Aw, yesss. Finally figured out a good idea for an Edwin multi-chapter fic! The summary makes it sound kind of angsty, but I promise it's not! This story will have lots of love, laughs, arguments, tears, and I'm so excited to see where it goes :) Hope you guys like it!

"Aaaa-choo!" Winry Rockbell sneezed and sniffled as she tinkered with a piece of automail. The sickness that had plagued her for the past week didn't seem like it was leaving any time soon, despite the amount of work the young engineering protégé had in front of her. As much as she wanted to cuddle up in her bed and sleep until she felt better, she knew she had to continue working.

"Go to bed, Winry," Pinako Rockbell told her granddaughter for the umpteenth time as she entered the basement/automail workshop.

"I've already told you Granny, I can't. Mr. Harris needs his new leg fitted by tomorrow. I have to finish this in time."

"If it's that much of a time crunch, I can handle it until you get better. Even so, I'm sure Mr. Harris would understand if you got to his leg a little later than expected."

"You just don't get it, Granny. I need to do this."

"No, you need to take care of yourself instead of working yourself silly. You're never going to get better if you don't give your body the chance to heal itself."

Winry knew her grandmother was right and it probably wasn't exactly urgent that she finish this leg on time, but she couldn't stop herself from doing the job her customers expected of her as quickly as possible.

Plus, there was one other teeny-tiny reason she wanted to finish as much work as quickly as possible.

A certain golden-haired and golden-eyed former state alchemist was scheduled to arrive back in Resembool in two days and she was not going to spend his short visit home working on her automail projects.

This particular visit was even more special than a usual visit from Ed would be. This would be the first time Winry would see him after their promise at the train station. He had been in the West for almost four months now and, despite the fact that he had improved his ability to communicate via mail and phone, they hadn't talked about the specifics of what was said all those months ago.

Winry only had one question for him and she needed him to give her a definitive answer. Were they or were they not engaged to be married?

It had seemed like a proposal, as wacky as it was. Winry had promised to give her life (well, at least 85% of it) to Edward Elric and he in turn promised her the same. That meant they were engaged, right?

Though all the signs pointed to it being an engagement, Ed's usual quirky, roundabout manner was making her think twice. He had never given her a confirmation and with Ed, there could be no telling what he really meant.

So that's why she was anticipating this particular visit more so than any other. She needed to know if she was going to be a married woman soon and, if she was, they needed to get started on the planning.

But of course she had to get the nasty cold that had been floating around the southern area of Amestris right before Ed was supposed to come home. She was unable to finish all the work she said she would have done by the time his train arrived. She had planned out every day of the short week he had said he would be here before he flitted off to the West again and now all of that was ruined. Winry cursed her body for doing this to her.

Despite her grandmother's protests, Winry had taken a bunch of medicine and plowed through her work even though she felt awful. She worked the rest of the day and then all of the next day completing her automail projects. Pinako had warned her that wasn't a good idea, but she hadn't listened.

And, like always, her grandmother had been right.

"What happened?" she wondered aloud as she sat hunched over the toilet in the upstairs bathroom, her grandmother standing behind her, holding her hair back.

"I told you this would happen. You pushed yourself too hard before you got better and then you got worse."

"But I can't be sick! Ed's coming today and I have to talk to him," she said before she heaved her stomach contents into the toilet.

"Winry, he's going to be here for a week. You'll have plenty of chances to talk to him about all that."

"But I had so much stuff planned for us to do. I was going to pick him up at the train station and it was going to be all romantic and cute and now I can hardly even stand up," she said miserably, as she weakly walked back to her bed with the aide of her grandmother.

"Well, you should've thought about that before you worked yourself silly. Only you are to blame for this."

"No, this damn sickness is to blame. God, this is the worst time for this to happen!" Winry moaned as she laid down on her bed and prayed to anyone who would listen that she would get better.

"Don't be so dramatic, dear. You'll get better. And Ed will understand. If he loves you as much as I think he does, he won't care that you're sick."

That comment caused Winry to turn even more red than she already was from the sickness. The thought of Ed loving her the way she loved him was new and exciting and she still hadn't quite gotten used to the idea.

"Here, take this," Pinako said as she poured a spoonful of medicine and gave it to Winry for her to take.

"What is it?"

"It's medicine, of course. It'll knock you out real good so that you can sleep away all this."

"But, what about Ed?"

"Quit your worrying, Winry. I'll go pick up Ed from the train station while you're asleep and explain everything to him. You just need to focus on getting better."

Winry looked defeated as she reluctantly took the spoonful of medicine and flopped back down on the bed.

Pinako watched this and shook her head. Her granddaughter was sure head over heals for that little pipsqueak.

"Don't worry, dear. He'll still be here when you wake up."

"Hello there, short stuff. Good to see you again."

"Granny, how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me short?" Edward Elric asked angrily as he exited the train and walked up to his adoptive grandmother.

"Why would I do that when it's true?"

Ed glared down at her. "Hey, I'm not that short anymore, Granny."

"Eh, maybe by your standards."

Ed sighed at this and then finally noticed that a very important person was missing. He looked around at the rest of the small station for her and then turned back to Pinako. "Where's Winry?"

"Ugh, I swear you two never shut up about each other. She's at home."

"But, why?" he asked, the hint of disappointment clearly evident in his voice.

"I'll explain on the way. Get your things and let's go."

After they exited the train station and began the walk home, Pinako explained the situation with Winry.

"Wait, she's sick?"

"Yes, Ed, were you not listening to a word I just said?" Pinako replied irritably.

"No, I did, I guess I just never imagined that Winry could get sick."

Pinako scoffed at that. "She's not invincible, Ed."

"I know that, I just never pictured her getting sick," he said defensively.

"Well, she is. She's probably passed out in bed right now after the medicine I gave her."

"Oh, okay," Ed said before looking down sadly. Pinako didn't fail to catch this show of disappointment.

"What's the matter, pipsqueak? Were you planning on having a little conversation with my granddaughter when you got home?" she asked her old friend's son slyly.

Ed immediately blushed and became flustered at her question. "No! I mean…sort of. I mean…I just…um…wanted to give her…something."

This peaked Pinako's interest. "Oh? What kind of something?"

"Just…something," Ed said, thoroughly embarrassed.

Pinako wasn't an idiot. She knew exactly what Ed was referring to. They walked up to the house together and entered through the front door. Den ran up to Ed and gave him a slobbery welcome before Ed placed his coat and suitcase in the living room. He looked toward the stairs nervously and shyly told Pinako that he was going to check on Winry.

Before he ascended the stairs, she caught his arm and stopped him. "Don't screw this one up, pipsqueak."

"Uh…yeah," Ed said with a shy smile before he walked up the stairs. Pinako could only shake her head at him. She had better get a start on the wedding preparations.

Ed stood outside of Winry's door for a few moments, thinking over what he was going to do. Granny Pinako had said that she was probably going to be passed out so it wasn't like he could actually talk to her. But he knew he just couldn't keep his surprise in any longer.

He made up his mind and opened the door, stepping inside before closing it behind him. Pinako was right. She was conked out on her bed, quietly snoring away. Ed smiled at how cute she looked.

It had been four months since his clumsy declaration at the train station. He had had a lot of time to think about what it all meant and what he wanted from his relationship with Winry. He had made his decision a few weeks earlier when he purchased his surprise gift at a family-owned Cretian jewelry store.

He pulled the ring out of his pocket and opened the small box. He stared at the simple, yet beautiful diamond and knew that now, more than ever, he was sure he wanted Winry Rockbell to be his wife.

It just made sense. He and Winry had been a team since they were little, always looking out for each other and helping each other. She had been the one to literally get him on two feet again after he almost lost everything. She had cared for he and his brother too many times to even count. She was quirky and outspoken and determined and beautiful and everything he could possibly want in a wife.

He knew he wasn't very good at expressing things like that out loud, but he felt them nonetheless. Maybe it was easier for him to do this while she was still asleep.

"Hey, Win," he said softly to his childhood best friend's sleeping form. "I know this is dumb because you're not awake but I would probably screw this up if I did it to you any other way," he took a quick pause before he continued on, knowing that he probably looked and sounded ridiculous but he was going to go with it anyway. "I'm sorry I kind of screwed up the proposal at the train station but I hope you can forgive me. I love you and I can't wait to marry you," he said softly before he took the ring from the box and slowly slipped it onto her finger. It fit like a glove and looked like it should have been there all along.

"I know you're probably going to kick my ass when you wake up with a diamond ring on your finger so I'm just going to apologize now. Get better for me, okay?" He told her before he sucked in a breath and decided to be somewhat bold for once in his life. He leaned over and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. His cheeks burned red, but he smiled nonetheless and left her to rest alone in peace.

She is going to freak when she wakes up.

Oh, Ed. Can't trust him with anything, can you? Let me know if you guys like it and want to see it continued! Also, I'm posting this on my tumblr as well where I post other fma related things so if you want to follow me my url name is the same as my fanfic name, sarabethloves . tumblr . com (minus spaces!).