Author comment: So sorry about the delay, here I thought I could update like a week ago but then I got sick and didn't get to finish the chapter before now! This chapter is longer than the other ones, so I hope you'll enjoy!

Al felt his heartbeat getting faster, feeling it pounding against his ribcage when Ed leaned closer. The younger one froze completely when Ed's face was close enough for them to feel each other's breath, and he shot his eyes closed tightly, waiting for their lips to meet. He parted his own lips ever so slightly, preparing for... Well whatever it would feel like, it wasn't like he had any expectations because he had no clue about what it would feel like.

He had read in novels and heard from people describing it, but in so many different ways that it was hard to even figure out what would be the most likely feeling to experience. Soft, dry, melting, cold, burning, wet, tasting of one or another kind of berry but some of that might just be overdramatising it.

He had no idea what his brother's lips would feel like, but when being honest with himself, it wasn't like he had never thought of it when watching him paint. It was actually a very innocent thought. And the thoughts and ideas were endless, so he decided to not dwell on any specific one. This was only a onetime experience anyways so it was nothing to get worked up over. Or so he liked to think about it, even though his heart-rate told him he felt otherwise.

How long had he been thinking now? He didn't know, it could have been less than seconds but he got impatient and nothing happened. Maybe Ed had chickened out? Well, french kissing your brother might also be a tad bit too weird, even for Ed, though he rarely backed out of a promise, dare or challenge, being the stubborn and proud idiot he was. Al was just about to open his eyes to see what was going on when-

WHAM-SLAM!

-and both brothers felt their foreheads and noses painfully crashing into each other as Winry had made a too violent attempt to move their heads further because Edward had hesitated. Al rubbed his aching nose, while Ed spat furiously at Winry, his forehead turning red from the collision with Al's; ''What the hell Winry?! That fucking hurt!''

But Winry didn't listen as she was busy trying to dogde her friends' complaints about her ruining the moment. She laughed awkwardly; ''Ahaha, it wouldn't have worked out anyways, see, they're complete idiots like I've always said, let's just throw them out and go on for next round!''

Ed was about to make a comeback for being called an idiot but Winry send him a death glare over her shoulder, followed by a nod with her head towards the door. Oh, she was making an excuse for them to escape. Could've chosen a less painful one, but he sure wasn't going to sit around and wait for a second opportunity.

''Sure right, Al let's get out of here, I think we got more stuff to pack too.'', Ed stood up and helped Al up as well, grabbing his arm and dragging him towards the door. Al followed the best he could when out of balance which was caused by the headache he had gained. He waved quickly over his shoulder with an apologetic smile as Winry's friends sulked and said bye to the boys. They didn't look too pleased with the disappointing show he and Ed had delivered.

Ed closed the door to their room behind him, and then fell to his back just beside Al who was sitting indian-style with crossed legs on his own bed which was the one closest to the door.

''Finally free!'', Ed let out with an exhausted groan as if he had just run a marathon and in fact hadn't simply spend less than 10 minutes in a room full of girls. Ed definitely knew which one of those options he would chose if he had the choice, as he found himself better trained in the physical way than in the social way.

Al laughed a bit at the sight of his overdramatic brother, but the headache quickly made it painful to laugh, and he took a hand to his head as he hissed.

''Hnng.. Ouch...''

His brother noticed and sat up, moving closer to Al. Very close, Al thought. Ed moved the strawberry-blonde bangs out of the way to look at the now visible swelling on his forehead.

''Sheesh Al did it hit that hard?'', Edward looked a bit guilty, but Alphonse just shot back with a smartass remark to change his brother's expression.

''Well we can't all be as thickheaded as you brother...''

''HEY! I'm worrying about you here you brat!''. Though it sounded like an angry tune, Al knew that he meant good. It was just his way of showing that he cared, but Al continued just to lighten the mood.

''Well if I'm such a kid then why don't you kiss it and make it better?'', he said jokingly, sticking out his tongue to express the childishness further.

Ed froze and blinked twice, a slight red flush appearing on his cheeks. Al quickly added; ''I mean as mom used to do when we were kids!'' Did Ed think about an actual kiss just now? The one they had failed so horribly at on top of that.

Ed shook his head and came to his senses again, after he had had a brief image of a scenery he didn't knew where came from. What the hell was that? He found words again; ''Oh! Like that, yes, uhm well okay I guess so...''

Al's eyes became wide and it was his turn to blush first. Huh? Did he just agree to it? ''O-okay...?'', he stammered, and quickly regretted that he hadn't just laughed it off and said it was a joke. Now they were stuck with a weird silence again. This one very uncomfortable. So much for trying to fix the awkward mood.

They sat there for what felt like several minutes, but then Ed held a hand behind the back of Al's head and leaned in to plant a small kiss on his forehead. It was quick but felt warm and it spread to the rest of his head, Al noted to himself as he could feel his cheeks flush a bit more. The headache was completely forgotten.

''There, better now?'', Ed asked while not being able to decide if he wanted to look away or stare at the adorable face in front of him. Al nodded, looking down on his lap. ''Yeah... It felt nice. A bit different from mom's, but good.''

''Heh, of course it isn't like mom's. I'm just your brother you dummy.'' Ed changed his position, letting his legs out over the edge of the bed, leaning a bit backwards, resting on his arms.

Al gave him a sour expression; ''Tsch ''just'' my brother... You shouldn't talk like that about the guy I treasure most in the world. That's you by the way, in case you weren't smart enough to figure that out.''

Ed laughed, not caring about the insult on his lack of ability to notice people's obvious feelings. He knew he was bad at feelings. ''Why would I be that guy, I'm not all that amazing Al, I mean come on, you even just witnessed that I'm the worst kisser in the world!'', he made a lazy but dramatic movement in the air with one arm.

''Oh really, how would I know when you didn't even try?'', Al retorted back at him with a smirk.

His brother's expression suddenly changed, and he tried to cover his face with a hand over his mouth as he looked away. Was that... Embarrassment?

''Well, actually... I did try.'', Ed admitted, ''But then I hesitated because I thought you might rather have your first kiss of that kind from someone else than a guy who also happened to be your brother.'' He gave a halfhearted laugh as he looked at Al and smiled awkwardly. Al could see it was fake.

He turned on the bed to sit beside Ed with his feet on the ground as well and tried to cheer him up; ''Well it's not like I find it THAT special, I mean it's just lips touching. It wouldn't matter mu-''

''Just forget it Al, you don't have to cheer me up. Also I happen to know that you're a romantic, so I figured it would be something more special to you, thus to find a special someone rather than to share it with your brother because you got dared to do it. It's not like you would do it if you had the choice not to. So just take it as I was caring for you and giving you the chance to decide for yourself..!''

Ed rambled out, irritated. He didn't know why, but the thought of not feeling good enough to be Al's first kiss, irritated him so much. It was a dumb thought, they were brothers after all, it wasn't a normal thought. He felt sick and angry with himself, and maybe a bit hurt for some reason he couldn't explain. He had had enough of the conversation and stood up from the bed to leave for the door. He had to get out before he made things worse, and maybe throw one of his usual tantrums and end up hurting Al. How typical of him to mess things up between them just before he moved out. Fucking brilliant timing.

Al got annoyed by the attitude. Like hell was he going to let him run away from this now when something was clearly bugging him. They had argued many times before and Winry had told them plenty of times to talk it out instead of arguing and staying angry at each other over small stupid things. This was not over yet! Ed was about to open the door but was turned around by an angry Al who had jumped off the bed to stop him. He tried to turn away again but Al grabbed the collar of Ed's shirt to keep the eye-contact.

''Why do you always have to belittle yourself like that brother?! Stop it, just STOP IT! I know what you're thinking, so I'll tell you this now; You're NOT less worth than anyone else, and if you think that then you're an idiot! You are amazing, you're smart, you've got your creativity, your looks, hell even your stupid personality! You're stubborn but in that way also determined. You're easily offended and get angry over small things, but you're also caring and protective of those you love! And even with all the minor flaws, you ARE amazing, and I meant it when I said you were important to me! So just shut up, and stop feeling like you're trash because you're not!''

Al almost yelled at his brother, angry tears forming in his eyes. Ed was lost for words, he just stared back at his younger brother. He rarely saw him this angry, it had happened a few times before though. One time he had even been hit, and the topic had been somewhat the same, back when Ed had been in such a bad depression he had been ready to give up on everything and just die. Al would not have that, and he literally knocked some sense into him. And here they were again. But this time Al decided on a different and less violent tactic.

Still with a tight grip onto the shirt, Al tugged Ed in for a kiss.

Their lips smashed together somewhat clumsy but then Al tilted his head, like he had read it should be done, and kissed Ed more throughout and deeper. He did his best to make the kiss a non-family one, which was hard considering the lack of actual experience. How were you supposed to use your tongue? Al chose to just run it swiftly over Ed's lips, his brother's mouth wasn't really open enough for his tongue to enter anyways. But it was working the way it should. Confused as Ed was, he didn't get to react before Al broke the kiss and stared at him again with a serious expression.

''See? I don't mind okay. Besides, I like you, you're important to me and I can't think of any other person better fit for my first kiss. So quit it with the self-denigration.''

Ed was mesmerised, he couldn't speak, he just stood there and looked at his brother, still trying to make his brain catch up with what had just happened. Al let go of his shirt and backed one step away. He looked at his feet with his arms behind his back. Shit. Maybe he had gone too far.

''Sorry...''

''N-no it's uh.. alright..'', Ed managed to say, still processing if he should be shocked or happy. He felt both. Al took it as he wasn't about to get angry at least, so he dared to try lighten the heavy mood once again.

''It seems like I always have to go to more physical methods to get through to you...'', Al then looked up with a small smile, ''After all it's hard to get through that thick head of yours. Sorry if it wasn't as good as what you've experienced earlier, but remember it was my first try.''

That made Ed wake up, and he gave Al a reassuring smile. This time he didn't fake the smile.

''Don't worry Al, it was definitely better than MY first kiss. And uh, thanks for saying.. all of that. I'll try not to start on that again, but I can't promise anything. You know me.'' He laughed a bit and both of them loosened up at the much more cheerful atmosphere that was spreading. Ed made a sullen expression at a thought he just had. ''But now that I think about it, anything could beat that first kiss of mine...''

''Gee thanks brother. Who was that with anyway?''

Ed's expression hardened a bit like he was going to keep that information to himself but he let out a sigh and told him anyways; ''You know.. Roy.. That Mustang guy from another class but same class year as me. NO, don't give me that look, I've never been in a relationship with him, it's not like that!'' Al looked surprised, close to shocked at this information, but also curious, so Ed continued to explain himself as he went to sit on the bed again, and Al followed suit.

''Well we had one of our usual discussions, arguments if you will, during break. You know how he always manage to piss me off one way or another, usually because he's so bossy, and I just can't help but to fire back at him and so it goes. Anyways, he threw the I'm-popular-with-most-females-within-the-entire-school card, as if it was something to brag about, and I said I really couldn't see what they saw in a pervert like him. Then he fucking decided to try and show me! And that's when he snog me right there in the cafeteria in front of half of the school!''

Al's eyebrows rose. ''So that's what caused that rumour that said you were gay?''

''Al not so loud! Shhh, I don't want the girls next door to start thinking they can take me with them shopping! It's bad enough with the girls at our school! I've gotten weird ask-outs from girls who want a gay best friend!'' Ed hissed at him in a whisper, all red in the face. Then he sighed. ''Where did you hear that from anyway? It happened the year before you started in the high-school...?''

''Oh, well the rumour was still running when I started and I was confronted with it when I told we were brothers. But I had no idea it was with Roy, or well, I didn't believe it when I heard it, since all you ever do is hating on him here at home. But when you even confirm it yourself...''

''Hmph, I had hoped the gossiping would've died with that school year, but I guess it was just MEANT to be a living hell for me.''

''So uh...'', Al started.

''Hm?''

''Is it true?''

''What?''

Al gave it an extra thought. He had actually wondered about this for some time, but he wasn't sure how Ed would react if confronted with it. Curiosity got the better of him.

''The rumour... Are you actually gay?'' He made sure to look encouraging just in case, wouldn't want him to think he wouldn't be supportive if it was the truth.

Ed twitched, and hesitated before answering; ''No... Well, bisexual or just asexual maybe. I haven't really been interested in relationships or anything so it's like I'm asexual, but I haven't really tried anything either so I can't say I can exclude that I'm interested in one or both genders.''

''Oh... Well I already know that you do have some sort of sexual desire, so you might not be all uninterested in the act at least.'', Al said with a smirk.

''! Bringing that up again!? I thought I told you not to- argh whatever.'' He let him off with another warning, blushing madly. Good thing he could get privacy for masturbating when moving to the dorm! ''But yeah, I don't know, I'm still figuring it out. So far I've only been kissed by two guys, one being the jerk I hate the most and the other being my younger brother. How do you think my sexuality-discovery-research is going?'' He said sarcastically.

''Sounds like it sucks so far but it sure is interesting. And you've gotten further than me I can tell. Though I've at least been considering dating.''

''You have?''

''Well yes only thinking about it, but I never really did. What about you, had any other dates besides the one with Mustang in the school cafeteria~?'', Al said teasingly.

Ed grimaced at him. Damn it, he should never have told him. He was going be hear about this for years. It was for the same reason that he hadn't told Winry, he would never hear the end of it otherwise. Good thing she didn't go to the same school too. Sigh, siblings. ''No, and as I said Al, we were never a thing, he forced that kiss on me, and I didn't enjoy it.''

''Aww not even a little bit? And how about your dates with your hand?''

''Drop it Al!'' Ed whined, his face turning a deep red, as he smacked a pillow in the face of Al, who just laughed and tried to cover himself with his arms.

And as the pillow fight continued, things were back to normal between the Elric brothers. Or so they thought themselves. But they would soon find out that things would be completely different from now on.

End of chapter 3

Sooo I hope you don't hate me for spoiling the kiss you probably thought would come. Hopefully I can make up for that in some of my next chapters. 3

What was your favourite part? What do you think of Ed's first kiss? Write me a comment and tell me what you think of the story so far. There's much more to come. ;)