New Neighbors and Best Friends

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Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or any of the characters because if I did, Ed and Winry would be together forever. This disclaimer applies to this chapter and all of the others...So...here's the story. I hope you like it!

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The house was silent except for the sounds of his mother making breakfast in the kitchen. He was still asleep as I quietly opened the door and entered his room.

Smiling slightly, I sat down on his bed and looked at his sleeping face, pushing his blonde bangs aside. He looked so young when he was asleep, as young as he was the first day we met.

Edward always slept without a shirt, for as long as I could remember he always had. Yet there was something about the way he had “changed” over the years.

We were eighteen now, all grown up, right? Um…At least he was eighteen. I was still seventeen…Well the sight of his bare, grown up chest was enough to make me blush for looking yet be unable to look away.

To put it straight, he was hot. I had to admit that he totally was. His picture must’ve been in the dictionary next to the definition of “hot”.

I had known Ed since the day his family had moved in next door. We were both thirteen at the time. Even way back then, he was pretty cute. But since then, obviously, cute had shifted to hot.

His legs were long. He was about three inches taller than me. When had he gotten so tall? The day we’d first met, he was slightly shorter than me.

On that warm day in June, I had woken up to the sound of a truck and the ruckus of furniture being moved into the house next door.

Going to my window, I opened the curtains and let the bright light pour into my room. I had to shield my eyes from it momentarily until my eyes finally adjusted.

But when I uncovered my eyes, the sight of a cute boy standing on a branch of the tree in front of my window shocked the crap out of me!

When he turned his head and looked at me, I closed the curtains and placed my hand over my chest in an attempt to keep my heart from jumping out of it.

He’d scared me, sure, but I’d also immediately thought he was cute.

So what was a cute boy doing in the tree in front of my room? I had to find this out. I had every intention of opening the window and asking him this as I pulled back the curtains, but he was gone.

‘Maybe it’s for the best. After all, I don’t think I should question this guy while I’m wearing the clothes I wear to bed…’

I got dressed as quickly as I could and pulled my hair back into a ponytail before I went to brush my teeth.

As I spit out the toothpaste and grabbed the mouthwash, I heard my mother calling my name.

“Winry!” she said as she came up the stairs. “Oh, there you are. We have some new neighbors and I think we should go over there and welcome them to the neighborhood.”

“That explains the truck and the furniture,” I said after I spit out the mouthwash, too.

‘It also explains the boy who has in the tree,’ I secretly added in my thoughts.

As I went downstairs, I heard my mom in the kitchen. She had her head stuck into the refrigerator and she was getting ready to pull something out.

I watched her as she grabbed the chocolate cake she’d baked last night and had insisted be saved for desert after dinner tonight.

At least, that was back when we were actually a family, back when my parents were home and my mom cooked dinner every night. Yeah, that didn't last that long.

“Mom, what are you doing with the cake?” I asked, grabbing a knife just in case I’d be able to get her to leave the room so I could cut it.

She put the cake onto one of her best plates and took the knife out of my hand before she put the knife back in the drawer I’d gotten it from.

“These people just moved in and I want to make them feel at home so I’m giving them the cake,” she explained as she left the room.

“What?!” I said as I followed her.

“You heard me. I can always bake us another cake, anyway.”

I glared at the back of her head as she opened the door. Dang it, I’d wanted that cake! But at least she’d said she would back another one…

The house to the right of ours was the one being moved into. I wondered what kind of people they were and what this mysterious boy was like.

My mother didn’t hesitate as she walked onto the porch and rang the doorbell. The door was open since the movers were still bringing things inside.

“Come up here,” she told me as she saw me standing on the bottom step.

Sighing, I hurried to her side and waited to meet the newcomers.

“Oh, hello,” A beautiful woman with long brown hair said as she came to the door.

She smiled at the both of us. She looked friendly, likeable, and welcoming.

“I’m sorry to intrude like this, but I’m Sara Rockbell and this is my daughter Winry. We live next door and we just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood. We even brought you a cake,” she said, holding out the cake for the lady to take.

The woman gladly took it and smiled again.

“Thank you so much. I’m Trisha Elric. Would you like to come in?” she asked.

I automatically thought no, but of course my mom said, “Yes, we’d love to.”

Mrs. Elric led us to the living room to wait for her while she sat the cake down in the kitchen. At least they’d gotten the furniture moved into the living room so we didn’t have to sit on the floor or stand.

“So, Winry,” she addressed me. “Would you like a piece of the cake?”

I was obviously going to accept her generous offer, but of course my mom had to rain on my parade. She sent me a look that clearly told me to decline.

“No, I’m fine for now. We brought the cake for you to eat, not us,” I said with a smile on my face.

‘Cake snatchers,’ I thought as I looked at my mom.

My mother, who seemed pleased with my response, directed her attention to Mrs. Elric again.

“So, Mrs. Elric, you’re married, right? Do you have children?”

“Please call me Trisha. I am married. My husband started his new job today so he left the house up to me. And yes, I do have children.”

At that moment, the boy I’d seen before entered the room.

“Hey mom, I need…” he started, but trailed off as he saw us sitting there.

“Edward, these are our neighbors. This is Sara Rockbell and her daughter Winry.”

“Nice to meet you Edward,” my mother said as she smiled warmly at him.

“Likewise,” he said to her as he stared at me.

Yep, he was definitely the boy who had been standing in the tree. No doubt about that.

He was so cute, in my opinion. From the long blonde hair to the scowl on his face even to his slightly unusual height, he was cute.

I realized I’d been staring so I looked away.

“Sara, would you like a little tour of the house?” Mrs. Elric asked my mom, who nodded.

“That would be nice,” she commented.

Mrs. Elric turned to her son. “Edward, please stay here and keep Winry company. You might just make your first friend here today.”

With that said, she led my mother away and left me all alone with this stranger.

I sat on the couch with my hands folded in my lap. I glanced over at the boy named Edward who was sitting in a chair nearby.

He turned his head and looked at me and I looked away.

When I felt his gaze on me, I looked at him again, but this time he was the one to look away. I sighed.

It was as silent as a grave in the room so I finally got tired of it and decided to break the ice.

“So, Edward, you just moved to Resembool, right?”

“Call me Ed,” he said. “We just moved here today.”

This time when I looked at him, he looked at me and didn’t look away. I felt as if I’d finally made some progress.

He looked at me with those beautiful golden eyes of his and my heart began to beat faster. I’d never seen eyes like his before, golden like the sun.

“So, Ed, why were you in the tree in front of my room earlier?” I asked, finally asking him the question I’d been waiting to.

He blinked a couple of times as if he was confused and then a look of understanding reached his face.

“Oh, so you were the girl looking through the window. Nice pajamas by the way.”

I blushed, partly from embarrassment and partly from anger that he was mocking my pajamas.

“Brother, that’s not nice,” I heard another boy’s voice as he entered the room.

He was taller than Ed, but as it turned out he was a year younger.

“I’m Winry Rockbell,” I said as I stood up and offered him my hand. “I live right next door.”

He shook my hand and smiled at me, the same smile his mother had worn.

“I’m Alphonse Elric. The rude one in the chair is my older brother Edward.”

“He’s older?” I asked in disbelief. “But he’s shorter than you…”

I obviously shouldn’t have said that since Ed jumped out of his chair and raised his fist angrily

“Who are you calling a tiny little pipsqueak who can’t reach the doorknob without standing on books?!” he said as Alphonse rushed to his side to restrain him.

Normally people would have been a little scared at this, but I merely laughed for some reason.

That made him more angry, but I knew that he wasn’t going to do anything to hurt me.

“Nice pipsqueak,” I said with a giggle as I patted him on his head.

It was on that day that I’d met Edward Elric. Of course I’d upset him, but he’d gotten over it within five minutes and we became friends from there.

But somewhere along the way, I had realized, I’d ended up falling in love with him. He had always been there for me, right beside me, so how could I not fall for him.

Plus, there was the fact that I thought he was hot. But it wasn’t only that. He was kind, smart, loyal, determined, sweet, thoughtful, and more.

When I thought about it, he was the complete package. And how could I not fall in love with that?

But I was his friend, his best friend, right? I couldn’t just tell him all of this, right? I always kept my feelings bottled up inside. Except, of course, for the times when he couldn’t see me, like right now. When he was asleep, he couldn’t see the look I wore on my face as I gazed at him, as I wished I could tell him how I felt.

It was times like this that I truly treasured.

He appeared to be waking up. I sat there and watched him as he opened those brilliant golden eyes slightly before closing them again and rubbing them.

From there he yawned and then stretched. As he stretched, I could see his muscles even better. I schooled my features and waited for him to notice me.

He blinked a couple of times and then looked over at me before jumping back in shock.

I laughed at his surprise.

“Morning Ed,” I said as I waved at him.

“And just how long have you been here?” he asked as he hopped out of bed and grabbed a shirt out of his drawer.

Before he put his shirt on, he’d only been wearing a pair of boxers. Luckily his back was turned so he didn’t see me shamelessly ogling him.

His pants were the next thing he put on and then he went to his closet to unearth his shoes and socks. From time to time I would surprise Ed by coming to his room before he woke up.

One reason was that I liked to watch him sleep. The other reason is that I loved watching him get dressed. I know I must sound like some crazed fan girl right now or some stalker, but I assure you that I’m neither.

I can’t help how my mind works, honestly.

Many times I wished that Edward would just leave his hair down all day, but I watched him as he brushed his hair quickly and braided it as he usually did.

The braid was hot, sure, but I thought having his hair down would make him even more hot.

I stood up as he turned around to look at me.

“Don’t they feed you at your own house?” he asked me as I followed him to the kitchen and sat next to him at the table.

I ignored his comment and watched his mother enter the room.

“Good morning,” she said to the both of us.

She leaned down and Ed planted a kiss on her cheek before looking over at my amused expression.

“So where’s Alphonse?” I asked as I looked at his empty chair.

“Al? Oh, he had said something to me about going to meet a girl today,” Edward explained.

Alphonse was cute, caring, and nice. He’d instantly become rather popular at school., so it didn’t surprise me that there were so many girls with crushes on him.

“Al seems to have no problems finding girlfriends, but you’re another story Ed,” I said.

He seemed to be ignoring me.

“So what’s wrong? You’re smart, cute, and popular. No, wait. I finally get it. You…you’re gay, aren’t you?!”

I had been teasing, but he’d obviously been disturbed by my comment since he chocked on his orange juice and it had even shot out of his nose.

When he began coughing, I hit him lightly on the back to help him out.

When he’d finally regained his composure, he turned to look at me with a look of disbelief on his handsome face.

“What the….?! I’m not gay, you got that?!”

I smiled. Winry one point today, Edward zero.

I knew that Ed wasn’t gay, he knew he wasn’t gay, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t have a little fun with him and say that he might be gay.

And besides, even if he was actually gay, he’d still be hot.

And…I’d still love him.