Secrets Kept
*Updated June 2014 – originally chapter 17, just tweaked a bit, not much of a difference.*
Chapter Sixteen
The air was stifling: a scorching, searing heat that seemed to suck the life out of everyone and everything that was outside. August had arrived with a vengeance and Gary found himself longing for September and the eventual start of autumn, regardless of the fact that school would once more begin with the start of September. It was so hot that most pokemon took to the shade, only coming out of the shadows during the early morning and evening hours. If they weren't hiding out in the shade, they were lazing about in the streams, ponds, or the lake. This, of course, lead to troubles with the water quality which only added to the already-present issues with amoebas in the ponds, as was typical for a warm Pallet summer. It was just another reason why Gary somewhat eagerly awaited the arrival of September, if only so the bodies of water could become someone else's issue.
Pulling away from the microscope with a frustrated groan, Gary rested his head against the cool surface of the lab counter and waited for his eyes to readjust. He had just found amoebas in a pond that he thought had managed to dodge this particular bullet and now all he felt like doing was getting the hell away from the lab; maybe dragging his surfboard out for another round of catching the rough waves that had been breaking all morning. But, of course, it was too hot out for that.
A small thud from next to his head caused Gary to raise his head from the counter. Tracey stood next to him, smiling despite how flushed and sweaty he was from working outside with the grass-type pokemon.
"You've been outside most of the day," Tracey said, gesturing to the glass of ice water that he had just set down in front of the younger boy. "You need to drink."
Gary managed a wry smile despite how exhausted, frustrated, and unbearably hot he felt. He sighed and reached for the glass, drinking slowly as he watched Tracey head back out into the afternoon heat. From his position, it was easy to watch Tracey as he strolled across the sloping lawn, heading towards the shaded grove where the grass-types seemed to enjoy staying, tugging off his sweaty t-shirt as he went. Gary quickly glanced towards his grandfather, checking that he was still focused on reading over a report, before directing his gaze towards Tracey once more.
For some reason, the older boy was self-conscious, though Gary couldn't understand why. He didn't have quite the muscle definition that Gary did; granted, he also didn't spend half of his free time over summer either swimming or surfing, so that was understandable. He was, however, slimmer and more muscular than the large t-shirts he normally wore could lead one to believe. Eyeing Tracey's broad shoulders and toned back, Gary mentally cursed his teenage body's reaction to the sight.
He couldn't help but wonder how nice it would feel to have that body beneath his own, scattering kisses across slick flesh, nipping lightly at Tracey's exposed shoulders, dragging his tongue along the other boy's spine in that incredibly sexy spot between his shoulder blades…
Gary groaned and shook his head, rubbing his eyes wearily and berating himself for once again – for the thousandth time – fantasizing about Tracey in the lab or some other public place.
You're not going to sleep with your best friend, so stop thinking about it! he reminded himself for what had to have been the thirteenth time that day.
"How are the ponds looking?" his grandfather suddenly asked from across the lab, watching Gary closely for a moment.
"Fine!" Gary exclaimed, dropping his hands and grabbing his glass of water. He took such a large gulp that he nearly choked while realizing what exactly his grandfather had asked and what a stupid response he had given to the question.
"I mean, um… Pond Four has amoebas now. Wait, no, that one's had amoebas since June," he frantically looked at the vials of water, trying to figure out which one he had been looking at under the microscope most recently. He failed to notice Professor Oak's amused smile. "Six! That's the one that has amoebas now! The others are fine. I mean," he took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to get his thoughts in order. "Pond Six has amoebas now, and the others are the same as they were last week," Gary finally said as calmly as he could.
"Perhaps you should go upstairs and take a nice, cold shower," the professor suggested mildly.
Thinking back to his previous thoughts about Tracey, Gary frowned. "Why would I do that?"
"Because," his grandfather began pointedly. "I believe the heat is giving you the brain capacity of one of those amoebas."
"Oh. Yeah, that's probably it," Gary quickly agreed, standing up. He was beyond embarrassed at what an idiot he had made of himself over the course of five minutes. Cursing, he realized he was headed in the wrong direction and quickly turned, ignoring Umbreon as she made her cheerful whine of a laugh.
"Maybe you should have some more water and lie down for a bit," Professor Oak called after him. "I don't need you getting heat exhaustion again!"
He couldn't help but chuckle as the boy left the lab to head into the house. It seemed like Gary's head was often in the clouds these days and he wondered if there was something going on, perhaps with one of May's friends or a girl from school. "Teenagers," he murmured to himself, amused, as he returned his attention to the report in front of him.
It never occurred to him that Gary's behavior could have been caused by the increased frequency of seeing Tracey without a shirt on.
… … …
Once inside the house, Gary darted upstairs, carefully avoiding May and her friends in the living room. He turned the water on in the shower warm enough to be comfortable, but not so warm that he wouldn't be able to cool down.
"Complete idiot," he muttered to himself, pulling his sweaty shirt over his head. "First you get all turned on by Tracey, then you can't even answer a question about the damn ponds properly…"
He shimmied out of his shorts and boxers, slipping under the warm water while, predictably, his mind went right back to Tracey, dropping straight into the gutter as it went.
Perhaps straight wasn't the best word to use…
Gary gave a short laugh at that particular thought, leaning back against the tiled wall as the warm water ran down his body. He groaned softly, desperate to get the thought of Tracey half-naked (or, in the case of some thoughts, fully naked) out of his head. Of course, there was only one sure-fire way to do that and be able to concentrate on anything else for the next two hours. Or at least until Tracey took his shirt off and Gary's hormones got the better of him again. For the eight hundredth time this summer…
Somehow, swimming in the pool with him nearly a month ago hadn't made him lose his head like this – and they had both been in their underwear at the time!
That particular mental image was the breaking point for Gary and he sighed as his hand slid down to grasp himself. Normally, he would do this in his bedroom to avoid people wondering why he was taking so damn long in the shower, but with Tracey in the lab and May downstairs, it hardly seemed to matter this time. Or so he thought until May knocked on the door several minutes later while Gary leaned back against the tiled wall, waiting for his heart rate to go back to normal.
"Hey, you've been in there awhile. You feeling okay?" May called from the hallway.
Startled by her sudden appearance on the other side of the door, Gary quickly rinsed his hands under the water and glanced around the shower to make sure all evidence had been washed away. "Yeah, I'm fine," he called back, slightly breathless.
"You sure?" May pressed, her tone slightly mirthful. Gary could just picture her in the hallway, with her eyes narrowing suspiciously and lips quirking into a knowing smile.
"I'm fine," Gary repeated, rolling his eyes as he turned off the water. "I was just cooling off."
"Is that what they're calling it these days?" May asked coolly. Gary couldn't entirely tell if she was just picking on him or if she was genuinely annoyed.
Sighing again, Gary reached for a towel, rolling his eyes once more when he realized he hadn't grabbed one from the linen closet before coming into the bathroom. "Damn it," he cursed softly. "May, I did it again."
"Jacked off in the shower? Yeah, I figured that, judging by the twenty minutes you spent in there."
"I meant that I forgot a towel," he retorted impatiently. He could hear her move away from the door and rummage through the nearby linen closet for a moment before trying the door. Gary unlocked the door and quickly grabbed the towel from her before she could pull it out of his reach like she usually did.
"You've been doing this a lot lately, brat. Heat frying your brain?"
"Just distracted," Gary replied, wrapping the towel around his waist and stepping out into the hall.
May followed him towards his bedroom. "Finally got a girlfriend?" she asked cheerfully, grinning widely.
"What? No – May, I have to get dressed!" She had just followed him into his bedroom despite Gary trying to close his bedroom door behind him.
"Oh yeah, because I've never seen a penis before," she said sarcastically. Gary shot her a glare and she rolled her eyes, huffing slightly. "For Heaven's sake, you have a walk-in closet," she added offhandedly, plopping down on the edge of her brother's bed. "So?" she asked as Gary disappeared into the closet. "Who is it?"
"What makes you think there's some girl?"
"Why else would you be so damn distracted?" May asked, raising a thin eyebrow with an odd smirk when Gary emerged in clean shorts and a fresh t-shirt.
"It just couldn't be the heat getting to me, could it?"
"I've seen you with heat exhaustion before," May rolled her eyes once more. "Your brain doesn't get fried – you just get quiet and then you spend the next few hours with your head in the toilet, barfing your guts out."
"Thanks for the reminder," Gary replied sarcastically.
That had happened, exactly as she described it, the week before and the professor had refused to let Gary out of the house for the next two days. Not that it had prevented him from sneaking out to the beach the next evening. In hindsight, that second day of house arrest probably was a punishment of sorts for doing that in the first place.
May smiled but it faded quickly and she gazed at him contemplatively for a moment. "Is there someone?" Gary shot her a glare, very obviously restraining himself from making some irritable come back. "You don't have to tell me who! Just, are you screwing around with someone?"
"No! Arceus, May, drop it already!"
She grinned, suddenly standing up to leave. "Then maybe you should," she suggested, winking cheekily at him and giggling when Gary closed his eyes and shook his head. Few things were as fun as messing with her brother. "Maybe you wouldn't be so distracted if you got laid! You would tell me if you got a girlfriend, right?"
At this point, Gary had dealt with as much of her childishness as he could without yelling at her. "You'd be the first one I'd tell," he snapped. "Now can you go away?"
"If you insist… By the way, I made iced tea," May chirped happily, heading for the door. "It's extra sweet, just like me."
"Does that mean it's annoying too?" Gary asked, sighing as he flopped down on his bed, pulling a pillow over his head to drown her voice out.
"If it was annoying, then it would be like you."
"Out!"
May stepped into the hallway, her hand on the door knob to pull the door shut behind her. "Hey, Gary?" she chirped happily.
"What?"
"I love you!"
Before he could respond, a familiar laugh sounded from the hallway, causing Gary to sit up suddenly. May noticed this and narrowed her eyes curiously, still grinning. No girl, but he responds like that to Tracey… She added this to her still-small list of evidence supporting her theory that her brother was attracted to other guys.
"Leave him alone, May," Tracey called down the hall good-naturedly, sounding amused. He appeared in the doorway a moment later while May disappeared down the hall. "Are you okay?" he asked when he saw Gary on his bed.
"I was fine, but now I have a headache," Gary grinned at the appearance of his friend and subsequent disappearance of his sister.
Tracey smiled in return. "I hate to break it to you, but you're not exactly done with the lab."
Gary groaned loudly and flopped back onto the bed, once more pulling the pillow over his head. "Do I have to?" he whined.
Laughing at the response, Tracey shook his head. "I'll tell you what; you help out with the final feeding and help me clean up tonight and I'll cover for you all day tomorrow."
Gary pushed the pillow off of his face, knocking it to the floor but not caring enough to pick it up. "Seriously?"
"You covered for me so I could keep an eye on Scyther," Tracey reminded him solemnly. "Just don't overheat yourself or get eaten by a shark or something like that."
"How is Scyther now that Gramps is back?" Gary asked, finally getting to his feet and following Tracey back down the hall.
"He's okay for now… He gets daily insulin injections now though. Who knows how much longer he has left," he sighed, running a hand through his dark hair and casting his eyes down towards the carpet.
Gary frowned, hating to see his friend so down. He mentally kicked himself for mentioning the old bug-type pokemon. "You know I'll do whatever I can to help you out with him, right?"
Tracey nodded solemnly, meeting Gary's eyes with a sudden directness that surprised the younger boy. "And you know I would do the same for you."
… … …
"Ugh! What the hell is this?" Gary exclaimed, passing back the soda bottle that he just taken a sip from.
"Rum and Coke," Wyatt shrugged, taking a long swig of the vile-tasting drink as he reclined in the sand, closing his eyes and soaking up the pleasant warmth from the sun.
Gary grabbed a slice of pizza from the box that was lying open on a haphazard pile of towels in the middle of the group, ignoring Chase's annoyed glance as he did so. If he wanted a sixth slice of pizza, he was going to have one and Chase could deal with it. Besides, he needed to get that taste out of his mouth. "What, did you mix up the bottle of rum with gasoline? That's disgusting."
"One-fifty-one. I've been sneaking it from my dad. As long as I don't touch his gin, I'm in the clear."
Gary stared at him for a minute, torn between amusement and worry. Every time he caught a random glimpse into the boy's current family life, he was forced to remind himself that being gay really wasn't all that bad. "And I'm the idiot that brought water," he laughed softly, lying back in the shade of his surfboard, which was stuck into the sand behind him.
"Yeah, well, you can be healthy when you're dead," Wyatt grinned. Next to him, Darren rolled his eyes.
"Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?" Gary retorted amusedly.
"Eh, whatever. Let's go back in the water," Wyatt stood and grabbed his surfboard. He looked around at the group of teenage boys surrounding him for a moment. "Well? Anyone else coming, or are you all going to be pussies?" he challenged.
Quickly taking a gulp of water from his water bottle, Gary climbed to his feet and picked up his own board. "Come on, Darren, no wussing out just because there were birds diving in the water earlier."
"That means there's plenty of fish," Darren defended quietly. When there was fish, there were sharks. Ever since Gary and Wyatt had seen that massive tiger shark while the professor was out of town two weeks ago, he had been wary about swimming when there were signs of a large amount of fish.
"It's the ocean, genius!" Wyatt shot back as he headed towards the water.
"I'll go," Adrian announced. He stood and began following Wyatt out to the shallows. Chase and Brandon shrugged and stood as well, fetching their own boards from where they had been lazily tossed in the sand. Mike ignored all of this and returned to making out with his girlfriend while Gary was left gazing down at his best friend.
"C'mon, Dare," he said quietly, shifting his grip on his board. "Tracey's covering for me today so I can hang out with you guys before Gramps goes off again."
"I just ate," Darren said, clearly grabbing at any excuse he could think of. He always had been the baby of the group.
"It wouldn't be the first time you hurled on your board," Gary shrugged. "Come on." Finally giving in, Darren sighed and stood, picking up his long board and trudging through the sand to the water. Gary grinned at him. "Want me to hold your hand?" he teased.
"Shut up, Gary."
Gary couldn't help but laugh as they entered the water quickly paddling out to the place where the other boys had already reached. The waves were rough and pushing through them was difficult. Without a rash guard on, Gary was certain his shoulders were starting to burn a bit in the sun and he couldn't help but groan at the tightness he felt in his skin every time he moved his arms. He was sure he was going to regret this later that night but, for now, he was enjoying himself and he would make sure to pick up a sketchbook from downtown as a gesture of thanks for Tracey.
Within a few moments, the boys were all out in the same deep water where they usually stayed at, calling across the water at each other, one or two of them occasionally paddling in to catch a wave before paddling back out. It was a typical day hanging out and Gary was happy to, for once, just be a teenager without worrying about the water quality in the ponds back at the lab, performing a necropsy on the old rattata that had died two days earlier, or checking the data on the blood tests that his grandfather had done on all of the psychic pokemon for some reason or another.
For once, there was nothing related to research or pokemon on his mind and the only thing he had to worry about was making sure he didn't plow over any of his friends when he caught a wave.
He grinned as he watched Adrian, Brandon, and Chase paddle in to catch the most recent wave. From several feet away, Darren's voice spoke up suddenly.
"I don't get it."
Gary frowned, looking over at him. "You don't get what?"
"There used to be so many pokemon around here but now we hardly ever see them."
"Blame the trainers," Wyatt spoke up, paddling behind Gary and coming to a stop between the two. He watched the three boys riding the wave in and shot a half-glance at Gary.
"Don't look at me; I stopped trying to catch everything I saw when I was eleven," Gary said. "They're still around; remember that gyarados we saw last week?"
Darren paled at the mention of the enormous pokemon they had seen recently. Wyatt laughed at the response and Gary was about to pick on Darren but froze before he could do so. Something had brushed against his ankle and after spending nearly a month in the Orange Islands, he could recognize the feel of that sand paper-like skin anywhere. Sharpedoes were rare in Pallet, and even if they weren't, they avoided humans whenever they could.
He barely had a chance to register the dark shadow in the water before Wyatt was in the water with a shout of surprise and in the middle of a growing red stain. Gary could see a broad bluish-grey striped back between them and rather large, triangular-shaped dorsal fin breaking the surface of the water.
… … …
Footsteps echoed across the tiled floor of the kitchen, the pacing picked up again after having been abandoned for a short while. An exasperated sigh that bordered on a sob broke the otherwise still air and Tracey finally raised his eyes from his sketchbook with a small sigh of his own. May was fretting again, though it was understandable why.
Gary had taken Tracey up on his offer to cover for him so that he could spend the day at the beach with his friends and, while the day had started nicely, it had not exactly ended well. Tracey still was not entirely sure of the details, but an event apparently involving a large shark, Gary's troublesome friend Wyatt, and a lot of spilled blood had occurred that afternoon. It seemed that everything had happened so fast that no one really knew what had happened.
Now, however, late in the evening, May stood at the back door, gazing out at the figure that had hardly moved in the last two hours, despite how late it was. Gary sat at the edge of the pool, his forehead resting against his drawn up knees. Occasionally, he would dip a foot in the cool, clear water, but he barely moved other than that.
May's worrying was certainly warranted – Tracey was worried as well, to the point where he couldn't focus on any of the drawings he had attempted that evening. The current page in his sketchbook was covered in small, incomplete sketches, ranging in topic from May's prissy little Meowth perched on the counter awaiting a can of tuna, to Arcanine lying in the grass near where his trainer sat, to Umbreon sitting on a pool float in the middle of the pool, her ears hanging dejectedly after her attempts at amusing Gary had fallen flat.
"I can't stand this!" May suddenly cried, throwing her hands dramatically in the air. "I can't just stand here and watch him like this!"
"The window's open, he can hear you," Tracey reminded her for what must have been the sixth time. Of course, how much Gary was listening to what he could hear was debatable. "Have you heard any news from the hospital?"
"Adrian called a little while ago," the girl replied hesitantly, dropping her arms to her side and gazing at the floor.
"And?"
"Wyatt made it through surgery. He'll need physical therapy to have full use of his leg, but he'll be fine." May said quietly.
A small wave of frustration washed over Tracey as he wondered why May had not told Gary this bit of news. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a calming breath before speaking again. "Have you told him this?" he asked, nodding towards Gary, though he already knew the answer.
Sure enough, May shook her head. "He yelled at me to leave him alone."
"Probably because you acted like a shadow for two hours," Tracey pointed out.
Ever since being practically dragged home from the Viridian Hospital waiting room by May, the only thing Gary had wanted to do was spend some time alone in an attempt to recover from the afternoon's drama. He was clearly upset and shaken, and evidently didn't want anyone to see him in that state. Tracey and the professor had both left the boy alone but May had insisted on following him and attempting to get him to talk to her. This, of course, had not ended well.
Sighing softly, Tracey stood from the kitchen table and headed outside. He padded barefoot across the patio and pool deck, pausing slightly when he reached the edge of the pool. To nearly anyone else, Gary would have seemed unaware of his presence, but Tracey had noticed the miniscule increase in the tension in Gary's shoulders. He sat down next to the boy quietly and slipped his feet into the water.
Upon realizing that it was just Tracey joining him, Gary relaxed a bit and raised his head from his knees to gaze about the dark yard. From the corner of his eye, Tracey watched as Gary frowned, seeming slightly confused.
"It's nearly ten," Tracey explained softly and turned to face his friend.
Despite the dim light from the patio, Tracey could see that he was far paler than usual and that his eyes seemed wider than normal. Gary let out a sharp breath and dropped his head back down to his drawn up knees, appearing more frustrated and upset than Tracey had seen him since before their trips down to the Orange Islands.
"Adrian called a while ago," Tracey announced softly, passing on the news from May as Gary's head shot back up. "Wyatt's fine."
"How come no one told me this?" Gary asked, irritation lacing his voice.
Eager to keep him from being too agitated, Tracey replied soothingly, "May just told me before I came out here. I think she was afraid of you getting upset at her again." Gary rolled his eyes, though there was far less bite to his glare than usual. "You doing okay?" Tracey asked.
Gary closed his eyes for a moment and lay back on the pool deck, folding his arms behind his head. He shrugged slightly as he felt Tracey's gaze on him. "Of all the things to happen in Pallet," he said softly. "A shark attack? The town's known for pokemon. This is unheard of."
"I know," Tracey replied, once again taking on his soothing tone.
"It was just nice to hang out and not have to worry about anything at the lab for once," Gary blurted out. "There's just always something new – the necropsies, those stupid blood samples Gramps –"
"- took from all the psychic types, that study he's doing with the fire types, the one he's doing with all the dark types," Tracey continued for him, smiling sympathetically. "There's a lot going on."
"It's not just that!" Gary exclaimed, sitting up again and irritably kicking at the water in the pool. "It's like he forgets how old I am – he's either on my case about school like I'm eight years old, or adding more and more on –"
"Gary," Tracey interrupted again.
"What?"
"You're ranting about something totally unrelated," Tracey pointed out gently.
"I know," Gary whined, momentarily sounding so pathetic that Tracey wasn't sure how to respond. The younger teen flopped back on the deck and closed his eyes. "I guess I'm just trying to distract myself," he admitted after a few minutes of silence.
Tracey was quiet for a moment. "These things just happen, you can't explain them," he said, hoping to comfort his friend in some way. Gary's eyes were still closed but his brow was furrowed and he chewed his lip as he frowned. "Are you sure you're doing alright?" Tracey pressed gently.
Gary gave no response for a time and Tracey wondered if the other teen was intentionally ignoring him or was just too caught up in his thoughts to keep up with the conversation. He had all but given up on a reply when Gary's voice, far softer than usual, broke the silence.
"I just can't stop seeing all the blood," he admitted, opening his eyes and glancing over at Tracey, who saw a brief but surprising flash of emotion in them.
Gary closed his eyes again with a harsh sigh. Sure enough, the second he closed them again, he could see the crimson stain spreading across the sand while the other boys scrambled for towels. His heart once again began to pound as he felt the hot liquid pulse over his hands as he, in a spark of creativity, wrapped the leash from his board around his friend's mangled leg in an improvised tourniquet. With a distinct feeling of helplessness, he opened his eyes again and stared up at the stars, desperate to avoid the memories.
He had been trying to stave off the memories all evening but they came repeatedly, unbidden every time he closed his eyes.
Having closely watched him over the last moment or so, Tracey could see the battle he was fighting with his emotions. A wave of sympathy came over him and he reached over to rest a hand against Gary's leg.
"May told me what she heard from Chase and Adrian," he said softly. "You probably saved his life, you know."
Gary smiled faintly, his hand brushed against Tracey's and he took comfort from the small touch. The temptation to grasp Tracey's hand was strong and judging by the way the other teen gently ran his fingers along Gary's, Tracey felt it as well.
A loud clatter drifted through the open kitchen window, reminding the two boys of May's presence in the kitchen. The noise of her putting away the dinner dishes forced their hands away from each other. Gary returned his gaze to the night sky while Tracey peered across the pool, watching as Umbreon drifted listlessly on a pool float.
"He would have done the same thing," Gary said softly after a moment. Tracey glanced back at him, pulling his attention from the upset canine. "You wouldn't know it with how stupid he acts all the time, but..." his voice trailed off, the realization that he nearly lost one of his closest friends slamming into him with the all the force of an angry Rhydon.
Tracey turned to face him fully and gave a sympathetic smile. "You guys might as well be brothers," he pointed out, somehow understanding exactly where Gary's train of thought had been heading. "You two certainly fight like brothers." He studied Gary briefly, taking in the tense shoulders and closed eyes as the boy once more fought with his emotions. "He's one of the reasons you haven't told anyone, isn't he?"
"One of the many," Gary sighed. With that, he stood and made to head inside the house but Tracey grabbed his wrist before he could go anywhere.
"I'm sorry I brought it up," Tracey said earnestly, hoping that his honesty shown through in his eyes. "Are you alright?"
Gary looked down at him and met his eyes, suddenly seeming utterly exhausted. "I'll be fine," he assured his friend tiredly. "I just need to lie down and try to think of something else."
Reluctantly Tracey released his wrist, frowning slightly in concern over the sudden exhaustion. "If you need anything..."
"I know," he smiled wryly. "Thanks, Trace. Just keep May and Gramps off my back, okay?"
Tracey laughed as he stood up and gestured for Umbreon to follow them. "I will, and you know I've got your back in the lab, right?"
"What would I do without you?" Gary asked, still smiling faintly. Across the pool from them, Umbreon sprang from her floating perch to the edge of the patio where she quickly headed over to Gary.
"You wouldn't survive without me," Tracey replied lightly, following the other teen and the dark canine towards the house.
Gary shook his head, chuckling softly. "Sadly, I think you're right there. I owe you."
"Just don't go back to being so depressed," Tracey replied, holding the kitchen door open for him, his tone turning serious. "That'll be repayment enough."
... ... ...
Tracey looked up at the clock for what must have been the eighth time in the last hour that he had been in the lab. It was only just after noon - a mere eleven minutes since he had last checked. It was the longest he had gone between checks in quite some time today.
A thoughtful hum came from behind him and he turned to see the professor behind him, his own eyes on the clock as well. "I know he could sleep through the apocalypse if it came to that, but this is rather late for a week day for him," the older man mused.
"I don't think he slept last night," Tracey replied. He turned back to his computer and continued entering the information from the ground type pokemon's physicals from that morning. "I could hear the tv every time I woke up."
Professor Oak nodded, apparently deep in thought. "He doesn't usually sleep with the television on, at least not at night. Of course, I've also never seen him so shaken." The professor paused for a moment, before shaking his head. "At least not since he was a small child, so I really shouldn't be surprised about his sleeping habits being thrown off. Even so, would you mind checking on him for me?"
Smiling faintly, Tracey nodded and stood from his computer. "Of course," he agreed softly.
As he crossed the lab to the door heading into the house, he heard the professor speak up again. "I don't know what it is about you, Tracey, but he responds to you far better than he does to anyone else. I'm glad he has you."
Not entirely sure of what to say, Tracey paused and glanced back at the older man. "Thank you, Professor," he replied softly.
Professor Oak smiled lightly, "I should probably be thanking you. I know leaving Sayda and moving home hasn't been easy for him."
As was often the case, Tracey was tempted to point out that two required years of high school was far from Gary's biggest stress. Of course, he kept this to himself, instead forcing a small smile. "I'd better go check on him," he murmured, turning back towards the door.
Stepping into the house, Tracey was surprised by how quiet it was. For once, there was no arguing and bickering echoing throughout the house, he considered as he passed May sprawled out on the couch with a magazine. He quickly climbed the stairs and headed straight to the room at the far end of the hallway.
Predictably, Gary was asleep in bed; however, Tracey was surprised by the state of the bedroom. Last night it had been tidy as Gary had straightened it up in an attempt to distract himself, now there were books scattered about the various surfaces of the room, as if Gary had attempted reading each one of them, only to give up and toss it down on the nearest surface. Compared to last night, the room was fairly messy. Sighing softly, Tracey stooped to pick up a few paperbacks from the floor. He shook his head slightly as he added the few from the floor to the collection of other books scattered across the teenager's dresser.
Tracey couldn't help but smile fondly as he peered over the books – his friend could be so quirky, as evidenced by the random collection before him. A handful of Michael Crichton novels, a thick compendium of Walking Dead comics, several books on training different types of pokemon, a book on Egyptian mythology, a few zombie-themed novels, a Neil Gaiman book, plus the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy. Still smiling, he carefully sat on the edge of the bed and gently trailed the back of his hand along Gary's cheek.
"You can be so odd," he murmured softly, thinking of the varied collection of books. It was one of the many things Tracey liked about him though. Intelligence only went so far and a lot could be said in favor of being well-read. Hell, Ash was intelligent but Tracey knew he was far from the only person who would admit that the trainer was far from the brightest crayon in the box.
Sitting on the bed, Tracey watched Gary for a few minutes, committing the rather cute image of him sleeping to memory. His hair was more mussed than usual and even in sleep, Gary was far paler than usual. Tracey marveled a bit at how soundly his friend was sleeping – Gary hadn't even stirred, despite Tracey's touch. The poor guy really must have been up and unable to sleep all night.
Unable to resist, Tracey ran his fingers through Gary's hair and leaned forward to press a light kiss against his temple.
While Gary had slept peacefully through Tracey's fingers caressing his face, he stirred at the kiss. Tracey drew back, hoping that Gary would continue to sleep on, but his hope was in vain as Gary's eyes fluttered open.
Tracey smiled apologetically and reached forward to brush a few stray strands of hair out of Gary's face. "I'm sorry I woke you," he said softly.
"It's okay," Gary muttered groggily. "I don't mind you waking me up," he said, sounding only slightly more awake as he rolled over onto his back.
Tracey almost wondered if he had even realized what he had said but decided not to think too deeply into it. Gary was probably just happy to not have May annoying him as the first event in his day. "How did you sleep?" he asked gently.
"Fine, once I actually fell asleep," Gary sighed. "So, are you up here to drag me down to the lab?"
"Your grandfather just wanted me to check on you," Tracey explained.
Gary nodded slightly. "Does he want me down there?"
Tracey shrugged with a small sigh. "We can always use an extra person, but I think it's up to you. Do you want the distraction or would you rather stay up here all afternoon?"
"I'm supposed to be at Darren's in twenty minutes," Gary mused with a glance at the alarm clock. "We were going to go to Viridian," he explained.
"It would probably do you some good to go see Wyatt, considering you were up most of the night worrying," Tracey pointed out. There were few things in Viridian that would interest Gary so Tracey assumed a trip to Viridian meant a visit to the hospital where his friend was.
"I guess you're right," Gary agreed. Suddenly, he chuckled and shook his head with a wry smile. "Guess that means I'm getting another day off, huh?"
Tracey rolled his eyes good naturedly. "I think you really are going to owe me after this week," he replied lightly.
"Want another kiss?"
Tracey laughed at the joke and was especially happy when Gary joined in with a laugh of his own. "For covering all of your work in the lab for two days? I think I need more than a kiss." Gary raised his eyebrows at this, causing Tracey to reach out and hit him in the arm lightly. "My sketchbook is running low on blank pages," he said suggestively.
Gary closed his eyes and shook his head. "There are so many things I could have said to that -"
"Get your head out of the gutter," Tracey chastised playfully.
"But, I'm going to get up and actually do something other than sit here and annoy you," Gary continued as though Tracey hadn't spoken. He smiled at the older teen's words, nonetheless.
"I appreciate that," Tracey said, laughing.
"Don't get used to it," Gary retorted cheekily.
"I doubt you would let me get used to it."
"You're right," Gary said as he finally climbed out of bed. He tossed a pillow at Tracey, who merely smiled and knocked it to the side. "I can't have too many people thinking that I'm capable of being nice and not-annoying."
Tracey watched as the other boy gathered clothing from the dresser and the closet before speaking again. "I'm a little confused," he admitted.
"And why is that?" Gary asked, suddenly focused on picking up a few more books that had been scattered across the floor.
"Don't get annoyed or anything," Tracey warned, "but I've gotten used to you acting very differently whenever something has happened. Plus, you were pretty upset last night. I guess I'm just a little surprised that you're acting like this right now; I expected depressed and moody but I got annoying and playful instead. It just seems a little odd, all things considered."
Gary stopped what he was doing and absently tossed the books in hand onto the pile that was already on his dresser. He hesitated, thinking before responding. "Tracey," he sighed, leaning back against the dresser. "I really haven't been myself this past year. You know that, and you know why. A lot of what you've gotten used to isn't exactly me."
"So then, this is you trying to get back to your cocky pain in the ass self?" Tracey asked, smiling faintly. He hoped this was a sign of things to come.
As long as Tracey had known him, Gary had always maintained a somewhat cocky exterior, but that changed once the researcher had moved home, resumed school, and figured out his sexuality. Looking back, just one of those changes, or even a combination of two of them, probably wouldn't have caused such a massive change in personality. Gary was too strong for that; his self-confidence likely would have wavered if coming to terms with being gay was in that combination of events, but he would have still been that self-assured teen that Tracey had known. All three things happening at once had proved to be too much for him.
Truthfully, Tracey liked him either way, but much preferred the cocky boy he had met years prior over the moody, brooding teenager he had dealt with for months.
Gary easily returned Tracey's smile and nodded. "Like I said after the sharpedo trip, being gay doesn't have to define me, so I shouldn't let dealing with that take over my personality."
"That's the answer I was hoping for," Tracey admitted, to which Gary smiled again.
Despite the smile, Gary's voice was more serious when he spoke again. "I don't know if I would've gotten to this point if it hadn't been for you reassuring me all the time."
He was flattered that the younger teen felt this way and it felt good to know that he had helped him so much, but Tracey couldn't help but disagree. "You're stronger than you give yourself credit for," Tracey said, shaking his head. "You would have gotten there sooner or later. With how depressed you were, you might have done yourself some serious harm, but you still would've gotten there. I think you just had too much on your plate at once and the tipping point was just trying to fit your orientation into your self-view."
"You helped either way," Gay replied, waving a hand dismissively. "Sometime last night I realized that worrying about Wyatt wasn't going to change anything and I guess it just clicked that I need to stop being such a little bitch about everything."
"Well," Tracey began, standing from his seat at the edge of the bed so that he could approach his friend. "Regardless of how you ended up at this point, I'm glad you made it," he said, pausing in front of Gary. "Does this mean you'll be telling anyone else any time soon?"
Gary's gaze dropped to the carpet as he chewed his lip thoughtfully, nervousness filling him at the thought of coming out of the closet to anyone other than Tracey. He just wasn't ready for that step yet. "I don't know," he said softly, glancing up at Tracey only to quickly drop his gaze once more. "I don't… I'm scared, I guess. I'm not ready to handle that yet."
Sensing his nerves and unease, Tracey placed a hand on Gary's shoulder and used his free hand to gently tilt Gary's face upward so that he could meet his eyes. "It's okay to be scared," Tracey murmured. "You've only just become comfortable with being gay; you don't have to tell anyone until you feel ready."
Somehow, Gary couldn't entirely formulate a response. The words meant more to him than he could possibly vocalize and, beyond that, the physical position he was in made it difficult to think of anything other than how utterly perfect Tracey looked at the moment.
They were so close, torsos very nearly touching with Tracey's hand gently cupping Gary's cheek, forcing him to hold their eye contact. At this proximity, it was impossible not to notice just how deep and emotive Tracey's dark brown eyes were, how his glossy hair fell into his eyes despite the headband that usually held it back, how soft and kissable his lips seemed. It was all Gary could do to keep himself from reaching out, grasping that thick dark hair, pulling the older boy closer, and kissing him until they were both completely breathless.
Even as Gary fought the urge to do this, both teens found themselves drawing even closer to one another, their heads dipping closer, lips just barely brushing together in the slightest of kisses –
The sound of the doorbell ringing three times in rapid succession caused them to pull apart swiftly, both blushing furiously. In the silence of the bedroom, they could faintly hear May opening the door and greeting Darren, explaining that Gary was still upstairs.
"I should get back to the lab," Tracey muttered, quickly stepping around an alarmingly silent Gary to head into the hallway and down the stairs before Gary could respond.
He headed to the lab as fast as he could, giving only the briefest of greetings to Darren and May, quickly letting Professor Oak know that his grandson was fine and was headed to Viridian with his best friend to visit their wounded friend in the hospital before darting outside to start on the afternoon chores that needed doing.
He worked straight through the rest of the afternoon, never wavering in his dedication to both his own work and Gary's. Yet, even as he steadfastly worked, he couldn't forget that barest brush of a kiss that they had shared upstairs. It continued to haunt his thoughts throughout the rest of the day and into the evening, to the point that he threw himself into finding things to keep him busy in an attempt to forget.
Late that evening, when Tracey finally made his way upstairs to head to bed, he found the bedroom door at the end of the hall closed, the space underneath it dark, and the faint sound of the stereo filtering through the wooden surface. He smiled slightly, hoping Gary was in bed and able to sleep soundly tonight.
"Sweet dreams," he murmured, gazing at the door for a moment before heading into his own bedroom and closing the door behind him.
He stripped off his shoes and shorts, ready to settle into bed in his boxers and t-shirt when he spotted the sketchbook sitting on his pillow. It was brand new, with a hard-bound black cover, rather unlike the paper-back ones he usually used, which would end up rather battered after a few weeks – if they lasted that long before being filled to capacity.
Tracey picked up the new book with a grin, knowing exactly who had put it there. He ran his finger along the edge of the pages, swiftly flicking through the fresh, crisp paper. As he reached the end of the book, he noticed something on the bottom corner of the inside cover and opened the book fully to examine what was written.
Thanks for everything, Trace. It means more than I could ever tell you. – Gary
His grin widened as he held the book to his chest for a moment. It meant a lot to him to see those two short sentences written out, rather than just hearing them spoken in private. Pulling the book away from his chest, Tracey wandered over to his desk, picked up a pencil, and began drawing a scene from earlier that day – Arcanine and Umbreon playing near the edge of the large pond with several of the water pokemon in the background as they went about their business in the water. He was careful with his work, more so than usual, constantly going back and smoothing out lines, adding more details here and there until his was pleased with the picture.
Finally completed, he carefully pulled the page out of the book, turned it over and thought for a moment before writing on the back corner of the paper.
You're worth it. - Tracey
Smiling to himself, Tracey quickly left the room and hesitated before the closed door at the end of the hall before kneeling down and sliding it under the door.
… … …