(A/N: Yo! Chibi-Sen1124, here! So, I'm sure you're wondering where Al got his crazy confidence from, right? In order to answer your dying curiosity, I have created this short chapter based upon those few comments who have talked about Al's mischievous side. Hopefully, it's a bit clearer. Thank you to my followers who have followed me from the beginning. Thank you more to those who review. And thank you to AnimeRideorDieFreak and fullmetalpassion for reviewing on Al's behavior. Your reviews were the building blocks for this short chapter.
BluezebraAFHS, be expecting your idea in the chapters yet to come! Enjoy!)
Winry woke up to feel her body shaking. Her eyes snapped open and she saw Ed over her, shaking her shoulders. His eyes gleamed with mischief and the grin he had told her whatever he was planning so early in the morning wasn't good.
"Winry! Wake up." he whispered loudly. She rolled her eyes at him.
"I'm already awake, dummy. Stop shaking me." she said.
"Oh. Sorry." He let go of her shoulders. She carefully sat up, breathing in deeply. She was able to breathe from her nose now and her lungs didn't feel like they were on fire anymore. Winry felt a whole lot better than yesterday. It was because of the medicine Ed had brought for her. But she could still feel a cough rising up from her. She wasn't completely healed. Winry knew she'd be a lot better if she was resting. Which is why she wondered what the heck Ed was thinking, waking her up so early.
"Why'd you wake me up, Ed?" she asked, getting ready to lay back down. He sat down on the edge of her bed. With him so close, she noticed that his hair wasn't pulled back into it's usual ponytail or even in his braid. It was messy and yet he still managed it to look good in the morning. Winry couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. Her hair was a monster in the morning, always fighting with her brush. Winry also noticed that he was wearing a black pajama bottom that she had never noticed on him before and his black tank top. Whatever he had to tell her, it was clearly important because he didn't bother to change.
"I'm pretty sure you've noticed how confident Al's been acting lately, right?" he said, inching closer to her. She nodded and tried to ignore how close he was getting.
"Well, have you wondered why?" he continued. She looked up, trying to look like she was thinking. She kept looking up and Ed got impatient.
"Okay, here's what I think," he said, interrupting her thoughts. "Maybe he's been secretly talking to a certain someone and that person always seems to boost his esteem."
She gave him a look that said Seriously? That's what you came up with?
"Don't give me that look. I know it seems stupid but I noticed that after we came back from Central for his birthday, he always checks the mail. Now, the only reason to prove my theory is correct is to check to see if he's hiding anything in his room." he said with excitement. Winry stared at Ed before she laid back down, snuggling underneath her fluffy blankets. Ed tugged the blanket off and shook Winry's shoulder again.
"C'mon, Winry! Be my partner in crime. Al went with Granny into town to go grab the ingredients for tonight's dinner. This is the perfect chance!" he said, hoping to change Winry's mind. She glared at him and pulled the blanket over her again.
"No." she said from underneath. Ed sighed dramatically.
"And here I thought we'd finally do something together." Ed said out loud. Winry's heart pounded inside her chest until she realized what they'd be doing.
"Yeah, going through your little brother's stuff is not what I'd rather be doing." she told him. He grinned.
"What would you rather be doing then?" he said in a teasing voice. She looked behind her and glared at Ed.
"Sleeping." she turned back around. Ed was in such a good mood, he kept teasing her.
"Together?" he asked. She threw the blankets off and stood up so quickly, Ed had to stop to comprehend what had just happened.
"Fine. I'll be your partner in crime. But if we get caught, I'm blaming you." she said, crossing her arms over her chest. He nodded. Ed looked behind her and grabbed one of the thinner blankets from her bed. He placed it over her shoulders.
"Just in case. I don't want you getting sick again...or cold." he turned around to hide his slightly pink face. Winry smiled at the back of Ed's head. Together, they made their way to Al's room which was across Ed's room.
"So why did Al go with Granny?" Winry asked him. He opened the door to Al's room and turned around to face her.
"I told you, to get ingredients for tonight's dinner." he responded. He walked inside, Winry following right behind him. Nikko was sleeping peacefully on Al's bed.
"I know that. I mean, why did he go with her?" she asked. Ed went straight to Al's desk. He sat down in his chair. Winry sat on Al's bed, leaning against the wall.
"Al was already awake when she was getting ready to leave. He offered to go and she said yes." he answered.
"Sounds like you were already awake though. Why didn't you offer to go?" she asked him. He gave a sheepish grin.
"Well, I can't ask Al to be my partner in crime now, can I? Besides, if both me and Al went, who'd be here to take care of you?" Ed opened Al's top drawer. Winry noticed Al wasn't the only one who had changed. Ed had also become more confident than before(Although she wasn't sure how that was possible). He seemed more open and he showed his feelings a lot more. He even seemed more open about how he felt towards Winry. She liked it.
"Aha! Found something." Ed said, holding up a small stack of letters. Ed made his way to Al's bed and sat beside Winry. He placed Nikko on the floor and he sat extremely close to her, their shoulders touching.
"Let's see what we have here." Ed grabbed one letter and checked the return address. It was from the Xing Empire.
"Don't tell me he's been talking to that stupid idiot prince." But Ed re-read the return address to see that he had misread the name. It was actually from Mei Chang. Ed looked at Winry and Winry looked at Ed. Winry began to grin widely and Ed's mouth dropped.
"You don't think...maybe he…" Ed said. Winry shrugged but the grin didn't escape her lips.
"I don't know. But Al is protective so maybe he keeps in touch with her to make sure Ling doesn't break his promise about protecting her clan." Winry suggested. Ed nodded slowly. He began to open one of the letters but Winry stopped him by grabbing it out of his hands. He gaped at her and Winry shook her head.
"No, Ed. What goes on between them stays between them." Ed frowned. He tried grabbing it out of her hands but she pulled it away from his grasp.
"No. Ed, dammit!" He kept trying to grab the letters but each time he did, she just pulled it away. He climbed over her. She placed the letters underneath her and she laid on top of them. He began to tickle her sides.
"No, wait! Stop!" she began to laugh loudly. Ed couldn't help but laugh along with her, even though he wasn't the one being tickled. She moved to one side, exposing the letters. He was about to snatch them before Winry laid back on top of them. He kept tickling her sides. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.
"It's Al's letters! Stop!" she said in between laughs. The door swung open and Ed stopped tickling her. They both looked at the door to find Al. He put up his hands in disbelief.
"On my bed!? Really!?" he walked away, muttering to himself. Winry took the chance to throw Ed on the floor. She placed the letters back in Al's drawer.
"No reading." she mouthed to Ed, who was on the floor. As she walked away, her face began to burn in embarrassment. But she didn't know that she wasn't the only one embarrassed. A certain golden haired boy on the floor was also burning up, but that didn't stop the stupid grin on his face.
(A/N: So! How was that? Tell me so I can improve. Want longer chapters? Let me know! Got an idea but you'd rather read it than write it yourself? Leave it as a review or PM me! Or just review! I'll update sooner if I get some more reviews!)