Dirty Laundry by Gibslythe

Day 1 Ch. 4

3:18 P.M.

Something strange nudged itself against Keith's neck, a tongue tracing against his hairline. A sensation of warm breath put his hairs on end, and in his state of sleep, Keith moved into the touch. A low groan slipped from Keith's throat, and the tongue continued to slip against the goosebumps on his neck.

What a wonderful dream this was.

"Lance," He mumbled into the pillow, his eyes still closed shut from sleep. A small puddle of saliva stained the fabric beneath his open mouth, and in his dreaming state Keith continued to murmur incoherent words.

The feeling of rough scales scraped Keith's neck, and suddenly his eyes shot open. If he hadn't been awake before, he was definitely awake now.

And in bed with him? Curling next to his back, long reptilian tongue hanging from it's mouth, was a three foot long iguana.

Keith screeched so loud that the iguana launched itself from the bed, only to scurry across the hardwood floor and slip into the arms of little Mateo.

Flung into a sitting position, Keith had sweat on his forehead and ragged breath whistling through his teeth. "What-" He wheezed between breaths, his pupils dilated and his heart pounding. "Was that?"

Mateo's high pitched, small voice answered him. "That was Greedo!"

"Greedo?" Keith questioned the boy. "The lizard's name-" He gulped down some air and attempted to calm down his rapid pulse. "Is Greedo?"

"It's an iguana!" Mateo announced while stroking the iguana's head. "I brought him in here to say hello, but you were asleep." Mateo was crawling onto the bed with the iguana now, and he tugged at the strange blanket Keith was wrapped in. Since when had Keith been in a blanket? He didn't recognise the soft fabric or remember ever falling asleep with it.

As Mateo squirmed to get beneath the comforter, Greedo escaped from the child's grasp. Keith shrieked and scrambled to the corner of the bed, attempting to get as far away from the iguana as possible.

"Why is he so big?!" Keith yelped frantically, pushing his body up against the interjoining walls. He was cornered, and the iguana didn't seem to be moving anywhere, just flicking it's ugly reptile eyes.

God, why did the Sanchez family have so many animals? Lance claimed they didn't live on a farm, but so far this felt like a bloody zoo. Chickens, a goat, a dog, and now an iguana? What was next? Tigers?

Mateo squealed. "He likes you!"

Keith stuttered and turned his eyes to Mateo with a plea for help. "G-Get him away from me!"

Mateo reached for the Iguana and pulled him into his lap. He treated the creature like a stuffed animal, but with more care and compassion. He'd stroke the reptile's head and hold him close to his chest, as if the iguana was a small kitten. Except Greedo had scales, not fur, and was probably more than half the size of Mateo himself.

"It's alright, Greedo," Mateo whispered to the iguana, patting his head thoughtfully. "Keith is just scared because he doesn't know you very well. Don't be sad, you are very unique. That's what my mami tells me!" He sounded out the syllables of 'unique' as if he was still trying to learn the word correctly. "Keith will think so too after he gets to know you."

Mateo was such a puzzle. The boy was so kind and warmhearted. Yet, the way he spoke to the Iguana made Keith wonder if the five-year-old had heard those exact same words too, but from his own parents.

Keith sighed and crawled off the bed. Peering at the full length mirror hanging from the wall to his right, Keith noticed his hair was a wild mess of bedhead. He cursed under his breath, hoping Mateo hadn't heard, and began running his hands through his hair to fix it.

"You sleep talk," Mateo declared nonchalantly.

That caught Keith's attention, making him pause and turn his head. "What?"

"You sleep talk!" Mateo repeated, and this time the two were making eye contact. Keith didn't like looking in people's eyes, especially with a small five-year-old whose eyeballs practically bore holes in his skull.

Keith frowned. "No I don't."

Mateo giggled. "Yeah you do! You like to say Uncle Lance's name. You say it lots. You go, 'Lanceee, Lancceee, Lanccee'. "

That sent a shiver up Keith's spine.

Alright, so maybe he had dreamt about Lance. But that was obviously just a random dream, it didn't really mean anything. He had dreams about guys all the time! It wasn't like he actually wanted to make out with Lance. That was a stupid idea.

Except, no matter the excuses Keith forced into his head, he still felt anxiety creep and crawl and muddle his insides.

"Do you dream about him?" Mateo wondered aloud. "Do you-" He gasped. "Do you love him? "

Keith had no idea what he was doing, or what the hell he was even saying. But he found himself doing it anyway.

"Mateo," Keith whispered, suddenly leaning down next to the bed so that the two were eye level. He was fully ignoring the iguana now, not caring when it crawled past him and out the door. "Can you keep my sleep talking a secret?"

The five year old nodded his head instantly, eyes round in anticipation.

"It's a big secret, and you're the only one who gets to know." Keith was now holding Mateo's hands, clasping the small palms in his own.

Mateo was taking this very seriously, his little eyebrows furrowed and his bottom lip slightly puckered. "Yes, I can keep your secret. I am good at secret keeping,"

Keith nodded. "We're partners now, partners in crime."

"Wow," Mateo whispered even quieter, squeezing Keith's hands. "I think we are good partners in crime."

And then something strange happened; Keith smiled. It wasn't that Keith didn't smile, he did at least every now and then. But this grin, this one was different. This was caused by an odd feeling that felt foreign to Keith, a sense of protectiveness. Normally Keith despised kids. But Mateo? He suddenly had the urge to hold him and never let go.

Why? Because they were partners in crime.