Willow|| Klance Single Dad AU

Chapter 5: Proper Introduction

Once again, Lance arrived home late in the day.

He slammed his car door shut, shoving his hands in the pockets of his winter coat. It was only a few days after Thanksgiving and three inches of snow already covered the streets of Illinois. Skies were a dark gray, even in the prime of daylight. Temperatures had dropped to below ten within a day. Lance hated it all.

Just like his beloved daughter, Lance dreaded the winter months. He hated the weekly occurrence of a slip and fall due to thick sheets of ice coating the sidewalks. Lance hated driving on icy roads with a bunch of halfwits that don't know how to operate a vehicle in the winter. He hated having to wear layers upon layers of clothes just to keep himself warm. What he hated the most was the god-awful snow that stayed till April, sometimes May.

Lance remembered when he was younger and his family lived in southern Georgia. Every time the holidays came around he'd hope and pray it would snow. Lance wanted a white Christmas more than anything when he was little, now he was damn near living in Canada where snow was normal, and he hated it. He'd give anything to spend the holidays in blistering heat again.

He rushed to the front door of the apartment complex, not wanting to waste any more time in what felt like Antarctica. Lance let out a sigh of relief when he was finally indoors, feeling the temperature change as soon as he stepped inside. He hurried his way up the staircase to the second floor, whipping around the corner to his apartment.

Lance huffed, pulling his keys out of his pocket with nimble hands. Before Lance could even stick the key in the knob, he was alerted by a loud slam. He nearly jumped out of his skin, spinning around. Lance was met with a familiar face, standing only a few feet away from him was his neighbor.

He took a second to study the black-haired male, dressed in a warm black jacket. Lance swore he's never seen this man wear anything other than black, noticing his matching black jeans and Timberlands. The man blankly stared at Lance, his eyes never once straying away from that tan face.

Lance couldn't fight the glare making its way onto his face, dropping his eyelids in an angered manner. Over the past three weeks, this guy has done nothing but stare at Lance. It's fucking creepy. He wears the same damned expression as if he's extremely uninterested in everything. He stares with such intent, like this was an eye exam and Lance was the red dot he had to focus on.

It's been going on forever now. Every time they cross paths the man has to drop everything he's doing to look at Lance. What gets Lance the most is that he doesn't stop watching until Lance is completely out of view. He stares and stares until Lance dips for cover. It's the weirdest thing he has ever experienced, and it's kind of unsettling too.

"Okay, what the fuck is your problem?" Lance spat, turning all the way around to face the man. He crossed his arms over his chest, glaring daggers into indigo eyes.

He didn't say a word, continuing to silently stare at Lance. The man's eyes began to trail over his body, head to toe, back to head. Lance was close to snapping at this idiot, taking a breath to calm himself.

"I feel like we got off on the wrong foot the other week," he spoke, voice quiet and his gaze remained blank. "I'm Keith."

Now it was Lance's turn to stare. What the hell was with this guy? What was his issue? Lance couldn't make sense of his new neighbor, and ignoring the man clearly wasn't an option. They were neighbors and would be for who knows how long. Lance had said it before, crossing paths was unavoidable. Sure, Lance could just keep his mouth shut, but it was ridiculously hard when the man always analyzed him. Any normal person would ask why the fuck they were being studied.

"Okay, Keith, why are you always staring at me? Didn't your mother teach you it's rude?" he asked, leaning back against the white painted wooden door. Lance tilted his head to the side, impatiently waiting for a response.