Willow|| Klance Single Dad AU

Chapter 2: Young Prodigy

Keith was awoken on his day off by the sound of loud footsteps, trudging through the hall.

He let out an annoyed groan, rolling onto his back. Indigo eyes struggled to open, vision fogged with tiredness and exhaustion. Keith stared at his ceiling, a yawn escaping his lips. He rubbed his eyes before brushing a hand through his ruffled hair.

The sound of running through the apartment complex continued, stressing out the black-haired male. His eyebrow twitched in irritation, feeling as if the stomping was just getting louder and louder. Keith knew he couldn't fall back asleep with that God-awful noise, seeing as he was a very light sleeper and little noises triggered his anger. He stared endlessly at the paperwhite ceiling, silently hoping the sound would come to end.

After what seemed like hours, which was only three minutes, Keith couldn't stand it anymore. He rolled onto his side, plucking his phone off the cardboard box he was using as a makeshift nightstand. The time read 7:00 a.m, causing Keith to let out another peeved groan. One thing Keith hated was early mornings. It wasn't very often that Keith got to sleep in, college courses taking up three days of his week and the other days occupied by his part-time job. Mondays were the only day Keith got to relax. It was surprising to most people that the boy got Mondays off, seeing as Mondays were commonly known as dreadful. Keith's Mondays, on the other hand, we're completely blissful.

Today, though, was turning out to be the complete opposite of blissful. It was seven in the morning and Keith was wide awake, listening to the ear-bleeding noise of loud footsteps. He was beyond tired and becoming quite pissed.

After about ten minutes, Keith had enough. He crawled off of his mattress that laid bare on the floor, stumbling to stand to his feet. Keith stretched his arms behind his head when he finally managed to get out of bed. A soft moan slipped past the boy's lips, enjoying the feeling of stretching his tired limbs. When he gathered his thoughts, Keith narrowed his eyes and made his way out of his bedroom. He was on a mission, a mission to give whoever was running a fucking marathon through the apartment complex a piece of his mind.

It was too damn early for this nonsense. Keith didn't even understand how someone could have this kind of energy at this time in the morning. The whole reason Keith moved away from campus was to escape the constant noise and chaos he experienced living in a dorm. Clearly, he hadn't escaped anything, seeing as he was a week into living there and he was already dealing with the unwanted racket. Keith knew that living in an apartment wasn't going to be completely noise-free, but he figured it'd be less stressful than living in a dorm with fifty other obnoxious people in his age group.

Keith swung open his front door, fuming with anger. He watched with wide eyes as the same little girl from yesterday dashed past him, taking a lap down the staircase just to turn and run back up it. Willow didn't notice Keith at first, but when she did she stopped and flashed him a smile.

The man's attention was drawn away from the child when he heard a door open and slam shut. Keith's head shot up, indigo meeting cobalt blue. The black-haired male felt his breath catch in his throat, pink lips falling open at the sight in front of him.

His neighbor, the assumed father of Willow, stood in front of his doorway. The tanned boy stared at Keith intently, eyes wandering up and down as if he was analyzing every aspect of the man standing before him. It was then Keith had realized what exactly his neighbor was looking over, his pale face beginning to burn up with embarrassment.

One habit Keith developed over the years was sleeping in the bare minimum of clothes. His usual sleep attire consisted of an old T-shirt and a pair of loose boxers. Today was a special occasion though, simply wearing a holy pair of basketball shorts and nothing else. Keith didn't really have the time or patience to unpack all of his clothes, and he was perfectly happy sleeping shirtless. It didn't cross his mind that he walked out of his apartment without proper clothing, now wishing he had a little more coverage. The way his neighbor was staring didn't make Keith feel any more secure.