Stand by You

XXVIII

Edward, Alphonse, and I all sat inside the train heading to the North on some sort of assignment or something. Edward and I sat together while Alphonse sat in the seat across from us. Edward drummed his hand on the window panel next to him while I clung onto my seat, ignoring the searing pain from my injured shoulder with all the tension as I did my best not to hyperventilate in front of my boyfriend when the train isn't even moving yet. When the train whistle blew and the vehicle jerked forward, I squeaked and squeezed my eyes tightly, clawing the seat underneath me.

That's when I felt something warm wrap around my gloved, sweaty hands. I opened my eyes slowly and trailed them down to my hand, seeing another gloved hand grasping mine. I followed the arm that belonged to the hand and saw that it belonged to Edward. He smiled at me, "Hey, it's going to be alright."

I opened my mouth to speak but the train lurched and I squealed and clung onto Edward. He stroked my head, still clasping my hand and I heard him laugh softly as he kissed my forehead. I ignored it as I buried my red face from embarrassment of him discovering my childish fear as we rode on the train.

*~*~*~*~*~

As soon as we checked in at the station in North City, we dashed right out of the tram station and into the world of white. "Snow!" I squealed.

Outside, snow fluttered down from the grey skies above onto the road, cars, steps-anywhere where it could touch down and land. Me, wearing my beige overcoat with pockets and a red plaid scarf with a matching long-sleeve underneath, khakis, and brown clogs, Edward, in his signature red coat with the inside lined with soft fleece and Alphonse having no appearance change, all wandered in the white wonderland. Until Edward slipped down the icy steps and shrieked as he desperately tried to get his footing back while he slid down the stairs on his bottom.

"Ed, are you okay?" I laughed as I held a hand out to help him up.

"I'm fine!" He scoffed, swiping my hand away as he got up, red with embarrassment as he was rubbing his lower backside.

Alphonse, Edward, and I decided to take a short break and enjoy the snow as we settled down on a bench and watched as the snow fluttered down from the sky, the flakes landing in my hair and dotting it with white. "All this snow is amazing, huh?" Alphonse admired.

"Yeah, you barely ever see this in Resembool," Edward grinned.

"Hey, remember that one year when there was a huge system that went over Resembool?" I leaned over in my seat, facing the two brothers, smiling at the memory of me helping Grace tread through the snow that ended with me carrying her on my back.

"I remember!" I could tell Alphonse was grinning with us voice. "We had a huge snowball fight!"

"And we made a snowman too," Edward added.

"That's right!" Alphonse was all excited now, and seeing him like that made me happy. "When I was little, I had no idea we would ever come this far north," Alphonse gushed.

"Yeah, and here we are," Edward relaxed in his seat. "So, what do we do? There's still some time before the train to Briggs leaves."

"Go have something tasty to eat," Alphonse suggested.

"I'm not that hungry," Edward sighed. "Let's go have a look anyhow."

Edward jumped off from the bench and took off running. "Careful, Brother!" Alphonse warned. "You're gonna fall again!"

"Oh, shut up!" Edward yelled, still embarrassed about his fall earlier.

*~*~*~*~*~