Disclaimer: I don't own Fall Out Boy, it's members, music or lyrics, or Fullmetal Alchemist.
Brief Commentary: I started to publish this story a long time ago, unfortunately I ended up abandoning it. However, I have recently started to revise it, and have decided to again publish it. It is completely AU Containing characters from FMA and FOB.
Chapter One
Close Call
It's bad enough my new school has bigger population than all of Resembool combined, Winry thought, dragging her feet on the sidewalk as she left the school. But it's going to take forever to walk home! I can't believe I have to walk home everyday.. we live clear across town.
Moving to Central had been a difficult decision for Winry's dear granny to make, but it was a necessary one. Winry had lived with her granny since she was ten. Leaving her behind to take care of the elderly woman, her parents had moved to Central and raised a family without her. After her parents' death, their four other children were left in the care of Wendy and Hank Harrington, the children's godparents. In order to be closer to the kids in the time of their parents' passing, the move to Central had been grudgingly executed.
Admittedly, Winry missed Resembool. She didn't have many friends there, but she had memories, not all of them bad. She'd grown up there, had her first kiss there at the park, her sweet sixteen was a the Resembool movie theater. It was so private and big, in the middle of nowhere, and now she was moving to bustling, polluted Central.
Central City was, however, quite beautiful. The province, though diverse, was pretty segregated all around. Central was like Amestris had taken several different cultures, put them in a shaker, and viola`, you had one big, buzzing, cultural martini.
Taking a breath, Winry cautiously looked both ways at the semi-busy intersection across from the school yard. When she thought it was clear, she stepped into the street.
SKREEEE
She let out a yelp, her heart skipping a beat. An elephant of a truck careened toward her, threatening to barrel her down. It got terribly close before a firm hand gripped her elbow and yanked her back onto the sidewalk, out of harm's way. She fell backwards, landing hard on her rear and breathing heavily. She watched the truck jerk to a halt inches before it would have hit the light pole, and the truck driver angrily jumped out of the driver's seat.
"WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU, HUH?! YOU BLIND?! WHY DON'T YOU TRY LOOKING FOR TRAFFIC BEFORE YOU CROSS THE STREET AGAIN!" he shouted at her, spitting on the ground.
"HEY! Back off, all right? You were the one speeding about to run a red light! Did you not see any of the signs around here? 'Pedestrian Crossing'? 'School Zone'? Maybe even the freaking traffic lights?" yelled a voice above her. She hadn't noticed the person who'd saved her was still gripping her arm.
Embarrassed, she quickly jumped up, dusting off her skirt, and interrupted them before things could get out of hand.
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't see you coming, I tried to look for traffic but I didn't see your truck, and…" She held her mouth open to speak, but no words came out. Even more embarrassed, she shut her mouth and stared at the ground, her face turning a deep shade of scarlet. The man spat on the ground again, mumbled inaudibly, and climbed back in his truck.
Winry turned to face the person who'd saved her, surprised by his appearance: He was pale with long, stringy black hair and head band, he wore a plain black shirt and black cargo pants that hung on his hips. He looked nothing like anyone she'd seen that day at school.
"Um…uh, th-thanks for saving me.." she stuttered, turning even deeper scarlet as she avoided eye contact.
"Hey, it's fine, really. Savin' a life or two after school every day's just a hobby of mine." he chuckled. Winry smiled shyly, noticing his bright purple eyes.
"So.. you go to school here, too?" she asked nervously.
"Yea, for a few years now.. I'm a senior in the high school. You new here? I don't think I've seen you."
"Y-yea, today was my first day. I'm a junior. I just moved here with my granny." she explained, squinting as the sun escaped a cloud and doused her in sunlight.
Hmmm.. Envy thought to himself. She seems nice.. and she doesn't seem like the rest of the preps in this school.
"Huh. Well, my name's Envy, strange name, I know.." he took her hand and bowed deeply, smirking when he saw she was blushing when he rose again.
"I'm Winry, nice to meet you." she also bowed, shuffling her feet.
"Well, Winry, how would you like a ride home? My car's parked just across the street, and I sure would like to get to know you more." Winry groaned inwardly; he had a very cute face and she wanted to say yes. She really didn't want to walk home. What was one ride..?
"Yea.. alright." she agreed and mentally slapped herself for accepting.
"Is this your car?" Winry asked, sliding into the sleek black Ford Mustang.
"Mm-hm," Envy answered, switching on the ignition. "Actually, it's my sister's, but she doesn't drive it anymore." Winry looked around the car, awed by its sleek interior. "So, where's your house?"
"Huh? Oh.. uh…" Winry debated whether or not she should tell him the truth. Her Granny had warned her about all the psychopaths in the city. It seemed silly to think a high school student would be as malicious as her granny imagined, and he seemed trustworthy, but there was no harm in being cautious. "4000 Down street. In the apartments." She remembered passing the apartments when they were looking for a decent house to move into, but there'd been no vacancy. It wasn't far from her neighborhood.
"Nice try, but I know those apartments haven't had a vacancy in two years. Where do you really live?" Envy replied, turning down a street away from the school campus.
"Uh.. sorry." Winry blushed. "382 Avenue Drive. How did you know the apartments were full..?"
Envy turned down a street quickly and turned to her. "My brother runs this city. They had some problems over there once so naturally I heard all about it.."
"Your brother's the mayor and he discusses these things with his family..?" Winry inquired, a bit concerned.
"No, no. I was eavesdropping. My little brother tapped his private line for me." he explained.
"Oh, okay. How many siblings do you have, exactly?"
"Six. two sisters, four brothers. And yes, we all have strange names like mine. What about you? You got any brothers or sisters?" Winry hesitated to answer.
"Well.. that's kind of why we moved here. I lived with my grandma in the East, and my parents lived with my two brothers and two sisters out here. My parents died recently, we moved to Central to be closer to my siblings, because they live with our godparents. Also, we haven't seen the kids in a long time, and our godparents don't want them coming all the way out to Resembool just to visit." she explained.
"Ah, I'm very sorry to hear that. How old are your brothers and sisters?" She seems pretty cool. I wish we could get past the small talk.
"Let's see… Ben and Jack are ten, they're twins. Emily's eight, and Joanie's seven. So I'm the oldest."
"Must be tough on them, that young. Must be even tougher on you." Envy commented sympathetically.
"Yea.. well, I've got to stay strong for the little ones, you know? They're so shook up by it all, and me crying isn't going to help them at all." She paused, wanting to change the subject. "So, what about your siblings?" she asked quickly. He let out a sigh, as if the though alone tired him.
"Well, let's see.. I can't remember all their ages.. But I know Wrath's fifteen, Lust is twenty, Sloth's twenty-three, Greed's twenty-nine I think… and I don't know how old Gluttony or Pride is. Oh, excuse me, Pride's new name is King Bradley.. He got smart and changed it, unlike the rest of us."
"I see," Winry nodded, taking it in. She noticed they had arrived in her neighborhood, but Envy pulled into the driveway next to her house instead of her own. "Oh.. we're here. But my house is 382, not 383. Heheh."
"Oh, I know." Envy shut off the engine and opened the car door. Winry, confused, followed suit and climbed out into the driveway. "You live in 382.. I live in 383. I thought it would save gas if I just stopped in my driveway." He gave an innocent smile, and Winry found herself blushing again. To avoid him noticing, she quickly looked up at the two houses side-by-side.
In the urban neighborhood, all the houses were cramped together and looked almost identical. The same was true for 382 and 383, except that while 382 was a two-story house fit for a large family, 383 was the same but with a large tower added to the back of the house, so anyone who looked out the window could most likely see the whole neighborhood.
"Oh! So, uh.. you're my new neighbor, huh?" she asked him sheepishly.
"Pretty much." Envy grabbed his shoulder bag out of the backseat and started up the driveway. "You'll have to meet the family sometime. But I gotta get started on my homework." He stopped in front of her and took her hand. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Winry." he bowed and kissed her hand, not breaking eye contact.
Winry turned bright red.
"Uh.. n-nice meeting you too!" she flashed a forced smile and scurried up the walkway to the front door. Reluctantly, she turned to see Envy gazing at her from the doorway of his own house. She waved shyly and, not waiting for him to return the wave, hastily stepped inside and shut the door behind her.
Ergh…This is going to be a long week.