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The next morning, Ed and Winry are woken up by Ling jumping on her bed.
"Gooooood Morning, fellow sex-havers!" he sings, bouncing in between them, and Winry is almost certain she's going to throw up. "How's it ha— Oh."
He stares at them for a moment, and his shoulders slump. "You're both clothed. That's no fun."
"LING!" Ed shouts. "GET OUT!"
With a flash, Ed takes the pillow under his head and hurls it straight at the idiot. It meets his face with a muffled shriek, and he falls backward onto the ground.
Rubbing his ass as he sits up, Ling lets out a whine. "What'd you do that for?"
There is no time for Winry to respond before Ed is grabbing the pillow under her head and reeling it. "GET OUT!"
Their idiot neighbor rolls out of the pillows way and into the hall. "Hurry up and get out of bed! We'll all going to breakfast!"
As he passes the doorway, he pokes his back into the room. "We're all waiting for you in the living room. Do try to hurry!"
A shoe zooms passed his head, and Ling disappears. For a moment the room is quiet, but the silence is broken as Ed falls back against the mattress and groans.
"I fucking hate our friends."
Winry laughs as she sits up, wiping her eyes as she yawns. "What time is it?"
"Quarter 'til nine," Ed grumbles. "Guess we have no choice but go and join them, huh?"
"None at all," she sighs.
They both stand, grabbing the bits and pieces of clothing that didn't follow them into bed and dressing quietly. She notices Ed steal small glances, his jaw clenched in a way that tells her something is on his mind. Probably the same thing she has on hers.
"So…" she starts, as she idly grabs her shoes. "About last night, should we—"
"Talk?" Ed interrupts, his face is hidden as he buttons his pants, but she can see his ears are red. "Umm.. yeah. I guess."
The sound of distant wailing echoes from Winry's living room.
"Yo!" they hear Paninya shout. "Hurry up, Ling is dying!"
Winry sighs. "Later?"
Ed nods. "Later."
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The rest of the day is spent 'talk'-less.
After breakfast, everyone decided that day specifically would be the perfect day to pile up in Ling and Lan Fan's place and have another drinking binge. Winry still had fun (and things between her and Ed didn't seem too weird), but she couldn't stop thinking about the night before.
The way she threw herself at Ed was so… embarrassing. She wonders if maybe she came on too strong, and that's why he asked her to stop.
But as she sits next to him, his arm around her waist and the small tight-lipped smiles he offers, she feels like there's something she's missing.
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Sunday is quiet.
Lan Fan wakes that morning with a raging hangover, leaving Ling a ticket down for a hockey game. She refuses to let Ling waste them, claiming they cost far too much money, and he asks Ed to join in her stead.
No mention of Friday night is made.
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Sheska rolls her eyes as they make their way to the bistro.
"Your life is a CW Drama," she sighs. "I swear."
Winry punches the girl's shoulder. "Shut up!"
"I'm serious!" she says. "Just talk to him! You literally live in the same building."
"I've been trying to talk to him!" Winry replies. "Things just.. they keeping getting in the way."
She doesn't have to look at Sheska to know she's rolling her eyes. "Uh huh."
"They—" Winry starts, but the crosswalk signals them to go, and Sheska dashes across the street. "They do!"
"Text him right now and say you need to talk this afternoon," she says. "Easy-peasy."
Winry laughs as they walk to the bistro's entrance. "Yeah, if the universe doesn't find some way to get—"
The door opens and out walks Edward, holding a drink in each hand.
He looks surprised, but offers her that crooked, tight-lipped smile. "Hey."
Sheska scoffs, loudly, and makes her way past the two. "See you later, Win."
They stare a one another for a moment as the door shuts. For a moment, Winry is half-convinced she fell asleep in Knox's class and is dreaming this all up.
"Uh, here," Ed holds a drink out to her. "I got you this."
She takes it. The smell of caramel hit her as she brings it to her face, and she smiles.
"Thanks."
"Yeah, don't mention it." He scratches the back of his neck and then shoves his hand in his pocket. "I tried texting you."
"Knox," is all she says. "No cellphones."
"Right," he replies. "Well… would you be free to talk?"
She snorts. "I'm here talking to you, aren't I?"
Ed rolls his eyes, bumping her with his shoulder as he moves past her. "C'mon. I parked over here."
They walk together quietly, but it doesn't feel like an awkward sort of quiet. Winry watches him from the corner of her eye, wondering what he might be thinking. As they enter the car, she does her best to keep intact.
"So," she starts, fiddling with the drink in her hand. "Friday night…"
"I had fun," he says, his eyes fixated on his steering wheel. "I've been having fun with you."
Winry smiles. "Yeah."
Ed slumps a little in his seat, his ears look slightly pink. "Maybe a little too much fun."
Suddenly, Winry's heart is in her stomach. Her foot bounces against the floor of the car in an anxious attempt to quell her nerves.
"It's just," he mumbles. "we've been doing… whatever this is for a few weeks now, and it's been great, but…"
"But what?" she asks.
He is practically glaring as he turns to look at her. "Win, we almost fucked and I haven't even taken you on an actual date."
Her entire face is as red as a damn tomato, she just knows it. "Oh."
"Yeah," he says, looking away. "Oh."
Winry suddenly feels her blush turn fierce. "Is… that why you stopped?"
"I don't know," he starts, sighing as he moves to rub his neck. "We were drunk that night, really drunk, and… I just felt like you deserved better."
Sucking in a breath, he continues. "I really like you, Win."
Her eyes grow embarrassingly wide, and she grins as she stares at her lap. "I really like you too, Ed."
There is a long pause. Both Winry and Ed continue to stare off in their own directions, until Ed shifts in his seat.
"So," he starts. "You free later tonight?"
Winry thinks about the four chapters of assigned reading she wrote in her planner. "Yep, as a matter of fact, I am."
"Alright," he replies, grinning. "Don't suppose you'd want to go out for dinner?"
"On the contrary," she says. "I'd love to."
"Awesome." He takes a moment to look at her, his smile almost too big for his face, and then playful shoves her shoulder. "Now get out of my car, I'm gonna be late for work."
"You jack ass," Winry snorts, smacking him back. "Fine."
She moves to open the door, but Ed's hand wraps around her bicep and pulls her back. The kiss is short, but it leaves her breathless, weightless even.
"See you," he says.
"Yeah," she begins. "See you."
He smiles that damned crooked smile of his and playfully shoves her once more. "Shit, now I'm seriously going to be late! Text you later!"
She laughs as he pulls out of the parking lot, and pulls out her phone to see if Sheska already left the Bistro. She smiles as she sees Ed's name shine brightly on her lock screen, but it quickly vanishes once she sees Sheska's as well.
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(11:24) "Central Heights", I'm trademarking.
(11:24): That's the name of your drama.
(11:32): You're off sucking face somewhere aren't you? Oh my god.
(11:33): Can't wait to tune in next week and find out what shenanigans is brewin'.
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A/N: *walks in two years later holding Starbucks* S'up?