where Alphonse was waiting under the tree, he second guessed himself. "Just…behave, okay Envy? I mean it, no groping or anything like that."

"I never grope you—really, I've been good about that," Envy replied, torn between amused and pouting.

"I know, I know, I'm just—"

"Nervous?" The green haired boy cackled. "It's just lunch, calm down, it's not like you're announcing our engagement."

Far from reassuring, those words almost made Edward break out in a cold sweat. Only it was too late to change his mind, because at that point they were in the shadows of the beech, and Al had looked up from his book, surprised.

Oh, right. It might have been a good idea to tell Alphonse…

"Hey, Al," Ed began, raising an arm in a feeble greeting. "I…sorry, I forgot to tell you, but I wanted to have Envy join us, he's my…" At a loss for words, he turned to Envy, hoping the other boy might be able to explain better…

Nope. "I'm his partner!"

Alphonse raised his eyebrows. "Rushing into things a little bit, aren't we, Brother?"

"No!" Edward amended hastily. "Not, like, romantic partner! He's my partner in—" But again he had to cut himself off, and, unfortunately, Envy again jumped in.

"Sex ed."

Startled now, Al blinked, a slight blush coloring his cheeks. "Brother," he finally reprimanded, "I told you I don't want anything to do with that freakish class…"

"I know, I know," Ed fussed, waving Alphonse's protest away. "I'm not going to talk about it, it's just—I dunno, me and Envy are getting kinda…close—"

"Yes, I bet you are."

"—and it just feels wrong for you to not even know who he is," Edward finished, ignoring the sassy interruption.

Grinning and rolling his eyes, Al patted the grass next to him. "Sit down, then. Just promise me you won't give me any details."

Nodding fervently, Ed sat down, pulling Envy to the ground with him. Now that the awkward introductions were out of the way, he was much more at ease. "What book were you reading?" he asked, digging in his bag for his sandwich.

"Pride and Prejudice," Al responded, sighing the answer. "I don't like it very much, but it's required reading—you remember, Brother."

Through a mouth full of turkey, Edward mumbled, "Yeah, but I really liked it!"

Unexpectedly, Envy jumped in. "You're such a hopeless romantic, Ed. It's a cute story until you look closely, and they you realize the love between Darcy and Elizabeth is completely unrealistic. First, he hates he completely, then all of a sudden he can't stop watching her? Yeah right, and Elizabeth does the same thing; she can't stand him, and they decides she loves him. It's worse because at best she only tolerated Darcy until she saw his house, and then all of a sudden she thinks being married to him wouldn't be so bad. She's just a gold digger."

It took all of Ed's effort to not let his jaw drop. "What the hell?"

Alphonse, beside him, was only laughing. "It's true, Brother, it's not nearly as good a love story as you led me to believe."

But Edward was paying too much attention to Envy to be bothered by his brother's words. "I didn't know you, you know, read that…I mean, I know it was required, but I wouldn't figure you to be the type to get so…"

"In-depth?" Envy asked, raising a nonchalant eyebrow. "Yeah, I get that a lot. Funny thing is, I'm not as stupid as most people think I am."

Flabbergasted, and terrified to realize he was more attracted to Envy than ever, Ed leaned back against the beech tree, removing himself from the conversation with a distinct lack of grace. By the green haired boy wasn't about to let him go so easily.

"Did I surprise you?"

"Honestly? Yes."

Grinning wickedly, Envy poked Edward's cheek, which was bulging with another hasty bite of sandwich. "Poor thing. I hope you're not too upset."

"Are you kidding?" Ed replied unthinkingly. "I thought you were just a pretty face, good to know there's something going on upstairs, too."

Eyes flashing, Envy leaned in and whispered in his ear, low so that Alphonse couldn't hear, "Don't forget how much is going on downstairs, either, Ed…"

As was usual when he was around the green haired boy, Edward's face heated up immediately, and Al coughed. "It's hard to tell, but I'm pretty sure you two are flirting. It's kind of freaking me out."

"But I'm being so well behaved," Envy pouted. "I've kept my hands to myself and everything."

To Ed's surprise, Alphonse laughed at that. "I suppose that's true. And I guess you guys are kind of cute together. It's just where you met that freaks me out a little…" he finished, shuddering.

Edward rolled his eyes. They'd had this conversation before—Al didn't quite approve of the practical sex ed class. "Don't talk like that, it's not we're dating or anything."

"Ed, that's rude," Envy sighed. "Of course we are."

Blinking, confused and red in the face, Edward stuttered out a response. "W-what?" Okay, not as eloquent as he might have liked, but it was all he could manage. "We only see each other in—in class, though, it's not…a relationship."

"Hmm, fair point," Envy conceded. "Want to come over and watch a movie with me Friday then? That counts as a date, right?"

At this point, Edward had more or less completely forgotten Al's presence. "Are…are you being serious?"

"What kind of stupid question is that?" the green haired boy shot back, looking disgruntled.

Alphonse popped back into the conversation, sighing as he did so. "Forgive my brother, Envy, he's kind of an idiot at times. What he's asking is if you're asking him as a person because you actually like him, or if you just want an after school extension of your...activities."

Ed frowned, hating to have to be corrected by his younger brother…but then again, Al had cleared up exactly what he had meant, and Edward hadn't even needed to say it and embarrass himself.

Snorting out a little laugh, Envy replied, "Can't it be both?"

Wincing, Al turned to Edward, handing him the metaphorical reins. Flushing, Ed tried to sound light and carefree…but only ended up with squeaky. "Yes."

"Excellent!" Envy smiled, throwing an arm over Ed's shoulder.

Alphonse just stared at the duo for a moment. "You two are both dorks."

"Shut it, Al," they said in unison, Edward ruffled, Envy teasing.

"Yep. Dorks."