Notes from Shardy: Apparently there's gonna be a lot of confusion here. Please note that throughout the story it is important that you READ CAREFULLY. I don't really like having to explain myself to others.
However, I feel there are several questions that I must address to further emphasize my point. If I sound a little nasty, my deepest apologies. I'm a little tired right now.
1) Mustang and Riza are surprised that Ed has a girlfriend even though Aunt Pinako wrote a note to Mustang explaining the situation.
Yes. They are honestly surprised. Why? Because Aunt Pinako did not say that Ed and Winry are boyfriend and girlfriend. She only said that Winry is pregnant with Ed's baby. Ed never mentions Winry as a girlfriend to anyone. Ever.Just because you knock someone up that doesn't make her your girlfriend. They are more surprised that Ed acknowledged Winry as his girlfriend.
2) Mustang gets lost on his way to Resembool yet he has been there before.
C'mon, people. It's Mustang. Even I get lost in places I thought were familiar to me. And the reason they got lost was because they got on the wrong train.
3) Mustang sent the wrong alchemist home?
Read and find out.
Chapter Six
Unfortunately for Ed (and fortunately for Mustang though he never realized that his life was under serious threat), he never got the chance to gouge Mustang's eyes out for so much as peeking at his girl. Cute? CUTE! Winry was not CUTE. She was gorgeous, the epitome of perfection, the golden essence of a sex goddess…
Mustang had better keep his leering eyes off his woman if the man intended to live to be Fuehrer. Hawkeye protecting him or not.
The walk along the trail was most uncomfortable. Winry kept glancing nervously at Ed; after all, she was naked under the picnic blanket and should anything happen….Yikes! She didn't want to think about it! Ed walked beside her carrying the picnic basket, peering over his shoulder occasionally to glare warningly at the man behind him.
The two newcomers said nothing. For one thing, it was not Riza's nature to make chit-chat, and Mustang had a feeling if he opened his mouth, he was going to get a metal lance shoved through his gut.
Apparently, the man was much wiser than he appeared.
Winry didn't want to admit it, but she was actually glad Mustang's fire fiasco interrupted her and Ed. If she made love to Ed again, who knows what she would have felt afterwards. Ed had said none of that mattered.
What Ed could not seem to understand was that it did matter. All of it mattered. Every detail. No matter what he said, or did, she was not in love with him! If she allowed him to with her as he pleased when she did not return his feelings, then what meaning could it possibly have? What point, what purpose other than to gratify pent-up lust?
She hugged the blanket closer to her. She wanted Ed, but at the same time, doing this would only hurt him more in the end. She knew Ed wanted more than what she could give him; the sex was just an excuse. She had seen the look in his eyes before he last kissed her. The hunger, the need to be with her through all aspects of her life. That he was willing to give up everything to be with her. You can't keep doing this, Ed, she wanted more than anything to say to him. You can't keep hurting yourself like this. I am NOT the one for you.
And yet, like the selfish whore she believed she was, she could not bring herself to say a word. Just continue to let him live in this illusion that he could win her heart. She was a selfish whore, she knew this fully well. Why? WHY? Why didn't she have the guts to tell Ed the truth, to make him see what he was doing to himself?
"Winry?" He tilted his head downward a little to make his golden eyes peer into her sapphire irises. She blinked, startled, having not realized he was watching her. How ridiculous was that? Ed was always watching her, always looking out for her. He could read her thoughts with the simplest glance.
Which was actually kind of scary considering all she was thinking.
"You look depressed," he observed, keeping his voice low so that Mustang and Hawkeye could not overhear them. "Are you okay?"
"…I'm fine," she replied after a pause, forcing herself to smile.
"You're also lying," he countered.
Something about that made her snap. "What if I am?" she growled. "Maybe I just don't want to tell you."
His eyes widened, hurt. It tore her heart apart. And yet…
…maybe the reason why he so blindly pursued her was because she never truly rejected him. If truth be told, she never fought him off, never once made a true protest against him. Perhaps if she blatantly refused his advances, he would see how foolish he was behaving. She hated to hurt him like that, betray him, but how much more hurt and betrayed would he feel in the long run?
I'm sorry, Ed, she apologized mentally. But the fun and games with her childhood playmate were over now. Over for good.
If Ed was not happy to have Mustang show up out of nowhere (he liked Hawkeye so he didn't mind her), he was infuriated to see who was waiting for them in Pinako's living room.
"Winry, where have you been?" Felix exclaimed, jumping off the couch to stand close to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "I was worried."
"Relax, bud, she was with me," Ed replied dryly.
Of course that didn't make Felix feel in the least bit better.
Winry's heart thundered like mad against her chest. It was now or never. She had to go through with it…
…for Ed's sake.
She stood up on her tiptoes to press her lips against Felix's in a hungry kiss. Said boyfriend's eyes nearly popped out of his head. Mustang and Riza blinked at each other, confused: didn't Edward say earlier that Winry was his girlfriend?
Ed stared. Just stared. Unable to take his eyes off the occupied couple. Thus far, he had not seen Winry and Felix display affection towards each other, at least in front of him, anyway. Maybe that was why their relationship seemed so unreal to him. But now…
He felt like he was going to be sick.
She slowly pulled from their kiss, as Felix released a shuddering sigh. "Damn…" he breathed. "That was some welcome kiss…"
"I couldn't stop thinking of you all day," she whispered. "I missed you."
Bile seeped to Ed's throat. Oh, God, he was going to be sick! "Winry…" he could barely whisper. "Maybe you should go change now."
Glancing down at the picnic blanket around her, she giggled a little too happily. "Oh, yes, of course. Thank you, little Edward."
Little Edward? He was too shell-shocked to react. Maybe it was a good thing he was, or he would march upstairs with her and show her just how "little" he was.
The two forgotten officers just glanced at each other again, perplexity increasing. Edward was just called "little" and he didn't go into a rampage?
What the hell was going on here?
Felix watched Winry depart with a look in his eye that made Ed really want to puke, this time for a different reason. What was happening? No more than an hour ago, Winry was melting in his own arms, moaning softly at his touch (…this would be BEFORE Mustang graced them with his presence)…
Dammit! What the hell did this Felix guy have that he didn't?
Other than height…?
At that moment, Pinako entered and, once she took in her visitors, immediately went off the deep end. "State alchemists?" she yelled, pointing at Mustang in particular. "What are these dogs doing here?"
"Uh…I'm a state alchemist, too," Ed pointed out half-heartedly.
"That's different; you're just foolish period," Pinako snapped. "But these people--"
"Just please hear us out, ma'am," Riza broke in, trying to sound professional but urgent at the same time. "We won't take up any more time than necessary."
"You've already taken up enough of my time," the old woman shot back.
Forcing himself to forget Winry for a moment, Ed decided to help out the other two. "It's okay, Pinako, I know them," he spoke up in their defense. Pinako turned to him with a raised brow. "Trust me," he continued. "They're not as bad as you think they are…" During this phrase, he shot a pointed glare in Mustang's distinct direction.
Taking a deep breath, Pinako glanced at the only silent individual in the room. "Felix, I think it's best you leave now," she declared. He simply nodded, announcing that he'll come by the next day to check up on Winry, and left the house, passing the military officers without a word.
"I'm going to go check on Winry," Ed spoke up softly, leaving Pinako to deal with whatever it was Mustang and Hawkeye wanted. Something was completely out of place here. Winry wouldn't just suddenly turn on him like that. No, she was up to something, she couldn't fool him not matter what little game she was trying to play.
Meanwhile, Winry sat slumped over on the floor, having just recently changed into her nightgown. She clutched at her stomach, gritting her teeth in pain and pressing her forehead against the cold wooden floor. The cramps were getting worse; she knew she had overdone it today. Other than a ten-pound heavier frame, she did not look four months pregnant, thus making her forget sometimes that she was carrying the baby.
A horrible thought struck her: what if the baby really WAS Ed's? Her eyes closed tighter to keep the tears in check. She couldn't think about that! The baby had to be Felix's, it had to be!
"Winry?" she heard Ed call from behind her closed door. "Can I come in?"
"Go away!" she yelled, trying to withhold the sound of pain from her voice. Slowly she crawled onto the bed, collapsing amongst the pillows.
The knob jiggled, stubbornly refusing to turn all the way as it was locked. "Winry, let me in!"
"I said go away!"
The knob jiggled again. Then the door gave away to a loud thud, slamming against the wall due to the impact of Ed's straight snap-kick that forced it open. She sat up quickly, ignoring the rush of dizziness that tried to sweep over her.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" she demanded.
"Wrong with me?" Ed retorted angrily. "I think you're the one with the problem, babe! What was that display downstairs?"
Winry looked away, glaring at the wall. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You know damn well what I'm talking about!"
Then she did look at him, her bright blue eyes ablaze with her own anger. "He's my boyfriend, in case you've forgotten, and I believe I have every right to kiss him."
"Not when you've been kissing me just the hour before!"
"You're the one who said it didn't matter!" she pointed out.
"I meant that it didn't matter to me!" he snapped.
"So you're saying that my feelings don't matter to you as long as you can screw me anytime you pleased?" she shot back.
Bingo. Her words stunned him momentarily speechless.
"No, that's not what I meant at all," he answered quietly.
"Then what did you mean?" Winry demanded, not giving him any room to regain his earlier composure. "Or are you too stubborn to admit that it does matter to you? That me being with Felix matters very much to you?"
"Winry--"
"You know, Ed, using sex as an excuse is pretty pathetic."
"What?"
"I know you want more than that, and I also know that you know that I can't give you anything more than that!"
He said nothing. And even though she felt like her heart was breaking piece by piece with every word she said, she could tell he felt ten times worse. She hated to do this, hated herself for doing it, but it had to be done.
"Get it through your thick skull, Edward," she forced herself to growl, forced her words to be as biting as possible, "I. Don't. Love. You."
Again, he said nothing. In all the years she had known, never once at he remained quiet for so long. Say something, Ed! she cried inside. Don't just stand there. Say something! Quit make me feel lower than I already do. Dammit, SAY SOMETHING!
Nothing. He just stared at her. Then, slowly, he turned around and left her room, closing the door softly behind him.
She exhaled, releasing the breath she had been holding during that entire exchange. Had she succeeded? Was Ed going to stop pursuing her now? She wanted to take comfort in that possibility, knowing that maybe now he could move on and find a girl who could give him everything he could ever want.
Then why did she feel worse than she had before this conversation had taken place?
When Ed returned downstairs, feeling surprisingly numb, he was greeted by Al. The hollow suit of armor stared up at him expectantly. "Um…Brother…?" the younger Elric spoke up somewhat nervously, fiddling with his hands behind his back.
"What is it?" Ed inquired tonelessly. He just wanted to be alone right now. Alone with is dark and dreary thoughts.
"I'm afraid I have some bad news."
Certainly it couldn't be anything compared to what just happened upstairs. "What is it?" Ed demanded, voice still toneless. Sometimes he wished his brother would just say what was on his mind and be done with it instead of just beating around the bush all the time in order to avoid hurting people's feelings.
Well, at least there someone in this house concerned with the feelings of others.
At that moment, Aunt Pinako stormed passed them from the living room and entered the kitchen. Judging by the fact she didn't even noticed the Elric brothers standing by the stairs, the old woman must have been extremely peeved about something.
"What the hell's wrong with her?"
"That's just it, Ed," Al began, voice slightly shaking. "It's about Mustang and Miss Riza."
"What about them?"
"You see, they're in some sort of trouble…and…well…now they're going to be living with us for a while…" Al braced himself for the eruption of rage he knew was coming.
"Lovely…" Ed muttered, brushing past Al and into the living room.
Al stared after him. Well, that was easier than--
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT!"
Apparently, Edward Elric was the type of guy in which bad news took longer than some to sink in.