A/N: Hi!
I was very happy to read you all and to see all the people who decided to give this story a chance :)
I hope you enjoy this new chapter although this time I'm including a little warning because Winry's old roomie will make an appearance but I promise that will be all we'll see of him.
Thanks for reading!
Golden
Chapter 2
How on earth could I have thought this would be a good idea? Winry thought to herself as she took out her frustration on the engine screw she was fixing.
When the screw was securely locked in place, Winry dropped the screwdriver on the small table she had moved closer to the vehicle and leaned her arms over the edge of the car as she exhaled heavily.
Despite what her attitude might imply the truth was that these last few months with Edward as her roomie had been amazing. He was the best roomie she could ask for. Certainly, he wasn't perfect as they had had small arguments about his habit of leaving his clothes lying around or that he often forgot to wash the dinner dishes before going to bed. Still, those were just normal differences that arose from living under the same roof with another person as she had caused some of the arguments by leaving screws strewn all over the apartment or leaving her speakers on at a loud volume until late because she was focused on some project.
But all those differences only made the experience more enjoyable as they were definitely never bored together. They might be studying different careers but they both showed genuine respect and interest in what the other was studying. Besides it wasn't just that, they easily found something to do when they both spent a quiet weekend at the apartment, whether it was a game of Monopoly where Ed cursed every time he fell into Winry's properties, watching Friends laughing at every moment or doing weird food experiments that on a couple of occasions had left them having competitions to see who could take over the bathroom first.
They had such a good time together that Winry was now surprised when she realized it was time for her visit to Resembool, an occasion she used to look forward to, even going so far as to mark the days on the calendar but since Ed's arrival in her life, the calendar had been forgotten and the only reminder she had was the call her parents always gave her a couple of days before her trip.
Everything was going great between them... except when Ling would stop by the apartment for Ed or when Winry would run into them on campus. It wasn't that she didn't like Ling, as she had found a very funny friend in him, but the problem was that with each encounter she was finding it harder to keep her jealousy in check. Jealousy that shouldn't exist.
Paninya had convinced her that the friendship she could create with Ed would help her leave behind the initial crush she had on him, but as time went by the friendship and closeness they had developed between them was making her crush cling to her, refusing to leave and gradually convincing her that she was beginning to fall completely and hopelessly in love with him. And as hard as it was she had to accept that this love had no future.
Paninya was the one who told her that Ed was gay since he had a boyfriend, confirming to her shortly after that it was Ling. She had no reason to doubt her friend but at first she had some doubts about it but as time went on she realized that she had tried to deny reality to herself since everything pointed to the fact that Ed and Ling had a solid relationship. Ed never spoke directly to her about his love life (which Winry was inwardly grateful for as knowing more details would break her heart even more in the face of her impossible love). Still, Winry could sense the trust and bond that united them whenever she saw them together. Certainly, Ed had no public displays of affection for Ling but Ling seemed to want to make up for both of them by hugging Ed for any excuse, whether it was to ask for a note or to convince him to buy him lunch. Ed never failed to grumble at her every request but always gave in to his whims and before long the two of them were joking around like it was nothing, which showed how close they were since Ed didn't usually interact much with other students other than him, Paninya and herself.
"Hey, Winry."
Winry was pulled out of her thoughts by the voice of the protagonist of her thoughts.
"Are you ready yet?"
And there was another reason that made it harder for Winry to rip off that love. No matter how busy he was or that he had to rush out of the apartment after taking some calls from his godmother's business (Izumi, a close friend of his mother's who was the manager of a chain of butcher shops that her husband and she had founded a few years ago), he always came for her at the end of her shift at the shop no matter how much she insisted it wasn't necessary but his stubbornness was greater claiming that he didn't like the idea of her coming back alone since her shift ended after dark.
Winry removed her arms from the small table and quickly grabbed a wrench and a rag to pretend she was cleaning it. "Almost there."
Ed laughed. "That trick isn't going to work on me."
"Which tri-" Winry interrupted herself as she turned around and got a full view of Ed, who on this occasion was wearing one of his black sleeveless T-shirts.
Winry had a love-hate relationship with that choice of Ed's closet. Every time she wore them, Winry had an unrestricted view of Ed's muscular arms making her delight at what her eyes saw but this in turn backfired on her as she couldn't help the racing of her heart when she saw him like this and it did nothing to help her idea of trying to ignore her crush on him. So much was its effect that the last time they had gone out to a bar, Ed had been wearing one of those t-shirts and, although Winry hadn't really been drunk, she had been sorely tempted to kiss him when he had slipped one of his arms around her shoulders as they laughed at one of Paninya's stories, an impulse that with a lot of work she managed to control.
That had been a recent development but the truth was that it didn't take Winry long to realize the effect that the garment had on her since a few days after moving in with her Winry discovered that Ed's good figure was not simply due to his genes but that the young man also included exercise in his routine and, as far as she knew, Ed preferred to lift weights and do sit-ups wearing that kind of shirt, although Winry had no way of knowing if Ed continued with that habit because one morning she had discovered Ed exercising with his torso completely bare and that tantalizing sight had left her so disturbed and her face so flushed (worrying Ed when he saw her) that she had since opted not to leave her room until she was sure that the young man had finished with his session for the day.
Unconsciously, Winry stared at Ed in silence, which caused the young man to blush slightly. Again? Winry thought, intrigued. Apparently Ed was someone who blushed unexpectedly at the strangest situations in Winry's eyes (sometimes she was surprised that he didn't have that behavior towards Ling's clingy hugs) so she hadn't been able to decipher what the cause or causes of that phenomenon were. A few times she had teased him a bit about it to try to find out what was going on but on those occasions she hadn't managed to get anything out of Ed and in the end it backfired on her as the young man was quick to tease her back every time he discovered her blushing because of him, though of course without him knowing that he was the one having that effect on her.
"Hello? Earth calling Winry?" Ed asked as he put a hand to the back of his neck, somewhat nervously under her watchful gaze.
Winry couldn't help but follow Ed's arm movement with her gaze before responding. "I don't know what trick you're talking about." She said as she turned again to control the blush that wanted to make itself present on her cheeks.
"Come on, Win, that wrench isn't going to get any more silver no matter how much you wipe it with that rag."
Winry inhaled deeply to disperse the heat that wanted to lodge in her cheeks before turning to look at him with a slight smile. "You'd be surprised how many tricks we mechanics have up our sleeves."
"I don't see you using any."
Winry ducked her gaze down to her chest and knowing that Ed was more than aware of her choice of attire (a gray tube top) protectively brought her arms to her chest even though it wasn't the first time Ed had seen her in such clothing.
Realizing this, Ed blushed slightly and hurried to speak with a slight high-pitched edge to his tone of voice because of his nerves. "I don't know what I'm amazed at if you actually do amazing things. So you can keep secrets even if you don't wear sleeves right?" He said letting out a nervous chuckle.
At the compliment that had crept into his attempted explanation, Winry couldn't help but smile. "Sometimes you can give compliments in the most unexpected way." She stood up before adding. "Give me a couple of minutes while I go get my things. I won't be long."
A few minutes later, Ed and Winry were walking toward their apartment. Lacking a parking space, Ed had had no choice but to leave his motorcycle at Dublith, for which his mother had been extremely grateful.
As the façade of the building in which their apartment was located began to come into view, Winry had to stop as she doubled over in laughter at the story Ed was telling her, one that involved him and an ostrich that had been chasing him incessantly.
"Really?" Winry asked with a chuckle.
Ed laughed too. "Really. I learned that day that it's not in your best interest to earn the hatred of a bird like that."
"It's your fault. How could you even think of-" Winry was interrupted mid-question as she felt watched so she looked around but found nothing out of the ordinary.
"What's wrong?" Ed asked.
"Nothing." Winry said somewhat uncertainly before pushing the thought of feeling watched out of her mind to continue chatting with Ed until they entered the apartment.
Once inside they both got ready to prepare some dinner. Ed was opening some cans of tuna fish when Winry opened the refrigerator to take out a carton of milk. As she opened it and brought it up to her nose, it crinkled which made Ed laugh.
"I guess you won't be drinking that evil liquid tonight."
With a grimace, Winry dumped the contents of the carton into the sink as she replied. "Sure I will. Mrs. Hamilton's store is still open, and if not, I'm able to go to the supermarket."
Now it was Ed's turn to grimace. "You and your eagerness to want to drink that vile liquid."
Winry zipped up the jacket she had put on when she left the shop and hadn't had a chance to take off. "You and your war against something as innocent as milk."
"You could have coffee. It tastes so much better."
"I could but I want to get a good night's sleep today plus I love to have some milk with your mom's cookies." Winry said with a smile.
"Hey, those are mine." Ed complained jokingly. The previous day he had returned from visiting his parents and, as was her custom, his mother gave him some food for the week, this time being cookies. Curious since the previous time she had also done so and she didn't usually repeat foods from one visit to the next.
Winry walked over to the box where the cookies were and picked one up to take a bite. She then held the box out to the young man but before Ed could take one, she pushed the box away from his grasp.
"Hey!"
"I wasn't inviting you." Winry said with a slight laugh.
"Mind you they're mine. Just because Mom told me to give you some doesn't mean they're all yours now."
Winry wagged a finger from side to side. "Of course they're mine. Look." She said holding the box up to him once more.
Raising an eyebrow, Ed looked at the contents of the box noticing until that moment that on the inside of the lid was a small message written courtesy of his mother. For Winry. Thank you for taking such good care of my son.
Ed opened his eyes wider at what he was seeing eliciting laughter from Winry, so he opted to return to his work of preparing the tuna for the sandwiches.
"Since there's no longer any question about that..." Winry set the box down and walked over to the door as she grabbed her keys. "I'll go get some milk."
"Go carefully."
Winry turned to look at him but as she did so Ed returned his gaze to his task though he couldn't help but make Winry briefly disconcerted as she realized the tips of his ears were reddened.
Winry went to the store that was located a couple of blocks from her building. Fortunately, she still found it open so within minutes she was walking back to her apartment with a carton of fresh milk with her. She was humming a tune as she approached her destination but her tune and her footsteps were abruptly stopped when she noticed someone she knew leaning against the front of her building.
Squeezing the carton a little and frowning, Winry asked. "What are you doing here, Max?" She asked the young man.
The young brown-haired man broke away from the wall he was leaning against and tried to take a step toward her but seeing Winry's posture tense, he stopped. "I just wanted to come and say hello, is there something wrong with that?"
"Yes when I told you that I never wanted to see you again in my life." Winry answered him with an annoyed look.
"Oh, come on, Winry. That's impossible. We still go to the same college."
"You know what I mean."
Max sighed and ran a hand through his tousled hair before directing a sad smile at her. "I know, Winry. I really do. It's just that I wanted to apologize to you."
"Please, Max, do you really think I'm going to believe that?"
"I understand I'm not in the best position for you to believe my words but I know who you are and how big your heart is so please, I'm asking for a chance to give you the apology you deserve and that it took me so long to give you. I know I have no justification for what I did but I want to at least try to earn some of your forgiveness." Max told her with a pleading look on his face.
"Max-"
"Please, Winry." He said slowly advancing towards her as he realized Winry was starting to lower her defenses. "I feel terrible for losing you over some idiotic thing."
Winry sighed. "Well yes, you were quite the jerk and while I could perhaps come to forgive you, I don't think we can do anything about our friendship. You destroyed the trust I had in you."
"Winry, give me a chance to prove to you that we can make our relationship work."
"Oh, wow, wait." Winry said placing her free hand in front of her to make the brown-haired man stop. "Our relationship? That sounds like something that happened and you and I didn't have anything beyond a friendship."
Max raised an eyebrow. "Well maybe not as such but it was obvious we had a thing. It wasn't for nothing that you were flirting with me all the time."
"What?!" Winry tightened her grip, denting the milk carton. "I never flirted with you, asshole!"
Max let out a light chuckle. "Please, why do you think I couldn't resist that night? You wanted me to!"
"You're an idiot!" Winry said as she threw the carton at his head, which opened slightly as it made contact with its target due to the pressure Winry had previously put on it. "And so am I for thinking you deserved me to listen to you." She added as she stomped past him with heavy footsteps.
"Hey!" Max said with an annoyed look as he grabbed her by the forearm. "How dare you?"
"Let go of me!" Winry said with an annoyed tone as she tried to break free from his grip but only got momentary relief because the young man let go of her for only a moment before quickly grabbing her by both forearms.
"You don't order me around." He said as he made her lean back against the front of the building.
Winry tried to knee him in the crotch but the chestnut managed to pull away far enough so that her knee only grazed him. At this, Winry was about to scream but the man realized her intentions so he covered her mouth with one hand while forcing his body against hers to keep her immobilized.
"That's better." At the furious look Winry gave him, he smiled. "Come on, don't look at me like that. You sure missed me all this time. Although now that I remember..." He tightened the grip he kept on the blonde's forearm, which was sure to leave a bruise. "Nice welcoming you gave me, huh. I decided to give you your time to cool off and in the end, it turns out you traded me in for some random asshole. Were you that urgent for attention?" He said before unzipping the girl's jacket. "Great, at least you're welcoming me with one of my favorite pieces of clothing." He said as he directed a smile at her.
It was at that moment that Winry couldn't help the panic in her eyes. Her good heart had won her over as she had continued with Max's initial talk but back then his gaze was pretty much the same as it had been when they lived together in the apartment before that time he wanted to molest her. Now, just inches away from her, she had Max with the same predatory, demented look he had had on that terrible occasion.
"Don't be scared, Winry." He said as he rubbed her forearm with his thumb. "Just enjoy the moment okay?" He added as he leaned toward her.
Realizing that the brunette had intentions of kissing her, Winry took the opportunity to bite his hand as soon as she felt the pressure lighten.
After letting out a grunt of pain, Max glared at her angrily as he clenched his fist with the clear intention of hitting her. "You fucking-!"
"Weren't you taught to respect, you fucking asshole?" Asked Ed, who had arrived just in time to stop the young man's fist with his hand.
"What the-?" Max didn't have time to finish his question due to Ed punching him in the face so hard that it knocked him to the ground.
"Ed!" Winry exclaimed in relief.
"Winry, are you okay? What did this jerk do to you?" Ed said, who positioned himself in front of her as he examined her to see if she was hurt.
"I'm fine Ed, he didn't manage to do anything." Winry said before hugging him.
Ed rubbed her back realizing that despite the strong facade Winry was trying to show him, her look denoted the panic she felt plus he could feel her body tremble slightly at what had happened.
"You damn intruder. Mind your own business." Max said as he stood up while wiping away a trickle of blood running from his mouth.
Ed pulled away from Winry and in doing so momentarily placed his hand by the blonde's forearm causing her to wince slightly. This caused him to direct a furious glare at the brown-haired man as he placed Winry behind him.
"If you value your miserable life, get out of here."
Max laughed. "Oh yeah? Do you think I'm afraid of you?"
"You should be."
Winry took Ed by the hand. "Let him go, Ed. Let's go inside."
"You think I'm just going to let him go just like that after he hurt you?"
"I'm going to denounce him, Ed. Just like I should have the first time." Winry told him before turning a glare on Max.
"Cut the crap, Winry. You know you want to be with me. You don't have to provoke me with your stupid little games."
"Good thing you got rid of this idiot, Winry." Ed said without taking his eyes off the brown-haired man.
"You stay out of it, you fucking idiot." Max told him approaching them.
Ed slipped his free hand into his pants pocket and quickly pulled out his cell phone to hand it to Winry. Thinking it would just be a quick outing Winry hadn't even picked up her cell phone before leaving but now she quickly understood what Ed wanted her to do so, after giving his hand a brief squeeze, she released his hand and stepped back a couple of paces as she dialed the police number.
"Stay right there, Winry. We're not done talking." Max said pointing a finger at her.
"Fuck you. You're not one to give me orders." Winry said before focusing all her attention on the call she was making.
Max attempted to walk towards her but Ed stopped him by putting his arm out to block his way.
"Didn't I tell you to leave, asshole?" Ed told him clenching his jaw at the fury that this guy was provoking him.
Max ignored his words and gave him a hard shove to smash him against the building's facade but his blow didn't have enough force so Ed barely staggered before he grabbed one of the brunette's arms subduing him by placing his arm painfully behind his back. Between groans of pain, the brunette tried to kick him unsuccessfully so, frustrated, he slammed the back of his head into Ed's face.
"Ed!" Winry exclaimed, concerned, taking a few steps towards them as she momentarily forgot about the call she was making.
"I'm fine, Win. Stay on the call." Ed said with a reassuring smile.
Winry hesitated for a second before nodding her head and then continuing with the call.
"And you..." Ed said returning his attention to the brown-haired man before throwing him to the ground in one swift motion. "You don't seem to know when to stop do you?" He added as he settled on top of him to prevent him from escaping and without releasing his arm from the painful position he had placed it in.
"Damn you."
Ed ignored him and made sure to block him from any mobility as Winry finished calling the police.
When Winry ended the call and approached them, she wanted to try to check Ed's cheek since Max's blow would surely cause swelling in the area since some redness could already be noticed, but Ed reassured her by telling her that they would take care of that later once the police had taken Max away since he didn't want the guy to be so close to her once again.
Winry felt a warmth inside her as she noticed how much Ed was looking out for her so she smiled and thanked him although, quite like Ed, the young man downplayed what he was doing and began to make some small talk to Winry about how his godmother Izumi had taught him and his brother Al to defend themselves, even going so far as to joke that Izumi would surely beat him up when she found out that some good-for-nothing had come to give him a good blow to the face. Max wanted to curse and complain throughout their talk but Winry took it upon herself to keep him quiet by forcing some of the carton of milk she had previously thrown at him into his mouth.
They went on like that for a while longer until the police car arrived to take Max away. They had to stay a few more minutes while the police questioned them about what had happened in order to have a prior report of the situation. They also asked Winry for her information to start the process of filing a formal complaint, since she had told them that she was going to proceed with the process.
When they were finally back in the apartment, once she had removed the jacket she was wearing, Winry was quick to send Ed to sit in one of the chairs in their small kitchen so she could check his face. Ed grumbled a little at first but it didn't take long for him to smile in relief when he could feel the coolness of an ice pack on the left side of his face.
A few seconds later, Winry removed the bag momentarily to carefully check Ed's face to see if he had any wounds that needed to be disinfected. Finding none she gave the bag to Ed to hold over his face while she began to check each of his arms, an action that elicited a chuckle from Ed.
"Can I get you a magnifying glass?"
Winry finished checking his arm before answering. "It wouldn't be bad but I think for this occasion it won't be necessary as everything seems to be fine around here." She said with a relieved smile.
"I could have told you that myself." Ed said with a smile before extending a hand in her direction.
"What?" Winry asked, confused.
"Your arm."
"Oh." Winry placed it against her chest and held it with her other hand. "Everything's fine." She said forcing a smile.
"Winry." When she avoided his gaze, Ed insisted. "Please."
Winry sighed and extended her arm toward him. Ed took her hand and gave it a light squeeze before standing up so he could check her forearms, on which bruises born of the tight grip Max had kept on her were beginning to show.
"That bastard." Ed muttered between his teeth as he ran his fingers a few inches below where the marks were.
"It's nothing, Ed."
"Nothing? Dammit, I shouldn't have let you go to the store alone."
"It's not your fault, Ed. What's more, I failed to thank you properly." She told him with a smile before hugging him. "Thank you so much, Ed."
Ed was quick to reciprocate her hug. "There's nothing to thank. Rather sorry I was late."
Winry denied against his chest. "None of that. The one who needs to apologize is me." She pulled away from him slightly so she could gently place a hand on his cheek. "Because of me, you're hurt."
Ed laughed. "You call this hurt? Didn't you hear that brat's shrieks of pain?"
Winry couldn't help but laugh. "Still." Her expression grew serious. "None of this would have happened if I'd gone to the police in the first place."
Ed shrugged. "Well, actually, the police aren't always efficient."
"Maybe so... but in the end I didn't even try, all because I didn't want to worry my parents."
Ed looked her straight in the eye before saying. "So... did that jerk want to molest you when you were living together?"
Winry sighed before ducking her gaze. "Yes."
"That bastard." Ed said with annoyance before softening his features and lifting Winry's face with one hand. "Hey, relax, it's all over now. Besides tomorrow we'll make sure that idiot gets what he deserves. He's not getting away with this."
"Us?"
"Of course." Ed said with a smile. "Do you think I'm going to let you go alone? I'm not going to make the same mistake."
Winry couldn't help a smile. "Isn't a delegation supposed to be safe?"
Ed shrugged. "It never hurts to have a little extra security especially when there are jerks like that idiot involved."
Winry kept her smile. "I appreciate it, Ed, but I don't want to give you any more trouble. You've done enough for me and besides, there's class tomorrow-"
Ed snorted. "That's your best excuse? Do you really think I'm going to prefer a stupid class with Mustang to you?"
The closeness of their faces and the way Ed had looked at her as he finished his sentence made Winry blush and her heart race. Not wanting him to notice the state of her cheeks, she hugged him again.
Ed was quick to hug her tightly before asking. "Does this mean that you are indeed going to accept me as your escort?"
Winry laughed as she buried her face against his chest. "Of course. Thank you." She said before closing her eyes as she filled herself with Ed's essence. She no longer had the slightest doubt that she had fallen in love with the young man but unfortunately, there was nothing she could do but try to suppress her growing feelings as much as she could. Only for now, at least for that moment, she wanted to enjoy his closeness since she probably wouldn't have that kind of closeness with him as often as she would like, both out of a desire to maintain their friendship and for her own sake to avoid getting her hopes up about the slightest possibility that something might happen between them.
"Hey, Win."
After a deep, reluctant inhale, Winry pulled away a little so she could look him in the eye. "Yeah?"
Ed cracked a huge grin. "See? There's a reason I told you you didn't have to go to the store. This whole thing was surely a conspiracy orchestrated by the evil milk!"
Winry blinked a couple of times before laughing. Yes, she had fallen in love with Ed with all his strange hatred of milk. She would have time to worry about what this meant for the fact that they both lived under the same roof. For the moment she would focus on engraving in her mind that huge smile she loved so much.
