Hi Everyone! Here's a new chapter for you!
Thanks to everyone that reviewed last chapter! I'm super excited about his chapter because this is were things start to get a little crazy!
A little word of warning, if you don't like heavy swearing, sorry because this chapter has some near the end.
"Hey. Where's Ed and Winry?" Roy asked as he looked around the dark room.
"What?" Maes asked as he passed by Roy.
"I said where'd Ed and Winry run off to?"
"Uh…didn't they run off to the bathroom so that Winry could barf?"
"Right." Roy said as he started to walk out of the room and up the stairs to the bathroom.
Once Roy had climbed the stairs, he walked down the hall and to the closed bathroom door. Roy raised a fist to knock on the door, but before his fist could make contact with the hard surface, the door opened, smacking him right on his nose and knocking him to the ground.
"Ow! Shit what the Hell was that for?!" Roy hollered as Ed stared down at him.
"What are you yelling at me for? I wasn't the one hiding behind a door."
"I wasn't hiding! I was making sure you two didn't die!"
"Whatever, let's just get back downstairs."
Roy watched as Ed and Winrywalked by him. They were both quiet, too quiet for Roy's liking. Roy studied Winry's face and noticed that it was unusually red.
Well she was drinking. Roy reasoned as he pulled himself from the ground.
Roy followed the two teens back down the stairs and to the living room and stared at the commotion. Jean was busy standing on top of the couch, shooting empty beer cans witha slingshot at invisible targets throughout the room, while wearing a bed sheet tied around his neck, and dirtying Maes' parent's immaculate white couch with his sneakers. Ed saw Riza crouched behind one of the many coffee tables; He could practically see the wheels turning in her mind as she tried to formulate a plan to stop her delusional friend. Sheska had taken off most of her clothes and was now screaming and running away from Maes, who was only trying to put her back into the clothes she insisted on taking off.
"Yikes." Ed managed to say once he had seen all of the damage the two had managed to create.
"I think that's an understatement." Roy said before he was forced to dive so he wouldn't be beheaded by one of Jean's beer cans.
"Don't just stand there like zombies you three!" Maes shouted as he finally managed to grab hold of Sheska. "Fucking help me!"
Winry quickly moved from her spot to help Maes coax Sheska back into her clothes. Roy and Ed sent each other a look a before letting out a sigh.
"You go that way," Roy whispered as he began to crouch down, motioning to the left of their projectile shooting friend, "I'll go around to his back and Riza…" Roy turned his head so he could look at Rizamore clearly. After their silent message was sent, the three crept to their respective spots and waited for Roy's signal.
"NOW!" Roy shouted as he sprung up from behind the couch.
Ed jumped up and into the air, using the edge of the table as a spring board. Once he had landed on the couch, Ed grabbed onto Jean's left arm and forced it to his side. Riza reciprocated Ed's actions at the same time and then grabbed onto Jean's right. Roy then wrapped his arms around Jean's torso and tried to movehim from off of the couch. Unfortunately, gravity got in the way of their little plan and caused the four teens to face plant onto the couch beneath them.
"Ow…" Roy moaned as he rubbed his head after colliding with another body.
"Great plan Mustang." Ed growled in a slightly muffled voice.
"Hey you went for it! Well you can just go and stopped this lunatic by yourself the next time he decides to do something retarded like this!"
"Guys…"
"No way in Hell am I going to do that! Why don't you just go and stop him!"
"Guys."
"I do stop him every time!
"GUYS!"
Ed and Roy looked around for the body that owned the voice. The room was too dark and there were just too many arms and legs to tell whose body was whose.
"Umm, where are you Riza?" Roy asked as he moved a large pillow.
"I'm underneath you idiots! Not move before I'm crushed underneath your fat asses!"
Ed, Roy, and Jean quickly attempted to jump off of the couch, but ended up just flopping onto the hard ground. Riza got up from the couch and straightened out disheveled appearance. The three teenaged boys cowered under her burning presence.
"Jean." Riza said quietly.
"Y-Yes?"
In a flash, Rizahad shot her arm down, grabbed onto the collar of Jean's T-shirt, and, withastonishing strength, pulled the trembling teen to her eye level.
"What the hellwas that for?" Riza asked in a deadly whisper.
Riza's anger seemed to radiate off of her in waves. The room was suddenly deathly silent now as they all stared at helpless Jean freeze under Riza's deadly gaze.
"Umm, I-I thought it, it was a g-g-good idea…"
"I good idea?"
"W-w-well I can s-see now th-that it was, was a bad idea…"
"You think so?"
"Yes. And, and I'm really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really sorry." Jean insisted as he shook his head for added emphasis.
Riza let him wither under her gaze for a few more minutes before she let go of him; his unstable legs were so shaken, they couldn't support his body and set him tumbling to the floor next to Ed and Roy. After looking around at the damage, Riza let out an audible sigh before excusing herself to the bathroom.
"Dude." Roy said once Riza had exited the room.
"I know." Jean muttered as he tried to pull himself off of the ground.
"You got off easy."
"Sorry we messed up your parents couch again." Jean said as he stood in the doorway.
"We?" Riza questioned while she tied up the last garbage bag.
"It's alright. They wanted a new couch anyways."
"I still feel kinda guilty though." Jean muttered.
"It's alright." Maesreassured his friend with a smile. "Besides, I know how you guys can be. I should be thankful that all that happened was a little beer got on the walls and some footprints on the couch."
"Yeah well…" Jean trailed off as he remembered the other destructive things he had done to this house.
"Well who's crashing here?" Maes asked.
"I am." Jean said as he placed a cigarette in his mouth.
"Me too." Sheska muttered from the couch.
"I might as well." Riza said. "My Father thinks I'm sleeping over Maria Ross' house. It'd be a little suspicious if I showed up."
"Anyone else?"
"I'm too beat to move anywhere." Roy said as he rubbed a soar spot on his neck.
"I can't." Winryadmitted with a frown. "My grandma said she wanted me back home before the sun came up."
"What about you Ed? You staying or going with your girl?" Roy asked.
"I have to go." Ed admitted.
"Aww, come on! Stay, both of you!" Sheska yelled.
"I really can't." Ed said. "My Foster dad texted me and told me I have to be home."
"Oh…alright."
Ed looked at Winry out of the corner of his eye and sent her a silent message telling her that Kimblee was pissed at him being gone.
"Uh, so I'll just take you home Ed." Winry said as she pulled out her car keys from her pocket.
"Right."
As the two left through the front door, a chorus of adorably annoying oohs and awws came from behind them. Ed managed to flick off his annoying friends before Winry pulled him out of the house.
Ed and Winry walked to Winry's beat-up blue pickup truck in silence. Winry started up the car and the two buckled up their seat belts. Ed sat there in his seat, waiting and waiting for the awkward silence to hit him but…but it just didn't seem to come. Ed glanced over to Winry and found her driving peacefully.
Maybe it's not awkward because this should've happened a long time ago…Ed thought.
This thought didn't help Ed in the slightest, because Ed knew what he had to do. And he felt horrible for having to do this to the girl he loved so much.
"Winry." Ed said, breaking the silence.
"What is it Ed?"
"This…you and me…you know that we, we can't." Ed said quietly as he stared out the window.
He heard Winry expel a loud sigh, but that was all. No fight. No questions. No nothing.
"I knew you'd say that."
"And you're okay with it?" Ed asked as he moved his gaze to Winry.
"Damn it Ed! Of course I'm not!" Winry shouted as her grip on the steering wheel tightened.
"But…"
"But I understand. You're afraid that Kimblee would use me against you."
"And he would!"
"Yes, yes Ed I get it. But there's something you seem to have failed to realize." Winry said in an angry tone.
"What?"
"That unless you block yourself out to everyone in the world there is always going to be someone that's a weakness to you! Edward, you're a very caring guy and because of that if anyone was hurt because of Kimblee, you'd feel extremely guilty for it! I don't see how going from being your best friend in the whole world to your girlfriend would change the threat level Kimblee puts on me! Don't you understand this!?"
Ed sat there in his seat, silent. She did have a point, and Ed knew that. Still, he didn't want to think that there would be the slightest chance Kimblee would change his mind on Winry just because their relationship had changed. Ed was so deep in thought that he didn't even realize that Winry had stopped a few houses away from Ed's home until he noticed that they had stopped moving.
"Ed." Winry said as Ed opened the car door.
"Yeah?"
"I know you don't want another reason to worry about me and you also want me to be happy, but what you're doing, by forcing us to just stay friends, is making me extremely angry and annoyed at you. And I'm sure that this is making you annoyed and angry too. So how about you stop thinking about other people and their safety for once…and do what you want to do."
"Win…"
"You better go." Winry said quickly. "Kimblee is already pissed off and he can probably see you sitting here from the living room. So go."
"Right…" Ed muttered as he climbed out of the car and shut the door. "And Winry," He added as she made a moveto put the car back into drive, "I'll…I'll be thinking about what you said."
Ed smiled at her before turning around and walking towards his house. Ed took a deep breath a he stood in front of his front door. Ed glanced over his shoulder and smirked; Winrywas still sitting in her car, watching him. Ed made a movement with his arm that told her 'go away', before he reached out and opened the door.
Unsurprising to Ed, Kimblee stood in the archway between the living room and the dinning room. His arms were crossed against his chest and he wore a furious expression. Ed made a mental note that he absolutely reeked of whiskey.
Fuck, he's drunk. Ed thought. It's always the worse when he's drunk…
"So." Kimblee began.
"So…What?" Ed asked.
"So where were you? At that slut's house?" He asked while motioning to the open window, proving Winry's theory true.
"She is not a slut." Ed growled.
"That doesn' matter. Every girl's a slut or a whore or a bitch. But you diden say that you weren' at that whore's house." Kimblee said, his voice slurring slightly.
"Well I wasn't at her house."
"Really? Then where were you?"
"Out."
"Don't be a smart ass to me! Where the fuck were you?!"
"I was out! By myself! Wandering about for town! Winry just saw me and took me home!"
"Really? Then why do you smell like beer?"
"Because we live in a place that has a bunch of taverns and such and some bum ran up to me and tossed an open beer at me!" Ed yelled thinking quickly.
"That's bullshit you little shit! Quit fucking lying to me!"
"I am not! Now just go to fucking bed you ass-hole before I have to knock you out!" Ed yelled while raising his automail arm threatenly.
"I'd like to see you try! You're such a fuckin' weakling you coudn' beat a baby!"
"Aren't you talking about yourself you imbecile?!"
"Really, if I'm a baby and I can kick your ass up and down the street, what does that make you?!"
"Congratulations! You can beat up a cripple! You must be so fucking proud of yourself!"
Before Ed knew what was happening, Kimblee must have slowly made his way over to Ed as they screamed, because now Kimblee was a mere foot away from Ed. Kimblee grinned down at him before raising his right fist.
"Well cripple boy…let's see what you can do."
Kimbleebrought his fist down, but Ed was ready for it. Ed managed to block the fist withthe side of his left before he swung his right arm up to Kimblee's head. Ed smiled when he heard the satisfying crunch of metal colliding with flesh and bone, but his glory was short lived. Kimblee managed to grabbed hold off Ed's automailand fling him to the ground with insane power. Lights twinkled in front of Ed's eyes as his head smashed into the nearby coffee table. Ed was able to rid his eyes of the offending colors just in time to see Kimblee bearing over him like a wolf would to a helpless rabbit.
Ed braced himself as he saw Kimblee readying himself for a beating. Feet, fists, legs and elbows barraged Ed's already soar body. Ed tried to fight him off but from this position, he had no way of escaping.
"That should teach you to talk back to me." Kimblee spat as he stared down at the semi-unconscious Ed. Kimblee kneeled down next to Ed and inspected his handy work.
"You know, sometimes I think you're just too much damn work. Maybe I should have just let that man take you away years ago so you could live happily-fucking-ever-after with your god-damn brother."
…w-what?
Dun-Dun-DUN!
Okay so I have to say...I think this is my favorite chapter out of anything I've everwritten before. I just loved writting all of it! Jean shooting beer cans, Roy's plan of attack, Ed and Winry's heart to heart, Ed and Kimblee's screaming...all of it! So I hope everyone really loved this chapter too!
Ugh...now that I've finished this chapter I have to go upstairs and study for my mid-terms tomorrow. (One day down...Two to go.)
Please drop a review!
-FSK