Just Friends?:

Simone’s Notes:

How do two friends fall in love with each other? They meet, befriend each other, hang around a few years, and eventually fall in love. But does it last? Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t. But who can say if it always works out? Humans do not have the gift of foresight. So all the friends-turned-lovers can do is just go with the flow of their new romance and hope for the best. The term romantic friendship refers to a very close but non-sexual relationship between friends, often involving a degree of physical closeness beyond that common in modern Western societies, for example holding hands, cuddling, sharing a bed, as well as open expressions of love for one another.

Shawn Hawkeye was a normal nineteen-year-old boy. He was a charming young man. Short blonde-brunette hair, wine red eyes just like his older sister, broad shoulders, slender with some muscle to his body, and an endless flood of boyish charm. He was very gifted with alchemy. The boy lived with his sister’s family. Shawn was doing great in school. Throughout his high school years, he made nothing but A’s and B’s. He graduated around the same time Jakob and his friends did. The boy was proud of his military family, but he didn’t know if he wanted to join or not yet. He even had great friends. On Saturdays, Shawn worked with the little children in the local nursery. On the weekends, he hung out with his friends like normal teenage boys. The boy seemed to have a good normal life. But, Shawn Hawkeye had a problem.

He had a girlfriend named Stella Paige. She was everything a normal teenage boy wanted. Blonde hair, gorgeous blue eyes, tall, thin, perky breasts, blooming curves, smart, funny, rich, most popular girl in their school, top star on the swimming team, and friendly to everyone. They met in junior high. Sparks flew and they hit it off perfectly. The romantic flame kept going throughout high school. Stella and Shawn seemed perfect for each other. Now, this was going to be the first year they would spent apart. Stella was going away to university for college. Shawn still didn’t know what he wanted to do with his future yet. But that’s not the problem in particular. The boy was noticing that his love for Stella was slowly dying. He seemed be falling for another girl in his life. Who you ask?

Her name was Annie Tyler. She was Shawn’s childhood best female friend. They had been friends since they were five years old. At first, Annie was a little porky, cute, and had her share of drama. When Annie suffered from heartbreak, she turned to Shawn. When her mother and grandfather died, she turned to Shawn. When she was sad and crushed, she turned to Shawn. He in return turned to her for advice and when he was in need. They had each other to rely on when times were rough. Annie and Shawn were just Annie and Shawn.

But lately, things have changed. Annie was the main change. For starters, she had slimmed down over the years. Porky just wasn’t a nickname that suited her anymore. But yet, Annie wasn’t in danger of being anorexic or bulimic. She actually looked pretty healthy. Even the boys in their school were noticing right away. Now that he thought about it, Annie was pretty attractive to him now. She had grown very charming indeed. Where she once had long brunette pigtails, her hair was now cut into a boyish style. Grass green eyes that was gained a shiny look to them in recent years. She still had those cute looking baby cheeks. Annie was still short to him; that was never going to change at all. She used to wear pants all of the time, but now some of those pants have disappeared and skirts and dresses have taken over. Annie even started to wear make-up more often. But that wasn’t the real shocker. On the day that he found out that Stella was going away to university, Shawn discovered something very frightening about him and Annie. He actually… was falling in love with his best female friend. He just hadn’t realized it until just now. But like his future, Shawn just didn’t know what to do.

Thus his trip to Central City to see his older sister, Riza. But, he was in for a total surprise. Shawn and Riza had been keeping in touch with letters. So she had told him about her break up with Roy Mustang and her marriage with Jakob Riis. But Shawn never knew what Jakob really looked like. So, you can imagine what kind of a shock he was in for this morning. Shawn arrived at apartment 221. He drew in a deep breath and knocked on the door. The boy’s heart was racing wildly.

“Coming!” a boy’s voice yelled from inside. Shawn was really confused now. “Does sis have a young boy living with her?” he thought. “If so, why?” Then, the door opened wide. Jakob stood Shawn looking at him. His wife’s brother was in complete shocked. Jakob stared back at him likewise. You see, Riza had told Jakob about her brother. But he was expecting Shawn to be younger. Both boys were shocked that they were the same age. They didn’t know what to say at first.

“Uh… are you…” Shawn began to ask. “Riza’s husband?”

“Yeah…” the mouse replied slowly. “You her brother?”

“Yeah,” Shawn replied. “Where’s Riza?”

“She had to work,” his brother-in-law replied. Both boys kept staring at each other for a long time.

“What?” Jakob asked innocently. Shawn shook his head quickly.

“N-Nothing!” he said quickly. “I just wasn’t expecting you to be…”

“The same age?” Jakob asked.

“Yeah!” Shawn replied quickly. The brother-in-law finally began to smile.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I feel the same about you. Now come on in.” Shawn did so quietly. Suddenly, he felt that he could unload his problems onto Jakob.

Within minutes, the boys were talking. Shawn told Jakob about his love problems.

“I love Stella,” he was saying. “But I think I’m falling in love with Annie. I just now realized that I have fallen for her when Stella told me when she was going away to university.” Jakob listened quietly.

“Well,” he began again. “What all do you like about Annie?” Shawn thought about that for a moment.

“We have always been there for each other,” he answered. “She used to be porky-looking, but now she’s slimed down. I enjoy being with her.” Shawn began to chuckle. “When she dances, it used to look cheesy,” he said. “But now, she looks sexy, in a cheesy way.” Then he began very serious. “But, I love Stella as well.” the boy went on. “We’ve been together throughout junior high and high school. So, I just don’t know what to do. What should I do?” Jakob stared at him for a long time.

“Well,” he said. “I’m not one to give advice…” Shawn looked desperate.

“Can’t you help me?” he asked. The mouse looked completely lost. He didn’t think of himself as giving good advice at times. But he had to say something for Shawn’s sake or else his brother-in-law would lose it. But what could he say that couldn’t do much damage? Then the answer slowly came to Jakob.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” the mouse began. “Just go with your heart. You’ll find the answer in the end.” Shawn nodded at him.

“But what if I still don’t know?” he asked. Jakob just lightly shrugged.

“Just keep searching for the answer,” the mouse replied modestly. Shawn nodded again.

“Thank you, Jakob!” he said aloud. His brother-in-law smiled in relief. “This could be the start of a nice friendship!” he thought happily.

But on the train, Shawn was still confused. This wasn’t going to be an easy debate. But Annie and Stella were great picks. But he wasn’t sure if Annie felt the same. If she did, could they actually have a romantic stable relationship. Could he even bring himself to break up with Stella? Shawn just shook his head and placed them in his hands stressed. He now had two things to decide with his life: his future and the women he loved. What ever happened to things being simple?