Alarm

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The consistent beeping of hell's alarm was sounding off in the demon's apartment below, and Edward had reached his breaking point. He didn't need to look at his clock to see the time; he'd been woken up by that bastard every morning this week, but he did anyway. '4:45 AM' blinked away in a bright, sinisterly red light.

This was fucking ridiculous. How did anyone in this damn building get any sleep? Yeah, he was new to this whole apartment life thing, and at least he hasn't had to deal with other stereotypical problems (he hoped he'd never have to deal with some of them), but waking up at the ass crack of dawn every damn work day? Hell no. He couldn't do it.

So, on this particular friday morning, when he still had two hours before he had to go in to this new job and the inconsiderate bastard woke him up again, he decided he'd have to lay down the law with this loud-alarm-having-son-of-a-bitch.

He snapped his sheets back with a loud 'crack!', grabbed his sweatpants off the floor, and started towards the door.

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Winry yawned as she stumbled into the tiny kitchen. Thank god for automated coffee makers! They made having to wake up so early a little less horrible. Why did she sign up for that 6 AM class again? Oh, that's right. It was the only one available. Who knew her first year at med school would feel like her first year of college all over again?

She flopped her arms onto the counter and waited for the mug to fill, right as someone began banging at her front door. The sudden sound made her jump, causing her to smash the back of her head into the sharp edge of the over hanging cabinets.

"Son of a bitch," she muttered, and peaked her head out of the kitchen and at the door. Whoever was banging at it was relentless. She slowly moved towards it, picking up the closest blunt object and holding it like a weapon.

"Open up, damnit!" the culprit said. "I know you're awake!"

Winry's eyes grew wide. Should she call the police? It couldn't be someone wandering in from the streets, the front doors of the building were locked and only residents had keys to get in. Peaking through the peephole in the door, she inspected the brooding man that stood outside. She didn't recognize him, but he had to be a resident here… Didn't he?

"Who are you?" she asked nervously, twisting the item in her hand.

The man looked up at the receiving end of the peephole and deadpanned.

"Your new neighbor," he grunted. "The one you've been waking up every damn morning with your loud ass alarm."

Oh shit, she thought. Her alarm had been inexplicably effective this past week. Did she accidentally turn up the volume on it? She felt flustered and embarrassed, but then she got angry. So this guy couldn't just calmly come down and knock on the door like a normal human being? Or leave a damn note?!

"So you bang at my door at this early hour like some crazy person?" she exclaimed. "You could've woken up the entire building!"

She put the chain lock on the door in place and opened it to the full two inches that it'd allow. The man really did look like just rolled out of bed, with his tousled hair and lack of a shirt. If she wasn't completely appalled by his behavior, Winry could have considered the guy physically appealing. However, he was a complete ass banging at her door when she should be drinking her morning coffee and getting ready for school, and being attractive didn't excuse that. She didn't even want to think about the fact that she was only wearing a baggy tee as they stood there, awkwardly eyeing one another before remembering they were sort of arguing and switched into full on glare mode.

"I'm pretty sure everyone in the building is already awake, thanks to your damn alarm," he scowled, but after a small moment, the man sighed and began to rub at his eyes. "Look, just turn your alarm down, okay? I promise I won't bang at your door anymore."

"Fine," she replied snottily, trying her best to keep eye contact and not look at his shirtlessness. "Now, can I please get back to what I was doing before I was rudely interrupted?"

The guy scoffed and crossed his arms. "Oh yeah, like how I was sleeping before you rudely interrupted that?"

Winry did really feel bad about that, but his attitude was making it easier to not care as much as she should.

"Sorry," she said, albeit half-heartedly. "Even?"

"Hardly," he grunted, and began to walk away. "Pleasure meeting you…." he began sarcastically, then stopped by the stairwell once he started to trail off.

"Winry," she finished for him.

The guy nodded absently at the affirmation, then muttered, "Ed." before walking up to the next floor. Winry shut the door quickly after, staring at the floor as she replayed the encounter in her head over again.

"What a pain in the ass," she said aloud to herself, and went back to the kitchen, hoping that the rest of her day would be much more pleasant.

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Ed dragged himself back to his apartment and, too tired to walk all the way to his bed, collapsed on the couch. Pulling a blanket out from under his coffee table and throwing it over himself, Ed did his best to fall back asleep, but the events that transpired between him and his downstairs neighbor kept his mind awake.

He laid there for what felt like ages, when the sound of someone running through the hall ignited his senses. He sat up when he heard the door to the building slam, and decided he might as well try sleeping in his bed for a little while before he had to get ready for work.

He walked by his balcony door and spotted Winry running to her car; a huge back pack slung over her shoulder and a thermos in hand. Damn, was she still a student?

Ed swiped a hand over his face and started towards his bedroom again. Who cares what she is. She was his neighbor, not his friend. He didn't have to worry about any of that. If everything goes the way he wanted it to, he wouldn't have to deal with her ever again.

He face planted into his bed and let out an exhausted sigh.

Yeah… Something told him things weren't going to go his way.

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Author's Note: I AM SO SORRY FOR BEING ABSENT FOR SO LONG. I never intended to go on such a long break, but alas, life happens. I have not abandoned my other stories. Chapter 13 of AAT is being revised, In Deep is still in the works, and I'm doing what I can to get Mixtape back together (it got deleted off the site, and I don't have all the chapters saved on my laptop anymore, so it's been a pain in the ass). Apartment Life isn't going to be another plot-based story, just a series of "update when I please" Modern AU one shots based around little ideas or prompts that I've found interesting. It'll be a way to help me stay into writing when I'm stumped on my other pieces. I hope you enjoy the first prompt, and please review! :)