A/N:
Little warning the story contains depictions of drunk/alcohol abuse, mental health issues, a big age difference, a lot of swearing and sexsual content between two men.

(Any artwork I use for this story is drawn by me so please don't use them without permission.)

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A loud bang made Ed jump up from his couch.
His heart started to hammer painfully in his chest, and memories of his fallen comrades flashed before his eyes. their corpses mangled and burned beyond recognition.

He rubbed his forehead and tried to suppress the images that he wished so desperately he could just forget.
Then he took a few calming breaths, just like the doctor had advised him.

It seemed to work, at least until there was another bang. Ed flinched and looked in the direction of the noise.
The sound had most definitely come from the apartment next door, which surprised him because the apartment had been empty since the old Mrs. Winter had died four months ago.

"Of course, new neighbors." Ed mumbled to himself and shook his head.
He could just hope they were just as quiet and reclusive as Mrs. Witer, even though that maybe wouldn't be such a good thing. After all, it had taken almost two weeks for the smell to get bad enough for anybody to notice that she was dead.

The thought of it made Ed feel nauseated. It wasn't even the memory of the smell that hit him so hard but instead the realization that he most likely would end up the same way.
Since his mother's death two years ago, he had nobody really anymore. And when it came to friends, well, Ed had never really been that social to begin with. Sure, he had two buddies that he hung out with sometimes but the man doubted that they would even try to look for him if he stopped going to the pub.

He grabbed his pack of cigarettes and a lighter from the coffee table and went onto his balcony, in desperate need for some fresh air to clear his mind. After lighting one, he took a long drag from it and leaned over the railing to look down.
From the 9th floor, everything seemed so small and unimportant.

Ed sometimes hated living so high up, especially when the elevator wasn't working. But,  then again, there were those moments where it seemed that nothing could touch him in his fortress of solitude, high above everything else and he loved those moments. They were the most peaceful.

Unfortunately, before Ed could really enjoy his moment, he was disturbed by a young voice from the balcony next to his. Although he couldn't see the boy because of the concrete wall between them, Ed was still sure that the guy was probably only in his mid to late teens. There was still the slightest hint of a high pitched cracking in his voice.

"Dad, seriously, this apartment sucks! It's totally gross!" The kid whined.
Ed shook his head. Even though the boy's words weren't directed towards him, he still found it very rude. So what if the fourteen-story-high soviet style concrete slab building had seen better days and had some problems here and there? It was still definitely better than some other places Ed had called his home over the years.

"Please Dad, can't I live with you instead? I promise I won't cause any problems. You won't even notice that I'm there! Please..."
There was a long pause but then suddenly without a warning, the kid yelled "Fuck you!" and threw the phone out, making it shatter on the pavement down below.

A muffled sobbing was all that Ed could hear from the other balcony. For a moment
, he even contemplated if he should say something or ask if the boy was okay but then he reminded himself that it was none of his business and that he probably shouldn't even have listened in on their conversation in the first place.
He just took the last long drag from his cigarette and put it out on the already overflowing ashtray.

This was exactly why Ed never had wanted kids. He already had problems dealing with adults but children? They were even worse for him.
It also didn't help that he always had doubted that he could even be a good father. He was just too much like his own dad. Even if he hated to admit it, it had become way too obvious by now to deny it.
The only thing he didn't seem to have in common with that old, useless drunkard was his temperament.
Because Ed was way too much like a rock.
A boring, cold, immovable object that nobody ever seemed to notice, unless they stumbled into him.