California dreamin' on such a winter's day [closed]

[saintedsinner]

Characters: Edward Elric and Rachel Berry
When: Sometime after Ed beats Roy's ass at running
Where: Out on the beach!
Rating: PG - swimsuits and bared shoulders and ankles, man.
Summary: Ed finds Rachel and decides to explain to her why he's an asshole.

Comments

[showchoirstar]

Rachel had gone to the beach with every intention of swimming, having fun, and forgetting about her terrible week. She had spent the week after their argument avoiding Solve all-together, practicing in the old schoolhouse, dancing ballet, running along the wall perimeter, and working herself to the bone to avoid any excuses to spend time in the house, for risk of another argument.

She wished, more than ever, that she had Finn there. Finn never yelled at her or exploded at her or told her she was stupid. Sure, they had their problems, but above all, he was her best friend, and it was in this past week that his absence was particularly painful.

So when she heard the 'hey' and felt Edward approaching her, Rachel didn't look up for a moment, idly wondering whether or not she should acknowledge it. She whipped out her towel, laying it on the sand, before turning to face the alchemist, arms crossed over her perfectly toned stomach.

"Hello," Rachel responded somewhat coolly.

[saintedsinner]

He completely expected the response. Well, he actually expected less. Maybe sand flying into his face or completely ignoring him, so the acknowledgement that he existed was kind of nice. It also helped him in his purpose. His eyes trailing briefly to her perfectly toned stomach was a bit of a distraction, but whatever. He can deal with it.

"You deserve an explanation for what happened earlier." Meaning the screaming match from last week. "You didn't deserve that." A bit of an apology? Ed looked away, rubbing the back of his head for a minute. Sometimes, he wasn't good at apologies, but he did manage them.

[showchoirstar]

Rachel looked towards the water for a moment, chewing on the inside of her cheek. Quite frankly, she cared about Edward, very much, though she would never let herself admit it or ever say it outloud. He was a friend of hers and Rachel, however selfish and petulant she may be, treasured what friends she had simply because... well, she has never had very many of them.

"I'm selfish," Rachel said after a moment, turning to meet Edward's eyes again, completely resolved. "I'm self-centered, I often only think about myself, and my personality is extraordinarily high maintenance and few people can stand to put up with me, but I don't deserve to be treated like a punching bag for whenever you are in a bad mood."

She paused.

"But if you want to explain to me why you treat me like garbage, well." She huffed softly to herself and looked back to the water. "I'm listening."

[saintedsinner]

He wasn't going to get pissed off. He wasn't going to get pissed off. No matter how she sounded, Ed resolved himself not to get pissed off.

It was really, really hard.

If it wasn't someone who lived in the same house as he did, someone he didn't go out into the muck to rescue her wet, freezing ass from the wilds of Adstringendum, only to both infuriate and awe him with her voice, it wouldn't be so difficult. Finally, Ed settled into a sigh, admitting her honesty was refreshing. Not many people were willing to admit their faults.

"May I sit?" He wasn't going to assume he could just plop down on her towel and have a friendly little chat. It was anything but.