Breathless

Disclaimer: I Don't Own FMA in Any Way.

Rating: PG—PG-13 and Older Due to Crude Language and Some Sexual Themes. Rating May Change.

A/N: Product of my roaming, free-spirited, boredom XD kind of inspired by a story I fav'd a while back on called Permission by Asha3 :) Enjoy

F—M—A

The day had started fairly well. Some of Winry's regulars for Automail came in and, of course, she fixed up their limbs or gave them upgrades. Ed spent most of the day to himself while Al, who had his body restored, was out doing errands for some of the townspeople or playing with Den or stray cats. Pinako was off smoking her pipe or reading the newspaper or a book on Automail. When she wasn't doing that, she would step out for some fresh air or run a few personal errands.

That evening, however, after they had all had their dinner, Ed and Winry were in the living room, chatting. Al was in the kitchen helping Pinako wash up.

"How did today's tune-ups go?" Ed, wearing a loose, long-sleeve, white button-up shirt, jeans and black shoes asked his friend lazily with a hand over his full stomach. It wasn't that he cared a whole lot but was somewhat bored and wanted to make conversation. That and he didn't particularly trust Winry's male clientele. In his eyes, they were nothing short of scum that was much, much lower than dirt.

"Pretty well," the blue-eyed teen wearing a white tank top and black pants with white two-inch high heels replied with a smile. "I was able to upgrade some Automail to my newest model," she stated. Ed's eyes widened a bit.

"Newest model?" he asked with a hint of intrigue in his voice as he looked over to her.

"Yup," Winry replied. "I have to sell you one, too," she told him with a mischievous smile on her face. Ed saw her through the corner of his eye before widening his eyes once more; that look made him slightly nervous and he suddenly wondered if Winry had increased the price of her Automail. He always got a discount, yes, but increased prices possibly meant paying for past full prices.

This mechanic is going to run me dry one of these days, he thought and then sighed to himself.

"I'm fine with the ones I got," he said, his tone suddenly turning icy. He was lying through his teeth. His current Automail was already beginning to grow small on him—he had grown a few inches since he was sixteen—and it would show soon if he didn't get an upgrade or got fitted for longer ones. To be blunt, he didn't want to have short limbs when his body was growing; it was rather a pain but getting new limbs also burned a hole straight through his pocket. Hell, Automail didn't come cheap, even at a discount. But still, shaving short limbs were constant reminders of how short he was.

The only reason he had lied, however, was to not give Winry the benefit of getting his money so quickly nor so easily. He could manage his short limbs for now. Winry, however, seemed to instantaneously droop slightly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, sadness and irritability showing in her voice. Just to push his buttons, she continued with another, teasing, question. "Have you not grown at all since your last tune-up?" Ed's eyes widened fully and his right brow twitched as a vain popped in his head.

"WHO YOU CALLIN' A MICROSCOPIC SPEC OF DIRT!!" he demanded loudly as he hopped off the couch he was sitting on and shook a fist in Winry's direction. The vain was showing at the side of his head while the color of his eyes couldn't even be seen as they were seen as two small dots encased in large, tension-ridden sideways triangles. The blonde mechanic snickered quietly to herself. Ed was so easily annoyed and she found it amusing to push his buttons. Hopefully, however, this simple insult wouldn't lead to a huge argument as it usually did.

"No one said anything like that, Ed. I was simply implying that, since you've always been short, that you wouldn't have grown much. Seeing as you never drink milk, it wouldn't surprise me," she crossed her arms and smiled at the Elric devilishly. Another vain popped, however.

"Why do you always bring that up!? I haven't and never will drink disgusting, vile liquid that's secreted from a cow!" Ed defended immediately. "Besides, milk isn't the only thing that makes you taller," he explained while crossing his own arms and locking his hip to one side.

"Yeah but it's the most effective way," Winry retorted jokingly. Ed's eyes widened and he looked down to her. Huffing out a breath, his arms fell to his sides and he mumbled to himself.

"Automail Freak," he muttered to the other blonde as he glared down at her. "I'd rather not drink milk and be short—which I'm not—than do nothing but talk about mechanics and Automail all freaking day long, which is what you do everyday!" he yelled at her heatedly. Winry gasped, annoyed, and finally glared back at him before standing up and looking him in the eye.

"Well," she snapped back. "At least I don't reference everything in my life to Alchemy and science and 'Equivalent Exchange,'" she air quoted that last two words while still throwing daggers in Ed's direction with her undying gaze.

"Hey!" Ed defended immediately. "Alchemy and science are the building blocks of everything around you, even Automail! Equivalent Exchange is something that flows into everyday life, not just Alchemy!" he stated, stepping closer to Winry and sending much worse than daggers in her direction. It was then that Al and Pinako walked in from the kitchen. Al's eyes widened as he saw his older sibling and friend arguing back and forth as they always did, even now when they were seventeen—soon-to-be eighteen. Pinako, however, was unmoved; she was very accustomed to the daily bickering of her granddaughter and her childhood friend.

It astounded Al, though, that, no matter how many times those two argued they had still managed to be friends. He shook his head and continued watching the two arguing towards each other. They continued throwing negative comments and profanities to one another. Al's eyes soon became very small as he realized just how 'colorful' the two blondes' languages were. He quietly shuffled out of the room and outside, along with Pinako, saying they were going to get some fresh air.

Ed and Winry barely caught a word of it as they continued. Winry soon shrugged irately and stepped right past Ed, harshly pushing his shoulder so he would get out of her way. She cursed the fact that her wrench was somewhere upstairs for she easily could've shut up the Elric already. It was then that she decided to walk upstairs, a flaring Edward following her every step with crude words spewing out from his lips. She walked up and into her room while Ed stayed at the door.

"Are you even listening to me!?" he demanded suddenly. Winry turned around and glared further.

"To be honest, I'm trying to block you out but your voice is too loud! I can't even think!" she replied angrily while, abruptly, ignoring the original reason she came up and stepping up to him.

"Oh, I'm loud? You've never heard yourself yell, have you? Then again, you're probably deaf from how loud you are!" he took a threatening step closer while Winry stepped back before huffing out an aggravated breath. She backed away from him and crossed her arms.

"I can hear quite fine, thank you!" she told him scornfully.

"Then maybe you should listen to what you say a little more often! Crazy freak," the Alchemist stated angrily as he, finally, walked into her room, slamming her door behind him out of anger.

"So, you want me to listen better, huh? Well, fine! Tell me something, anything, and see how well I listen to you!" Winry screamed back at the golden blonde-haired Elric. Edward grinned at her, almost maniacally.

"Anything, eh?" he asked playfully. "Well then…take a listen to this," his voice sounded calm but the moment those words had left his mouth; his face became an expression of harshness and was stern. "You are an un-sexy, un-cute, unattractive,"—"Don't go there, Ed!" Winry interjected heatedly. The blonde Elric grinned once more.

"Automail Freak," he continued. "Who's too concentrated on her Automail and mechanics and will never get a boyfriend!" he finished, smirking at his mechanic, expecting and waiting for her comeback. Winry gasped irately before glaring at him further.

"Well," she retorted. "If you want insults, why didn't you tell me? I heard you just fine…let's see if you can hear me," she told him. "You are an egotistical, self-centered, arrogant, jerk who can't, for one minute, think about anyone else's problems besides your own!" Ed growled lowly at her words but forced himself to not say anything.

"You're too wrapped up in your damn Alchemy to think about anything else! And, on top of that,"—"Winry!" Ed interrupted as she had done, almost knowing what the girl was about to say. "You bottle yourself up and don't care about hurting others feelings! You're prideful, ill-mannered, short-tempered, short-fused, and, most importantly," she paused and smiled at the Alchemist in the same cynical way he had smiled at her earlier.

"Too short to ever kiss, or get kissed, by a girl!" The Rockbell didn't even have time to think after she had said that for Ed had immediately pinned her wrists to the wall behind her. Her left arm was pinned to her side while her other arm was being forced against the wall above her. Winry's eyes were also wide as she felt Ed's lips against hers and his tongue forcing its way into her mouth. His eyes were closed but his brows were tense as he intensified the kiss with every passing second.

The kiss, it was harsh but loving. Desperate but also composed; it was much like Ed's own persona. He was nervous but the kiss…the kiss was far from nervous; it was confident and full of enthusiasm. But it felt like he was trying to desperately to prove something to her, something that she understood fully.

Winry's eyes quivered as she stared at the closed eyes before her, unsure if she should struggle to get free or accept it. Edward, however, seemed very sure of what he was doing. After a few moments of continually making out with her, he dared to close off the space between her upper body and his, leaving a small gap between their lower bodies. The Automail tech blushed at the very close contact before getting a feeling of melting into the teen's lips. She was becoming light-headed, as her lungs were begging for oxygen.

The blonde Rockbell was unsure how long Ed could go but she knew she wanted air. But, then again, she also wanted this; she wanted Ed to be kissing her the way he was, with pure, burning passion.But, at this point, she wanted breath more. She pulled her head back, luckily pulling her lips away from Ed's and managing to take in a few inhales of air as she leaned her head on the wall her back was on. For only a few moments, that is, before Edward kissed her again. At least this time, the Rockbell was ready.

She allowed the Alchemist to explore her mouth once again before she, too, shyly kissed him back, anxiously closing her eyes and discovering him as he was her. She could immediately feel the Elric's tense grip on her wrists loosen slightly and she kissed him more intensely. She discovered that, the more she began to accept him, the less his harsh grip would hold her down. With that discovery, she slowly came to fully allow him into her. Even when she did that as much as she could, his grip had reduced greatly but he was still restraining her. For a few moments, anyway; his arms slid down hers before he snaked his metallic and muscular arms around her small waist.

Winry returned the favor by wrapping her own arms around his neck and encouraging him to kiss her as deeply as he was. Kiss her and hold her; she couldn't and didn't want to imagine another woman within the grip of his mismatched muscular and mechanical arms, especially the arm she had made. That thought alone made her arms change position; she slid them down his powerful chest before wrapping them around his lean waist and having her hands on his back. With that, she pulled him closer, causing Ed to smile against her lips as he could almost understand why she had done this. After a few moments, their lips pulled away, finally, but stayed merely millimeters away. They smiled at each other with half-lidded eyes while they tried to catch their breaths.

They took each other's breath away; literally left breathless by more that just the kiss.

"What was all that for, Ed?" Winry asked as she looked deeply into his golden orbs with still half-lidded eyes and the muscles of her jaw loose and comfortable.

"To prove us both wrong," the Elric replied softly but seriously as he brought his flesh hand up to her cheek.

"What do you mean?" the young woman he had just kissed questioned as she allowed his hand to gently roam her cheek.

"You said I wouldn't kiss, or get kissed by a girl; I kissed you and you kissed back," Edward replied with a playful grin. Winry looked away, slightly thoughtful; was Ed just using her to prove her wrong?

"And," the Alchemist continued unexpectedly, causing Winry to look back to him. "I said you would never get a boyfriend…" he trailed off before looking away with nervous eyes and a small blush tinting his face. The hand that was on Winry's face slid down to his side and he stayed silent, not entirely sure of what to tell her and awaiting her reaction.

"What…what're you saying, Edward?" the young woman that still had a metallic arm wrapped around her waist asked in a hopeful tone.

"Winry," the Elric mumbled as he looked back to the blonde Automail tech. "While I was…kissing you," he blushed as he said the word and forced himself to keep going. "I realized just how hard it is for me to imagine you in anyone else's arms that aren't my own," he told her in a small voice. Winry's eyes widened at his words. She knew he wasn't lying and that surprised her more; the sincerity in his voice was enough to tell her that he was not, in any way, using her for anything. On the contrary; he wanted to be in their current position, with his arms wrapped around her and with her own arms around him. Close enough to feel each other's skin and kiss sweetly; that's what he wanted, as did she. The Elric rubbed his forehead against hers before continuing.

"Winry," he mumbled anxiously. "I…I love you." Winry eyes widened and a smile graced her beautiful face as she forced herself to hold back the tears that wanted to escape from her eyes. Before she could say anything, her arms, with a mind of their own, quickly wrapped themselves around the Elric's neck while she buried her face into the warm crook of his neck. Edward responded by smiling as well and also, gently, putting his arms around her small waist and burying his own face into her hair. Holding onto her tightly, Ed could already read her thoughts.

He smiled as he realized she loved him, too.

F—M—A

A/N: God, I was really bored when I wrote this T.T It's like…random angst and fluff XD anyway, hope you like and please R&R, no flames ;) thanks.