AN: Hey guys! Happy Halloween, hope everyone is having a good one and being safe! I wanted to release today of all days because it follows along with the content in the chapter, and also this would have been my Uncle Randy's birthday had he not passed in June this year. He always encouraged my writing and was supportive and the most amazing person ever. Huge thanks to; Le Confidant, The Girl of the Moon, Sokkasm, ZilSepam, fangirl2013, RockingCass12, midnightstardust, xIcyChanx, TheMistOfThePast, Soprana, Mikigotagun, steel-trap, YessCristopher, Seagirl Neptuna, FiendedVendetta and guests for your reviews! I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to PM anyone this chapter, there has been a lot going on. I appreciate every single opinion and encouragement so much!
Disclaimer: No rights to FMA.
Laying in bed, unable to sleep, Edward uselessly fluffed his pillow in an attempt to become comfortable enough to ignore his unhelpful inner monologue. This was beginning to be an every night pattern for the man since he realized that he did in fact have a less than innocent interest in his fiery student. Not that knowing that he had them would have changed the end result of his actions, but at least maybe he could have done something differently. However now that he had admitted their existence to himself, he wasn't able to stop the multitude of scenarios that ran without cease in his mind starring Winry. Around three weeks ago, he had still been blissfully unaware of the exact measure of his feelings; he had known there was some attraction towards her, but what man could look at her and not feel drawn to her? He had also known that he liked her intelligence and ability to stand her ground, but he truly hadn't believed that there was anything passed that.
Unfortunately, in the days and then weeks following the game, the lie that he had been force feeding himself became apparent for the blatant joke it was. Winry had walked into his class hand in hand with the shaggy, white haired man, followed by his pack of idiot friends and just before he called everyone to attention, he saw the thing that had bitterly bitch slapped him into recognition. The powerfully built man had set her books on her table for her and then leaned down and pressed his lips to hers...and she had returned the kiss. In a moment, everything that he had told himself regarding this woman had just been undisputably tossed into disarray. Seeing her eyes flutter closed and the flattering shade of red that now touched her cheeks, he felt his stomach twist sharply in jealousy. His breathing accelerated, and for a second he had to steady himself against his desk. Why had he been so fucking stupid!? He couldn't even make himself stop staring at the couple, despite the fact that the sight was so unwelcome.
Why did it have to be her? Couldn't it have been anyone else? Even though he had made it clear that he wasn't interested in her, he was angry with her. He knew he had no right to be, that logically it was a good thing if she was moving on with this buffoon and that this was the exact situation he had pushed her into inadvertently with his rude dismissal, but couldn't she have taken a bit more time finding a boyfriend? Maybe a couple months, or years, or never? When the two had surfaced, her bright eyes had met his cautiously and he had felt his own blaze into hers just as steadily.
From that point on, he kept his distance from the bubbly woman. At Uni he would go through the motions, but try his best never to let his eyes rest overlong on her. If he happened to see her at the coffee shop, he would go about his business as if she wasn't there. At least from the way he was acting in his waking hours, there was no way that she would be able to tell that she was leaving him sleepless and frustrated. Some nights, he would play out the times he had spent with her and imagine a different result. Others he would wake hard, and covered in sweat after dreaming that he had actually gotten to dance with her that night at Early Birds. Those were the worst because he could almost feel her shapely body fitted against his, rhythmically pressing herself to him, lips glittering in wait for contact. Those dreams left him strung up tighter than a bow and even more irritated upon waking. All of that was what brought him to where he currently was; inserting himself into the open affection that she allowed Michael. He had pictured how soft her lips felt as they moved across his, and the way she could make him crazy from an action so small as tugging her full lip between her teeth. Growling in annoyance, he ripped the pillow from under his head and wrapped it around his face and ears, wishing he could drown out the visions that his mind was producing to torture him. After a while of trying to recite the periodic table silently, he finally began to feel tired, but before sleep could claim him, the resounding thought of, 'Why did it have to be her?' echoed in the confines of his receding consciousness.
Dating the university's star quarterback was kind of like having a gash on your leg and swimming with sharks; Winry had never been what anyone would consider popular, in fact she had been virtually invisible in high school considering the disconnect that she felt between herself and others her own age. As yet another unfamiliar smiling face waved at her, Winry tried to conceal the look of confusion and just acknowledge the friendliness of the man who was walking passed her. Truthfully she wasn't sure what to make of all of the attention she had been getting, generally she tried to be friendly but still focused on the friends she had already made.
She had been seeing Michael for nearly a month now, and in that time she still felt like she barely knew more than surface level information about him. Clearly he was a driven individual, and also very disciplined. Very rarely did he actually manage to allow himself to laugh or joke around, though he was certainly attractive when he did. What she had been able to gather about him was that he was the polar opposite of her. He wasn't affected by anyone's actions and she wondered what had led him to being attracted to her in the first place. Though he had been nothing but a gentleman on the now numerous dates that they had gone on, she was curious if he ever cut up and did anything unexpected. On many occasions she had found herself comparing Michael's stoic mannerisms to that of a mouthy golden haired man that seemed to frequently slip into her mind.
Professor Elric had hardly acknowledged her in weeks, appearing all but oblivious to her existence. However in rare moments when his hands would tightly grasp his desk, she wondered if he really was as unaware of her as he seemed. Once or twice she had met his sunny eyes and found herself unable to look away, and then became irritated that he had any effect on her when she was dating Michael. She was supposed to be focused on him! The only thing that surprised her about the scarred man was that he was much more serious about her than she was about him. Winry wanted to take things slow, and get to know him better before she jumped into becoming his girlfriend, but he was already planning their future and she wasn't sure whether he was completely serious or not. She was unsure of how to handle his thinly veiled comments about moving in together, which was NOT happening anytime soon. Apparently the way they went about things was vastly different and she wasn't sure how to bridge that gap in the slightest. She did know that if or when she did make that type of decision, it would be of her own choosing and not someone's insistence.
For now she was satisfied spending time with Michael and seeing if he would begin to loosen up as time passed. Today she was heading out to find a Halloween costume for the party he had invited her to a couple days ago. He had wanted them to have a matching theme, but she didn't really like his suggestion of dressing up like firefighters. She had never been to a costume party and wanted to pick her own outfit. Being surrounded by the massive selection of daunting and skin baring choices, she found herself worried about the impression she might give by wearing something that revealing. Sighing loudly, she resigned to at least try a few of the garish firefighter get ups on. Grabbing what she considered to be the least provocative of the selection, she began heading to the dressing room when one dazzling burlesque style costume caught her eye. Unable to ignore the lovely bead work and perfectly cut lines, she debated it for a moment and then quickly snatched it up before anyone else could see it.
Slipping off her clothes, she began trying to take apart the mangled stack and smoothed out a extremely short and very low cut fire woman dress, though there was hardly enough there to call it that. Zipping it up in the front, she stared at herself in the mirror. If she moved a fraction one direction or the other, she was dangerously close to exposing her breasts completely. That wasn't going to work for her. Frowning, she unzipped the flaming garment and moved to the next.
This process continued through around six equally awful and similar outfits. Finally her eyes lit upon the brilliant golden colored burlesque costume and she put it on. The top was corseted, which should have deterred her, but the lace that adorned the top seemed the perfect width to cover and expose her shapely bust. There was a white ribbon bow resting between her breasts, and little white embellishments that trailed down the sides until they met with the gauzy material that dipped to her hip bones, where the material was also pulled up by little, white bows. The skirt of the outfit hung in scoops of different textured fabrics, that rested at her mid thigh in the front, though considerably lower in the back, which she was grateful for. When she faced her reflection, she couldn't believe that the woman that stood before her, was her. Even the layering on the backside made her appear curvier. In her very limited opinion, it was alluring without crossing the line into smutty. Looking at it more closely, she noticed the coin like color to it and realized how it reminded her of Edward. Had she chosen it inadvertently with him in mind? Shaking her head to clear the thought, either way it didn't matter because now that she had put it on there was no way she was going to be able to settle with one of the silly firefighter costumes, and hopefully once Michael saw her in this he would agree.
She quickly dressed and made her way out of the changing rooms so she could check into shoes and stockings. Finding some above the knee sheer stockings, and tall heels, she decided she was all set. Now all she had to do was get through tomorrow at Uni and work and then Saturday she would get to enjoy celebrating with everyone.
When Michael and her arrived at the party, everyone seemed to immediately crowd around them, while passing them shots that were served in syringes. Some of the girls opened their mouths and let the guys shoot the liquid into their mouths, but Winry declined the offer from one of the frat guys and administered her own. There were so many people talking and laughing it was hard to focus on one conversation or another. Thankfully he wrapped a possessive arm around her and steadied her in the group that surrounded them. Though he had initially been disheartened that they didn't match, his gem like eyes told her that the costume she had chosen was still stunning. In fact many of the girls with them had already been complimenting her on it. She couldn't help but smile widely because so many of her classmates actually knew who she was and noticed her. This was a far cry from her experience in high school and she couldn't decide if she liked all the attention or missed being anonymous, perhaps a bit of both.
There was beer, punch and other various drinks being served out of hollowed out pumpkins with dispensers stuck into them, which she had never seen before. Really whoever was hosting this party had really spent a lot of time in preparation for the event. The lights changed from normal white bulbs to those of orange, black and purple throughout the house. Along with strobe lights that were occasionally dispersed and the smoke that clouded the rooms, she couldn't help but enjoy the festive atmosphere that was all around her. Music was playing at different volumes in each room, out on the patio there was a DJ and people still in their costumes inside the pool. A man wearing only a cape and plain white underwear handed them each a vile of liquor, only to run away leaving her laughing. Michael led her to a table where they grabbed a couple of drinks and then walked to the dance area that had been taped off on the concrete. She was surprised, he didn't strike her as the dancing type really, so maybe he was going to finally start being less rigid around her. Taking a large drink from her mildly pumpkin spiced beverage, she was excited to realize that it was like a spiked cider; warm, spicy and sweet. Sighing in satisfaction, she looked up to her date who gave her a charming smile in return.
Moments like this, when he managed to drop the wall around him, he was dangerously attractive. His skin being tan made his straight, white teeth stand out. His deep red eyes were entrancing and though she had thought the idea of dressing as a firefighter was silly, now that she saw him with no shirt and gold suspenders, she had to admit that it was a bit more appealing. However, when she glimpsed the gold suspenders, the first thought she had had was of Edward and the way his honey hair looked against his own shirtless body that first time she worked on his automail. Just remembering the definition of his muscles was enough to make her own clench low in her stomach in response. Biting her lip and glancing away from Michael, she wished that she could stop thinking about her Professor all the time, but it was hard when things constantly reminded her of him.
Michael's hand slipped down her arm, regaining her wandering attention as he began to move in time with the beat of the music that she could've sworn had become much louder than it was minutes ago. After catching the rhythm as well, she swayed her hips in what she hoped was an attractive manner and guessing from the expression on his face, she had succeeded. They still danced a solid two feet away from each other until he seemed to get caught up in the music and forgot to keep his distance from her. At this point they were brushing against each other as they moved in the hazy fog that hung in the air. Winry turned to face him as they danced, which was a bit unnerving she realized as she gazed into his cool eyes. Her thoughts strayed again to Ed at this detail. Ed's eyes held warmth and a fiery temper, but Michael's were the exact opposite of that; almost a frosty winter despite the contrary color. Whatever she saw in his eyes, he must have seen something different in hers because a second later when his face dipped to hers and he pressed his lips to hers, she was completely unprepared for the assault he laid to her mouth. Besides the chaste kisses she had received from Michael recently, the one other time she had been kissed was when she was younger. As that had been at a coed party where spin the bottle was being played, it was very dissimilar in nature from the one she was experiencing now. His lips were rough against her own, and his arms had wrapped tightly around her waist as he pulled her into his chest, which radiated heat. From the sheer skill that the man kissed with, it was hard not to become sucked into the passion he was exhibiting for all to witness. Even with the mild buzz she was experiencing from the alcohol, her inhibitions hadn't dropped enough to block out the crowd. Though she wasn't opposed to some affection in public, she didn't necessarily wish to be having this encounter in front of all the curious onlookers that were around them. Sensing her hesitance, he pulled away and stared questioningly into her ocean eyes, before he seemed to mentally assess the situation and then release her, but for her hand which he tugged on as he began to walk back inside the house.
Shit! What if he thought she wanted to get more intimate because of her reaction? Already he wanted more than she was willing to give, so as he led her upstairs, she felt her heart thudding loudly in an anxious tempo. When they reached an empty room, he took a seat on the neatly made bed and patted the space next to him for her to sit. Maybe he wanted to talk, she thought hopefully. Timidly, she sat on the furthermost edge of the bed, as if ready to spring at the first inclination that he wanted to take their physical relationship farther.
"Hey, I'm not going to pounce on you Winry, I just wanted to talk some without everyone watching and listening to every word we say." Feeling herself relax at his words, she turned towards him and scolded herself for thinking so little of him. What was wrong with her? An internal nagging voice whispered the answer that she didn't want to acknowledge, 'You want to be with someone else.' Shoving the unwelcome thought away quickly, she paid strict attention to the man in front of her. Seeing that she believed him, he continued speaking.
"I've never been the type of man that is good at talking about what he wants or feels, but I think you should know where I stand." Watching him steadily, she waited for him to lay out whatever was on his mind. "When I first met you, I was instantly attracted to you. You have this strength within you that I can respect, but you are also kind and easygoing unlike myself."
"You are kind Michael." Winry didn't like that he almost sounded self deprecating the way he stated it.
"Not like you, Winry. As you may have noticed, I am a fairly reserved man, but when I'm with you I feel like being a bit less so, which is new to me. That being said, I would really like for us to become an exclusive couple and for you to consider living with me." She was stunned. Was he serious? He must have caught the look of complete shock on her face because he tried again. "I could take care of you, it can't be easy on your own especially not having any family left, which I understand better than most ever will." Inhaling sharply, she attempted to reign in her anger that threatened to rear it's ugly head. When she did speak, she spoke carefully.
"Michael, I do not need anyone to take care of me. I appreciate you trying to relate to my circumstances and am sorry for your own, but I am in no way ready to live with you. I can't even commit myself to more than I already have with you right now. Especially with my upcoming contract work, I will have strange hours that I would never dream of burdening someone else with." Mustang had called her earlier in the day to say that he wanted to give her contact information to his friend now that they were officially ready for a person in her field to come in, so if she thought she was busy before, she was about to be even more so in the approaching months. Apparently, he took something entirely different from what she had said.
"Are you interested in someone else?" The question might have been more surprising than the last few he had asked, and her lack of immediate response seemed to confirm that fact for him. "I see."
"No! You don't understand, there isn't anyone else I'm seeing, but I'm just not at the same place you seem to be. You are a great person; you are handsome, you are talented and a gentleman to the core, but I am not..." She trailed off not knowing what to say that wouldn't say like a cop out or a put down. "I'm not ready for this right now. I'm sorry to have led you on at all Michael, this just isn't going to work out." Standing abruptly to make a hasty exit, she turned to leave when he spoke again.
"Well, good luck with your contract work, and whoever he is, I hope he realizes how lucky he is." Without another word Winry slipped out of the room and started down the hall for the stairs, when Michael's friend, Chad, stopped her in the stairway.
"Hey Rockbell, what are you doing up here all by yourself looking gorgeous?" The redhead said, smelling heavily of whiskey, while raking his gaze up and down her body, sending a chill of unease through her.
"I was leaving actually." Attempting to push past the bulky man, Winry was stopped when he raised his arm to bar her from the stairs.
"You can't! The party's just getting started, we are all having a good time. Stay here with me and have another drink." Holding the glass in front of her face, he tried to get her to take it from him unsuccessfully.
"No, I don't want anything. I only need to get going." As she moved to go under his arm, he lowered it and caught her in an awkward embrace, crushing her against his hold. Struggling, she pulled out of his grasp to see a look of enjoyment on his face to her reaction. Reaching for her again, Chad surprised her by tearing the front of her costume, leaving her silently stupefied for a second, giving him the opportunity to palm her breast and push her to the wall. Utterly enraged and fearful, she noticed how loosely he held the glass in his hand and decided to lean in as if to kiss him so she could grab the glass. Luckily the drunken fool played into it, and she took a firm grasp on the heavy tumbler as he began to slide his hand up the skirt of her costume. Smashing the glass against his head as hard as she could, she cringed at the loud sound of connection between his nose and the tumbler. Shards of glass and sticky liquid drenched them both as she made for the stairs. He had dropped like a sack of potatoes, but managed to shoot his hand out and trip her. Hearing the snap of her high heel on the wood floor as she tried to right herself, she fell down harshly onto her ankle.
"You fucking bitch! You broke my fucking nose!" She scuttled away from the sound of his furious voice, amazed that Michael hadn't been able to hear it from down the hall. Hobbling down the stairs, she made her way out of the front door with numerous people staring at her with wide eyes, though no offers were made to assist her.
Once she got about a block away, the dull throb in her ankle became worse either from continued weight on it or from being bad to begin with, but she hadn't noticed in her haste to get away from Chad. Assessing herself, she realized that she was covered in many cuts from the glass and was bleeding from that and her fall. Her pantyhose were torn and bloodied along with the corset that the lace now hung loosely from, covering far less than at the beginning of the night. How the HELL had things gone so badly in such a short period of time? Only when she noticed the glass embedded in her palms from her landing did she begin to cry miserably. Hugging herself protectively, she continued trying to walk before she became aware of the fact that she had been traveling on one heel and one heel-turned-flat the whole distance she had come. When this dawned on her, she started crying even harder. As she held herself, she felt something hard on the side of her corset top and remembered that she had brought her cell phone. Finally, she had been dealt a bit of luck. Resigning herself to sit and call someone, she plopped down on the curb and untucked the plastic savior from her top.
Really she only had a few options of people to call; there was Sheska who didn't have a cellphone and was with her nephew and niece for the night, and Alphonse who couldn't drive. Sighing heavily, she brooded over her waning luck. On top of all this, she had no idea where she was, just that she was in an upper scale neighborhood at the corner of an intersection. Staring at the lit up screen through once again blurring eyesight, she decided that she could at least call Alphonse and get a number for a cab as she pulled up the number to his line, which was one of two in the Elric household. Pushing the send button, she held her breath as she heard the call ring in her ear.
Edward was woken by the sound of loud ringing, grumbling to himself about how he'd told Al one hundred times to turn it on silent when he was gone, he made his way to his little brother's room. The phone had rung about three times by the time he entered Alphonse's tidy room, really isn't the unspoken rule not to call after 10:00PM? Having half a mind to pick up the call and tell the rude asshole the common knowledge that they should have respect for, he figured his sibling wouldn't appreciate him telling off any of his friends. Thinking of friends, he wondered for a minute what friend would be calling him at almost midnight? Al had gone out with Sheska and her family for the night, so clearly it wouldn't be her calling for him. As the phone rang out one final obnoxious tone, he turned the sound up on the answering machine to see if the person would leave a message.
"Alphonse, hey...it's Winry." He stood completely still as he heard her voice come through the small box at him, she didn't sound quite right. "I'm just calling to see...I'm just..." There was a noticeable quaver in her voice, was she crying? "I just needed a number for a cab, but I-I'll be okay." Not being able to take the tears that were clearly laced in her words, he picked up the phone without speaking, but Winry noticed that she wasn't talking into a machine anymore from the intake of breath and began speaking rapidly. "Oh my gosh Al! I'm so glad you picked up! I j-just had this creep try and do- I-I don't even w-want to know what to me...and I'm pretty sure I hurt my ankle pretty badly." She sounded absolutely shaken, he needed to say something though.
"Winry. This is Edward. Where are you?" There was an audible pause as she took in the unexpected recipient to her call.
"ED!?" If he hadn't been so worried about her, he would have laughed at her response. "Um, I-I'm at a corner of an intersection, in Central."
"Okay, what intersection?" Trying not to sound like this should have been obvious, he spoke lightly to her.
"Cobblestone and Day." Thankfully he knew where that was, though it had been many years since he had been in that area.
"Winry, let me get your number from the caller ID and I will call you back and talk to you until I get there." Taking the cordless phone into the living room, he searched for the keys he had never used, finding them covered in a fine layer of dust on the wall hook that had been long forgotten.
"No! Ed, it's fine you can just give me a cab company's number and I'll find a ride home." Was she serious? Stubborn, pain in his...
"Winry, it's Halloween weekend, you would have to wait hours for a cab, I'm coming to get you and I'm not going to spend more time arguing about it. I will call you back once I get to my car and talk to you until I get there. Okay?" The silence stretched out as if she was weighing her chances of finding a cab still, but finally she agreed and he hung up the phone and retrieved her cell phone number, quickly programming it into his own. Rushing downstairs to the parking garage, he looked for the car he had never so much as sat in and hoped that even though it hadn't been driven in the few years he'd owned it, that it would still start up normally. Unlocking the door, Ed sat on the leather seat noticing that the car still had that 'new' smell to it. Placing his phone in the center console, he turned the key and luckily it started. Remembering that he had given Mustang the spare set of keys, he mentally made a note to thank the man for keeping up the maintenance on his vehicle. He set up the hands free calling before he nervously pulled out and headed in her direction.
When he finally arrived on the street she would be on, he hung up their call and pulled up beside the small figure that was slumped on the curb. She had said she hurt ankle, so he parked the car and got out to see if she needed help, when he took in the sight before him. At first he was stilled by the fact that she was wearing the most sexy burlesque style costume he had ever seen. The gold and white garment hugged her lush curves and showed off the gorgeous legs he had seen the night they went out to Early Birds. However upon closer inspection, he saw that she had blood and some other stains covering her. Cuts littered her creamy skin and the lace on the corseted top was ripped lower than it should have been. There were tears where dainty, silken bows once held the fabric in place. He found himself staring open mouthed at her battered state and wondered why she hadn't mentioned how bad her condition was while they were on the phone. Though her makeup was still fairly intact, there were a few tracks that confirmed his suspicions that she had been crying. He felt his mouth go dry and his stomach flip at the thought that someone might have taken advantage of her. Instantly he was filled with a hot, coursing rage at whoever had hurt her. Crossing the distance between them, he carefully helped her up and then began turning her arms over to inspect every square inch of her.
"Who did this to you?" Speaking more roughly than he had meant to, he immediately felt bad when she flinched minutely. "I'm sorry, I am not going to hurt you, I only want to know who did this to you." Her wide sapphire eyes shone with fresh tears and he cursed himself for the ass he had come across as.
"It doesn't matter, you are here now. Can we please just leave Ed?" Some of his initial anger ebbed at the sound of her clear discomfort to staying any longer talking about everything. Nodding his head, he helped her up and slung her arm around his shoulder as took the majority of her weight for her. Making their way to his car, he opened the door for her and saw that she was shivering, whether from the horrors of the night or the cool air he wasn't sure, but either way after he got her in the car, he slipped off his jacket and tucked it snugly around her, to which she whispered a thank you. Entering the driver side of the car, he turned to glare at the party that was raging on a few houses down, guessing that that was where she had come from. As they headed back to his apartment, they both stayed quiet. He had decided not to push her to tell him what happened, but he would try and ask her again once he had gotten her cleaned up and bandaged. The roads were mostly empty of cars and for that he was grateful. When they arrived to his place, she seemed surprised about this turn of events, but didn't protest. After parking, he crossed to her side of the car and then lent her his shoulder again as they made their way to the elevator they used for Alphonse.
Reaching into his pocket, he dug out the keys to his apartment and unlocked the door. His blonde student seemed to look around with curiosity, but must have thought she was being rude so she firmly fixed her eyes on the floor as he moved her to the couch. Walking to the kitchen, he pulled down two mugs and packages for hot chocolate. Hopefully she liked it as much as he did, even knowing what was in the brew didn't deter him from happily sucking it down. Heating up their drinks, he waited for the little timer to go off as he walked down the hall to retrieve their first aid kit. Setting the supplies on the counter, he frowned as he noticed once again that she was covered in blood and liquid, he would make sure none of the cuts were deep enough to need stitches and then offer her a shower. Hearing the 'ding' from the microwave, he grabbed their mugs and took one to his unexpected guest, handing it to her carefully as it was quite full. She looked into the cup, then to him before blowing it off and then taking an appreciative drink. After a second, she smiled up at him, making some of the tense worry he felt to her state, ease minutely. Taking a seat on the couch by her, he asked if she would like some food to go with the hot chocolate, but she just shook her head. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore, he had to at least try and find out what the hell had happened to her. Deciding to kill two birds with one stone, he walked to the table and picked up the small kit and brought it back to the couch.
Upon opening it, he was happy now that he had just recently bought a new one, because this was fully stocked. Setting the contents out on the coffee table in front of them, he took the coat from her, but promised he would get her a blanket after he was done. Moving close to her side, he began with the wet nap like cloths. He wiped down all the streaks of blood that were not coming from anything in particular, and was relieved to find that much of it must not be hers. The dark stickiness that covered her was apparently some mixed drink, she had offered that bit of information as he was surely making facial expressions that appeared curious. She had slipped off what remained of her heels and her stockings, as he turned to give her some privacy, though the stockings were fully visible to him. Reaching for peroxide and wipes, he cleaned the shallow cuts that covered her wrists and biceps, gently blowing on them as he went, which earned him another smile.
"So, can you tell me now what happened and who did this to you?" Watching the pucker form between her silvery eyebrows, he instantly felt like a prick for asking her, but maybe she wouldn't mind talking about it. For a moment, he didn't think she would tell him, then he saw her take a deep breath, and she looked at him steadily as she began to relate what had happened that night. Though he was still pissed at the redheaded fuck who had done this to her, he had found himself proud that she had broken his nose, which must have been whose blood was also on her. Even though she had taken action against him, he couldn't wait for the day when he caught the cocky jock off campus, his fist was eager to meet his face. The whole thing was exactly what he had hoped to prevent from happening to her.
By the time she had finished explaining, he was finished picking the bits of glass from her palms, when she paused speaking to stare at him holding her hands. "Edward, I want to thank you for coming to get me tonight, and also for fixing me up right now." Winry's brilliant blue eyes sparkled at him, and he felt like the air had been knocked out of him when he tried to respond.
"Um, of course, it's not a problem at all. Besides, Al would never forgive me if I wouldn't have helped you." Smooth Elric, blame your infatuation and eagerness to help her on your brother. "If you want you can take a shower, or a bath and then I can bandage your cuts and wrap your ankle as well." A bath was probably the better choice considering taking a shower would probably aggravate her ankle further.
"That sounds pretty good right now actually, I'm tired from everything today." Even though she had been through so much today, she still looked better than any other woman ever had. He had had a hell of a time keeping his eyes from roaming her exposed skin while he administered the first aid. Clearing his throat roughly, he spoke.
"Reasonably so, I can lend you some of my sweats to sleep in too. You can have my room and I will sleep out here tonight." Knowing that his room was the closest to the bathroom if she needed it anytime that night, it only made sense that he should offer it to her.
"No! After how kind you have been to me, it is the least I can do to let you have your own bed tonight." Seeing the obstinate glint in her eyes, he smirked that she was able to muster any type of argument with him, then again she was challenging person he had ever met, so maybe it wasn't so strange.
"I'm fine Winry, I sleep on the couch or at my desk more often than not anyways, you will stay in my room and there is no point arguing about it. Do you think you can make it from the bathroom to the room across from it?" Deflecting any more discussion on the matter, he had simply asked a question to draw her mind away from putting him out at all.
"I'll be fine, if you leave me a wrap out of there I can do that when I get out of the bath, I'm fairly adept with that sort of thing." Of course she was, she was by far the most talented engineer he had met since Pinako, who had been knowledgeable in both mail and medicine. Grabbing the brown colored wrap from the white box, he passed it into her hands. Not moving hers, she took his in her own and squeezed them gently. When his honey eyes met hers, he could feel his pulse speed just at this simple gesture. She stood carefully on her ankle, using his hands to anchor her, then unexpectedly, she leaned down and pressed her lips softly to his cheek, causing them both to flush red. Whispering another thanks, she slipped down the hall, leaving him completely spellbound on the couch.
AN: 3/24/2016 I am currently going through and fixing this story chapter by chapter in an attempt to reconnect to it and improve it along the way. Please review if you notice anything that I have missed or just want to tell me what you like/dislike.