Fullmetal Alchemist 1. Chapter 1

The restaurant was a beautiful and expensive place. The waiters all had posh accents, and they wore smart uniforms to match. The tables all wore white, stainless, table cloths; which were adorned with napkins in the shapes of roses, one candle for each table, giving off a warm romantic glow.

It was a beautiful place that gave off an incredible romantic vibe that seemed to pulse throughout the room. It was the perfect place to ask a girl out to on a date, which was probably one of the reasons as to why Edward felt so confused as he wondered why Winry had invited _him _to such an awkward kind of place.

'So what was it you wanted to talk to me about Winry?" he asked her, trying desperately to make sense of their current location.

'Well I thought we could celebrate your new job' she said beaming 'Things will be a lot better for you guys now you have a steady job; I've been worried about you ever since they abolished the state alchemist programme'

'Oh that's it? I was sort of thinking because of the way we'd gotten so dressed up and all that...' he began to say, but trailed off as he realised the embarrassing implications "Well I was wondering why Al wasn't invited" he added on the spot, in an attempt to save himself.

'Well Al has school tomorrow, so I thought he probably wouldn't want to say up late" she smiled, with a little laugh.

'It is weird seeing him going to school now…' Ed murmured 'Though personally I don't see the point, Al's years ahead of those other kids in his school" he stated proudly.

'Maybe in the sciences Ed, but you can't deny the fact that he's probably the same as them when it comes to more ordinary things like History and Geography' she said 'And me and you probably aren't much better since we both quit school when we were quite young"

He leaned his chin on his fist grumpily 'Well it was normal back then! Before they made that stupid law about all kids under 17 having to go to school'

'I know, we only just barely escaped that new rule didn't we?' she joked, 'though it would have been funny to see the great 'fullmetal alchemist' wear a school uniform'

'Errugh' he muttered as he put his head in his hand 'Don't remind me. It's bad enough having to see Al wear that _thing _everyday' he complained; while waving his free hand about to illustrate his irritation.

'Ed, you better stop acting like an idiot, a fancy waiter is coming our way with something that looks very illegal' she winked.

Sure enough, a waiter soon arrived, following her announcement, carrying a bottle of wine with him.

'You can't be serious Winry…'

She laughed again after asking the waiter to pour them to glasses 'Once I told them who you were they were more than willing to give a bottle to two minors, I bet for them, just having you visit this place will increase their business'

She handed him his glass which he took a sip of dubiously, she guessed, from the disgusted look on his face, that he still hadn't matured enough to enjoy the taste of alcohol.

'You know you'll never get used to it if you never try it' she chuckled as she took a tentative sip of her own 'Ok. Now we have to make a toast!' she announced.

'Why?' asked Ed, now pretty fed up with the weirdness of the situation.

'Because that's what friends do when they're celebrating!' she said gleefully as she lifted her glass.

'Now, I want to make a toast to Ed and his new job in public relations! May he never get himself a job which allows him to stay close to home! Oh and to new beginnings such as the one that will hopefully be starting tonight!' they then clinked their glasses together, though rather awkwardly.

'Um, are you okay Winry?' Ed asked her after he'd taken another foul swig of his drink.

'No, I'm fine, why?' she asked.

He said nothing, deciding not to mention her rather bitter tone.

'So what do you think of this place anyway Ed?" she asked him, sounding eager to know of his opinion.

'Well I thought it was quite classy until they served us…_that'_ he said, motioning towards the bottle, 'anyway how much do I owe you in that regard? I bet it cost you a lot to bribe someone in this snobby restaurant. I mean what were you even thinking bringing me to a place like this?'

Her face looked flushed as she struggled for an answer 'I was trying to do something nice for you obviously!' she muttered angrily so as not to gain the waiters attention ' I find it annoying that you're being so ungrateful when I put in so much effort! You idiot!'

'Oh come on Winry, just spit it out, this has to be about something a little more important than me _just _getting a job'

'You know some people would hate you for that attitude' she commented.

'Whatever; just tell me what this is about!'

She turned her head away from him angrily 'There's no way I'll be able to do that now under these circumstances- you've totally ruined the mood!'

'What mood? The dangerous one of committing a crime?'

Sighing irritably, for a moment she didn't say anything 'Look, I think for now we should just leave, if things are going to be like this, I'll just tell you about it another time'

'Tell me about what Winry? If it's important then I think you should tell me now!' he demanded.

'No way' she answered stubbornly 'If it worked out then this would be a horrible situation to look back on!'

'Um…What?' he asked, now thoroughly confused.

She took another sip of her drink then as she tried to muster some self-confidence 'Well you see Edward I wanted to ask you something and tell you something at the same time' she said, knowing he was too stupid to understand the full implications of these words.

'Well if you wanted to ask me for a favour you should have just said rather than going through all of this!'

'Yeah Ed, because if I wanted a favour I'd really invite you out to the most romantic place in central' she told him in a non-committal like fashion, seeming to have gotten bored with see-sawing around her purpose.

'What!?' he asked again, shock now evident in his eyes, 'you don't mean this is supposed to be a date or something stupid like that!?'

'You know with every word you speak, you're just realising another fear I had associated with what might happen tonight' she said, sighing again unhappily.

'It's just weird that's all..." he mumbled as he dug his hands deep within his pockets 'I thought it was usually the guys job to ask the girl out on a date…' he said stiffly as he tried to appear nonchalant.

'Urgh! And you're being full of yourself again! I would have told you this was a date if this was a date' she flushed as she tried to get out the right words to explain.

'Yeah you're right' he said with a pained smile 'You don't like short guys do you?'

'Ed? Haven't you even realised yet?' she asked, wondering if he still hadn't figured out that he was taller than her yet.

'Realised what?'

'That I've already paid for the bill' she told him, pointing at the man she'd just paid who was happily walking away from the table; 'Its time for us to go'

'Fine' he said, grumpily admitting defeat, he got up and they both walked outside together.

Once they were outside Winry spoke again 'this didn't go as I planned…' she murmured.

'What were you expecting then?'

'I don't know…To have a fancy dinner and then tell you and then for you to hopefully say yes- but instead you just had to make things difficult…' she moaned angrily.

'Look whose being difficult! You're the one who still hasn't even told me what this is yet!'

'I like you' she quickly spluttered.

'You what?' he asked, though this time it was less of a question and more of a statement of disbelief.

'I said it once and I'm not saying it again, I've suspected that you might like me back for a while as well but I also knew that even if you did you'd never have the guts to tell me so I thought I'd try confessing myself' she said quickly-too afraid that if she stopped she'd never be able to finish. He face glowing bright red as she struggled to get the words out.

Ed didn't say anything; he just stood in a strange trance as he tried to digest what she'd just said. She decided that if she ever wanted an answer than she would probably need to say something to wake him up.

'Ed, you're taller than me and have been for over a year' suddenly he snapped back into life and stood closely in front of her so he could directly measure.

'You're right…' he said in wonderment, looking truly amazed 'I'm taller than you!' he said excitedly.

'Edward…' she complained as she tried to get him out of this new daze.

'Oh sorry Winry I-err…' words failed him as he remembered what they'd just been talking about 'I'm taller than you!'

'Yeah, we just established that Ed' she said impatiently.

He scratched his neck nervously as he tried to explain 'It's just that I never thought Winry would like me because of my height' he said, with a cute awkward smile 'I was afraid you wouldn't like me back if I ever asked' he added, blushing as he let out the embarrassing line.

'Ok, well we both like each other then?' she asked, still a little doubtful.

'I guess so…'

'So you wanna take me home?' she asked tentatively as she slowly stretched her hand towards his.

'No way Winry! I have to go home and tell Al that I'm taller than you' he said excitedly as he skipped off; leaving Winry in a state of utter disbelief, in a way she sort of wondered whether Ed was really even ready for this.

While Winry pondered Edward's maturity, the man himself walked down the road in another kind of disbelief. Inside of his he repeated the phrase 'Winry just said she liked me!' over and over again like a teenage school girl. It was strange and exciting all at the same time. Winry liked him back! After all these years he finally knew! Now he just had to find out what he was actually going to do about it…

**A/N: Hey well this is like a test chapter, I guess. And just as a warning these guys are going to progress very, very slowly for people who like stuff 'happening'. Well who knows maybe I'll try and develop things faster than usual since I have put them together right from the get go... Look at me writing another story when I still haven't finished any of my other ones... I'm not going to be likely to update this regularly as another heads up. Err well please comment at the lack of interaction between these two charcters as well as all the mistakes which I KNOW I've made.**

**EDIT:The use of ****quotation marks**, also called **inverted commas**, is very slightly complicated by the fact that there are two types: **single quotes** (**` '**) and **double quotes** (**" "**). As a general rule, British usage has in the past usually preferred single quotes for ordinary use, but double quotes are now increasingly common; American usage has always preferred double quotes. As we shall see below, the use of double quotes in fact offers several advantages, and this is the usage I recommend here.

**-From informatics(at)sussex(dot)ac(dot)uk (I got asked about this by someone so I thought I'd just make it clear right here for anyone else who might be confused) Yeah, I'm a limey ^^**


	2. Stifled feelings

For days after this declaration neither Ed nor Winry actually saw each other as they were both busy with work; Edward was sorting out some things at work and Winry was bogged down with the usual old perverts who specially requested for her.

Winry had started working in central over a year ago; after she'd finished her apprenticeship. After everything that had happened in central; there were a lot of people in the need of new limbs, so, seeing this as an opportunity she'd come over to help assist one of her grandmother's old friends.

It had been a strange year for Winry, but an enjoyable one, as the move had meant she was able to see Ed and Al more frequently than she had in years. Of course there were many things she missed about rush valley; such as her old friends and customers but in the end she got far more satisfaction out of her work in central as she was faced with the many new challenges that 'incident' had left her with.

Winry, was, of course a hard worker but that particular day she felt very eager to get all her work finished as fast as she could. After nearly a week of silence between them Ed had finally bothered to call her. He'd been very awkward about it but he'd asked her to come round to have dinner with him and Al the next day-if she could make it. Whether he's sounded reluctant or not didn't really matter, nor did the fact that Al would be there too; she was just happy that her feelings had finally been properly acknowledged.

After she'd finished at work she headed home to wash off all the oil and muck that had accumulated on her body while she was at work; also making sure to choose her outfit carefully. She hoped, that maybe for once, Ed might actually notice this.

She knocked or the door of Ed and Al's apartment tentatively, before then waiting for someone to answer the door.

'Winry!' said Al, greeting her with a huge smile.

'Hey Al' she replied warmly.

'Do you want be to call brother for you?' he asked, a mischievous smile, she was just about to say no when he shouted 'Hey Ed! You're girlfriend is here'

'Al' she hissed but he continued shouting, only stopping when Edward appeared, flustered, at the front door. Al suddenly disappeared and then it was just the two of them left with the aftermath of Al's stupidity.

'I'm going to kill Al later' Ed muttered furiously, still steaming with embarrassment.

'Not if I kill him first' Winry joked awkwardly as they both stood on either side of the door.

Ed, realising this, moved away from the door so that she could come inside.

'So you told Al then?' she asked once they were both inside.

'What? Oh yeah…' he mumbled; rubbing his hand on the back of his head uncomfortably 'do you mind?'

'Not really, I think it's sort of nice'

'What? To be made fun of like that?' he asked irritably 'I just think he likes being a pain'

'I guess you won't want any dinner then, will you brother?' they heard Al calling from the kitchen 'not if I'm that much of a pain'

'Still making your little brother cook for you Ed? I think you're the one who's the pain' she laughed as she watched Ed's face scrunch up angrily as he grumbled something, disgruntled, about being the family bread winner.

'Says the guy who was out of work for 3 months' she said, folding her arms across her chest as she readied herself for an angry reply. But instead he turned away from her, a confused frown marring his face.

'Dinners ready!' Al called from the kitchen, stopping Winry from asking Ed what was going on.

'Coming' they both replied in unison, before heading into the small kitchen.

The kitchen really was tiny; it was a small compact room with barely enough floor space one person to prepare a meal- which was why they always had to eat at the foldout table.

'So how are things going for you at school Al?' Winry asked, once they had all sat down and begun eating dinner.

'It's great because their always really strict and patronising' he said happily, and he wasn't being sarcastic; after so many years of being locked up inside of a tin can Al had formed a great appreciation towards people who treated him like a kid.

'That is great! Just make sure you don't let you're friends know you feel that way about-you might get bullied' she added with a giggle, finding it hard to imagine anyone being able to something like that to a sweet guy like Al.

'Don't worry about that Winry, whenever the teacher does something the other kids don't like I always just think of what brother would say' he joked. His words making Winry burst into laughter.

'That is so true, Ed and I were talking about it the other day and I just couldn't help but think that it would have been fun if we had all had the chance to go to school together'

'Really?' Edward interrupted, 'because I thought we'd both agreed it would've be hell'

'Well the learning part would have been boring but the rest of it would have been amazing'

'Amazing how?' Ed asked as he tried to stifle a yawn.

'You know, running to school late, going to parties, checking out the latest gossip, talking with friends who have similar interests…' she said wistfully.

'Because there are billions of teenage girls who are into automail' he smirked wickedly.

'Well I'm sure there are billions of geeky boys who are into alchemy'

His face as red as a fire truck, he was just about to retort with what he thought was a witty remark, when the sound of Al's chair scrapping against the floor caught both his and Winry's attention.

'Where are you going Al?' Winry asked, feeling it was unlike him to just leave the table.

'You both seem to be having such a passionate conversation; it makes me feel kind of awkward sitting between you two' he then got up to go eat in the living room.

Once they were alone Ed could only mutter, 'he's the one who keeps making everything so damn awkward'

'Really Ed? Because to me it feels like you're the one with the issues here' for a while Ed didn't say anything as he stared down at the table unhappily.

'It's weird' he muttered, looking up again 'don't you think it's weird?'

And all of a sudden Winry's heart was racing in panic as a scary though entered her head; what if Edward was having second thoughts?

'What's weird Ed?' she asked, straining desperately to keep her voice level.

'Everything, it's like it's the same but its not…' he answered with a strange, nervous, smile 'you know, like everything should have changed but it hasn't'

'I think that you probably only feel that way because so little time has passed since then' she told him simply 'things will be different though' she said blushing as she lightly rubbed her foot against his under the table. Edward nearly asked Winry why she kicking him before he realised what was going on; he turned a deep shade of red as he tried to figure out how to respond.

'W-Winry' he stuttered, still under the distraction of her feet 'next time we'll go on a real date, ok?' he mutter as he rubbed his hand on the back of his head, looking away from her as he tried to appear cool.

'Yes' she said smiling 'I'd like that Ed'

Later, after Winry had gone home; Edward and Alphonse both sat together for a while, on the couch, and talked-well mostly Al just nagged Edward for all the "dirty" details.

'So did you kiss her?'

'No' he replied sourly 'for the hundredth time, no!'

'You're so boring brother, didn't the two of you do anything at all?' Al asked impatiently.

'Not really' he said, though this time he sounded far less irritated and more, unsure? 'All we did was touch feet…' he mumbled, the look on face contrary to what he'd just said; the small on the corner of his lips clearly saying how he felt.

'Hey Ed,' said Al, his tone having suddenly become serious 'have you told her yet?'

'No…She'd just feel bad about it and blame herself' he said unhappily.

'So you'll just wait till you find a new job brother?'

'Pretty much, though I'll have to make sure I can find something where I don't have to travel…' he continued thoughtfully.

'You're pretty serious about all this aren't you brother? Quitting your job just because you didn't want to upset her…'

'Shut up Al! I know what you're thinking so don't you dare say it!' he threatened.

'Fine brother, but you should still know that I don't blame you for quitting that job either, if I felt that way about-'

'Just promise me you won't tell Winry' he pleaded before going to bed; though what it was he didn't want Al to tell her remains uncertain.

**Point out any grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes and please review with your feedback :] Sorry for the occness**


End file.

Fullmetal Alchemist, Romance