Moment Like This

Edward sighed as he took another spoonful of strawberry parfait. He was waiting for Roy at an outdoor cafe. The elder had said he'd be there for lunch, however he was a half hour late; Hawkeye had probably caught him sneaking out.
As he lowered the spoon back to the sweet dessert, he glanced around the slightly crowded cafe and at the people bustling along the sidewalk beyond the fence that was just a few feet away.
   
He still didn't see his ebony-haired general, but instead a couple holding hands with their wedding rings glinting in the sunlight. He turned back to his sundae dish and swirled the contents with the spoon thoughtfully.
    
Before they had started going out two years ago, Ed had already known about Roy's infamous bachelor status. He knew Roy had always been rather commitment-shy. Roy had even told him on their third date not to expect him to ever kneel down and ask for the blonde's hand. Ed had accepted it; it was just part of Roy. He did admit to himself that at times he was a little jealous of couples like the one that had just walked past. But then he'd remember the only difference between him and Roy and those couples was the little bands around their fingers: a solid symbol of their love.
    
"Well, I don't know what the parfait did to you, but I'm not sure it deserves this." The joking tone behind Ed brought him out of his stupor.
    
"Roy!" Edward dropped the spoon and turned in his seat to see his lover. "You're late." Roy smiled weakly and trailed his hand down Ed's arm as he took his seat across from the young alchemist.
    
"Sorry, the others held me up." Ed raised the spoon to his mouth as Roy shook his head when a waiter asked for his order. When the waiter left, Ed spoke up.
   
"Why'd they do that?" Roy's face got an uncomfortable look to it as he shifted in his chair. Ed noted that his hand had gone to his pocket.
    
"They were just pestering me about something I should have done a while ago." Roy was chewing on his lip and Ed couldn't help but smirk playfully as he put another scoop into his mouth.
    
"What's the matter? Have you been putting off your paperwork again?"
    
"Not...Quite." Ed frowned when he saw that the general was really worried about something.
    
"Well what is it, then?" Roy looked Ed in the eyes as he stood and bent down to kiss him softly on the lips. Ed's eyes stretched wide in shock; Roy normally didn't show this kind of affection for him in public. When the elder stepped back, now looking at the ground, Edward blushed and glanced around to see everyone staring. He turned back to Roy, about to ask him why, when he saw it himself.
    
Roy had knelt down in front of him, on one knee. His hands were out in front of him, one holding something Ed could not see because the other hand covered it. Edward couldn't stop his jaw from dropping a little and his eyes from widening. Roy took a deep breath as he looked into Ed's eyes nervously.
    
"I-" Roy's voice cracked and he coughed to clear his throat. "I should have proposed to you sooner, I've known you're the only one for me. But I-" Roy seemed to be losing whatever words of advice his subordinates had given him and he looked nervous. When he looked into Ed's eyes, he saw tears gathering. He would have been worried if he hadn't seen the smile the younger was trying to fight. Regaining his courage, Roy shook his head and continued, opening his hands to reveal an open black velvet ring box with a golden band resting inside. "Edward Elric, will you marry me?"
    
Ed could have sworn the world had stopped. The sound of people chattering, both on the sidewalk and in the cafe, had stopped. However, Edward could hardly bring himself to care, he could only stare at Roy through blurry eyes, dumbstruck. Edward forced his now dry throat to swallow as he tried to find his voice. Never had he thought he would hear those words from Roy Mustang, never.
    
"Yes." It was hoarse and was barely able to be heard. Roy looked as though he might have heard wrong. Edward's face suddenly broke out into a full-blown grin as he slid out of his chair and wrapped his arms around Roy. "You bastard, of course I will!"
    
The crowd still couldn't hear Ed, but by the smile on Roy's face and the way Roy held him tight, they knew the answer and erupted into cheers and applause.

Roy pulled away from Ed and took the blonde's left hand in his own and slid the band on. They both stared at it for a minute before looking at each other, smiling. Ed wrapped his arm around Roy's neck and pulled him into another kiss.

Seeing the joy on Ed's face warmed Roy's heart and he couldn't imagine why he hadn't proposed earlier.