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Teenage Dreams, Teenage Circus

Summary:

“You’d really leave me hanging?” Ed pulled a pathetic face halfway between a sad puppy and a deep grimace. “But I’m your brother.”
“You’re the worst, is what you are,” Al replied.
“Maybe Winry’ll make an apple pie."

***

Ed, Al, Winry, and friends and the weird, chaotic, text-message-y, idiotic, love-struck, swear word filled, tragic backstory, parents just don't understand, trouble-making, awkward, and interesting days of high school.

Chapter 1: it's only teenage wasteland

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

E: winry.

W: Edward.

E: i need ur help

W: What’d you do to your leg?

E: how do u kno it has anything to do with my leg?

W: Because you only text or call when it does??

E: thats not tru

W: It definitely is. Al texts all the time. You? Never. Unless you did something to your prosthetic.

W: So what’d you do?

E: …how do u kno it was me that did something?

W: Knew it.

E: what would u do if it was someone ELSE who did something?? huh??

W: I would call you a liar.

E: IT WASNT MY FAULT LING ATTACKED ME

W: …who?

E: friend from school

W: He attacked you?

E: more or less

W: Lmao nice try

W: What do you need?

E: knee wont bend also i think i need an adjustment anyway

W: Is this your way of trying to say you got taller?

E: fuck yes it is

E: i can get a pass for this weekend

E: please

W: You know, we’re very busy. Can’t just drop everything because you decided to be an idiot.

E: but you will?

W: We’re going to charge you so much for this.

E: send the bill to hohenheim

W: Your father is not to blame for your stupidity.

W: I deserve earrings.

E: what?! im still paying for the set i bought three months ago

W: Not my problem.

E: crazy gearhead

W: Chemistry freak.

***

Al was deep in geometry homework, earbuds in, focus on, brow furrowed, when he felt something hard hit the back of his shoulders. He lurched forward with both a surprised and pained “gah!” and pulled out his headphones with difficulty as the person behind him was still leaning hard on his back.

“Get off, Brother!” Al said, trying to twist around to face Ed. Ed responded by letting more of his body weight fall on Al’s back. He hunched further over, getting closer to the table in front of him, as the end of Ed’s ponytail started to obstruct his vision.

“I need you to drive me home on Saturday,” Ed said.

“Can you get off please so we can talk like normal people?” Al responded.

Ed sighed but picked himself up off of Al and sat in the chair next to him. Al straightened and rubbed his neck, turning toward Ed.

“What do you want?”

“I need you to drive me home on Saturday,” Ed repeated, stretching out his legs and dropping his bag on the floor.

“For what?”

“I need my leg adjusted. Winry said she’d do it.”

“No.” Al turned back to his homework and tried putting his earbuds back in.

Ed slapped them out of Al's hands. “C’mon, help me out.”

“Why can’t you drive yourself?”

“Because I fucking hate driving.”

“I’m supposed to study with May on Saturday.”

Ed groaned. “You can spend one Saturday not drooling over May.”

“I do not drool,” Al grumbled, a blush rising to his cheeks.

“You’d really leave me hanging?” Ed pulled a pathetic face halfway between a sad puppy and a deep grimace. “But I’m your brother.”

“You’re the worst, is what you are,” Al said.

“Maybe Winry’ll make an apple pie,” Ed offered.

Al stopped as he reached for his pencil. He considered then sighed heavily.

“Fine!” Al resigned. “But you better make sure of it.”

“Thanks, Brother,” Ed said clapping Al on the shoulder.

“So what’d you do to Ling?” Al asked.

“For fuck’s sake, he attacked me!” Ed exclaimed.

“I don’t believe that for a second,” Al snorted.

“He did! I was walking to Hughes’s class and all of a sudden, he comes out of fucking nowhere and jumps on my back, trying to get me to give him a piggyback ride!”

Al laughed. “That’s a pretty lame attack, Brother.”

“Fuck, whatever. He still fucked up my leg.”

“Wasn’t your leg already messed up from you trying to prove to Ling you could do a back handspring? ” Al asked.

Ed shrugged. “Yeah, but Winry doesn’t need to know that. And anyway, Ling’s still a fucking bastard. And, as you probably remember, I did do that back handspring, thank you very fucking much.”

“Edward!” The librarian popped out her head from behind a shelf, making Ed and Al jump. She pushed her round glasses up her nose. “Enough with the language!”

“Sorry, Miss Sheska,” Ed grumbled.

Miss Sheska nodded and disappeared into the shelves.

“God, does she ever sit at her desk,” Ed said in a low tone, “or does she just creep around in the shelves?”

“May thinks she’s built a house out of books in the back of the library and that she actually lives here,” Al said as he started to pack up his stuff.

“Where are you going?” Ed asked not coming out of his relaxed position.

“Don’t we need to go to Mustang to get a pass?”

“Yeah, but I was going to wait until last minute tomorrow for the effect.”

“The effect of him saying no?” Al asked as he stood.

“Like he’s going to say no to a one-legged teenager asking to go home for a prosthetic readjustment.”

“But in this case, the one-legged teenager is you so yes, he would. Plus if you’re dragging me into this, we’re doing this the way we’re supposed to.”

Ed groaned, grabbed his bag, and stood up, following Al out of the library.

“You just always want to be seen as the good brother,” Ed sneered.

“Exactly, that’s why I’ll never get caught with things and you always will.”

“You’ve been here three months,” Ed shot back. “Give it some time.”

***

“So, what’d you do to your leg that you have to leave campus?”

Ed rolled his eyes, already regretting the decision to do things the right way like Al wanted to do. Staring across the desk at Mustang - his student advisor - he was deeply annoyed that he didn’t have the upper hand like he would’ve if he came for the pass at the last minute.

“Just tweaked it,” he grumbled. “Need an adjustment.”

“You and Ling getting into trouble?”

“No.”

“Really? Ms Hawkeye said you were roughhousing in the hallway again this morning. And she also recalled you doing backflips during study hall.”

Ed narrowed his eyes at Mustang but said nothing. Of course Hawkeye had told Mustang; Ed so badly wanted to ask why he was the topic of Mustang and Hawkeye’s pillow talk, but even he wasn’t stupid enough to say that.  

“And you’re going for the day? Or the full weekend?” Mustang asked, looking over his hands at Ed. Although he couldn’t actually see his mouth behind his hands, Ed knew that Mustang had that self-satisfied smile that made Ed want to punch him in the teeth.

“The weekend,” Ed responded. “Adjustments take time.”

“Where is it exactly you’re going to have this done?”

“Resembool. Where we live when we’re not locked up here.”

“You have a live-in mechanic?” 

“Her and her grandmother are basically family,” Al cut in. “We’ve lived there for a couple years now.”

Mustang’s eyes floated over to Al as Ed sulked. He knew why Al was the trusted one out of the two of them, but it didn’t make things any less annoying - especially considering he should have the bonus of being not only the older brother but the junior versus the freshman.

After a few moments, Mustang finally unfolded his hands, reached into his desk, and pulled out his pass book. After writing them up, he gave a pass to Al. Ed reached for his, only to have Mustang snatch it back.

“This time,” Mustang said, “actually give your pass to the office before you leave instead of after the fact.”

“Yeah yeah yeah,” Ed said, finally taking his pass and standing up.

“I can and will revoke privileges again.”

“Okay! Whatever,” Ed said, already turning to leave.

“Before you leave though - “ Mustang reached into his desk, pulled out a stack of papers, and thrust them into Ed’s hands.

“What are these?” Ed asked.

“Sophomore quizzes,” Mustang said with a sly smile. “Since you’ll have time at home, you should be able to grade them.”

“What?!” Ed practically shouted.

“I’ll be going through your class’s tests so I’d appreciate the help,” Mustang said, spinning his chair to face away from them. “And don’t forget, you agreed to the aide position, so now you have to do the work.”

Ed opened up his mouth to say something, but a quick glance from Al shut him up. He shoved the quizzes in his bag.

“Fine,” Ed relented.

“Enjoy your time at home,” Mustang said as they walked out the door.

“I swear to fuck,” Ed snapped once they were out of range of Mustang’s office door, “if he weren’t a teacher, I would punch him.”

“How you haven’t gotten expelled yet, I’ll never know,” Al said.

“They can’t expel me,” Ed replied. “I’m a chemistry prodigy. Amestris Prep is lucky to have me.”

“And you’ll never let them forget it.”

“Damn right. Also, if they expel me, who’s going to do Mustang’s job for him?”

***

E: Al wants an apple pie.

W: You boys are SO much work.

Notes:

*Dusts cobwebs off fanfiction writing skills* This is an attempt. Maybe the attempt will get better? Only time will tell.

Chapter Title: 'baba o'riley' - the who