Secrets Kept

Another chapter! It's short but I should have the next one done fairly soon as well. Don't worry! Next chapter will have more action! Reviews? Please?

On a side note, I am very happy as I post this chapter, seeing as the US now has marriage equality in all fifty states. Granted, I am married to a guy, but being a proud bisexual woman, I am happy to see that powers that be finally pulled their heads out of their asses on one important topic. Now to fight for other rights for the LGBT+ community.

Chapter Twenty-Two

The next few weeks seemed to speed past. The news that his grandfather was going to allow him to test out of his remaining high school classes had sent a rush of excitement through Gary. Surprisingly, it had been just the thing to break through his anxiety over everything that had happened during that night of drinking while the professor had been out of town.

In the end, he never told anyone else about his make out session with Amanda. Wyatt came home from the hospital only a few days after the professor's return and, to Gary's surprise, his blonde friend announced his break up with Amanda the first time Gary saw him outside of the hospital. Apparently Gary hadn't been the only teenage boy that she kissed that night, but he had been the only one to turn her down. Rumor had it that she'd had relations with Mike after Gary had disappeared upstairs that night. She never mentioned anything about her and Gary so he assumed she had been too drunk to remember it. It was just one more worry off his mind.

Tracey had gone home for a week-long visit a short time after this. Though he never said anything, Gary suspected that it was to give them some time apart to let the awkwardness subside. Before he left, he took over Gary's work for a week so that he could take his exams, which he passed with minimal studying.

It was never easy when someone was out from the lab, but the Professor's presence in Tracey's absence meant that May couldn't plan for any parties and had to help out when she wasn't traveling for her college classes in Viridian City or doing homework. This made everything that much easier for Gary and he found himself with just enough spare time to hang out with his friends in the evenings after they were out of school and he was done with his work for the day. On top of this, he was even able to talk to Professor Birch about helping out in Hoenn during the winter. The other professor was planning to complete a short trial run of his sharpedo tagging project expansion in Hoenn. It would only be a week or so long, but it would be completed largely at sea and the professor needed someone with experience with the tagging and tracking. Gary would be his head assistant and, even though it was a few months off, he found it difficult to hide his excitement.

It was now mid-September and Pallet Town had cooled down to a more comfortable temperature with a slight breeze. The weather was rather nice and being outside was, quite simply, enjoyable and relaxing. This was why, after having finished all of the lab chores for the day, Gary could be found sitting beneath a large oak tree behind the lab. Arcanine was dozing in the grass nearby but Umbreon was nowhere to be seen; she was likely off playing with other pokemon as the cooler weather left her frisky and excitable.

As Professor Oak approached his grandson, he was surprised to notice that Gary was surrounded by several books and was sketching something on a notepad. It wasn't unusual for Gary to doodle out of boredom, but actually sketching something was out of the norm. Though clearly concentrating intently, he seemed at ease.

"What are you up to?" he asked curiously, chuckling at the way his absorbed grandson jumped at the sound of his voice.

"I hate it when you do that," Gary shot back. He had been so intently focused on his work that he hadn't heard his grandfather approaching. Despite the surprised retort, he was still smiling faintly.

"I wasn't exactly being quiet," the professor returned mildly as he glanced over the books spread across the ground. Though he wasn't sure what he had been expecting to find, he was mildly surprised to see that the books were open to pages dealing with aquatic habitats, water plants, and the favored water conditions of various pokemon of different sorts. "I take it you're not just taking a leaf out of Tracey's book."

Gary picked up the notepad, which he had dropped when his grandfather startled him, and held it up for his grandfather to see. The page was covered in a large diagram of an aquatic habitat with notes scribbled here and there. "You mentioned last week that you were thinking of adding a marsh habitat that could be used by the water-types and other types. I thought I'd look into it," he said with a shrug of the shoulders.

"I'm surprised you found the time to do this with Tracey being out of the lab," his grandfather replied as he took the notepad and looked it over.

"I think you're underestimating exactly how much more free time I have without school."

"What was the excuse over summer?"

Gary smiled as he settled back against the tree with his arms folded behind his head. "Everyone else is out of school over summer," he said simply.

"I suppose your friends being busy with school does equate to less distractions for you," the professor agreed.

"A lot less," Gary agreed. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply, relaxing against the trunk of the tree.

It felt wonderful to be outside without pouring sweat after ten minutes of summer heat. The cooler weather meant that he could stay outside all day if he wanted to without having to go in some body of water to cool off every so often. He had the feeling that if he went to the beach he would find a group of his friends, not surfing like they would during the spring and summer (no one had surfed since Wyatt's shark encounter), but hanging out and doing homework.

A comfortable silence fell between them as the professor took his time examining the sketch Gary had drawn. It was messy: the page was covered in erase marks, scratched out portions, notes, and arrows going every which way. The teen had clearly not been working on it for too long or there would be a second, neater copy. Despite the messiness of the sketch, the professor was impressed with it. He had only mentioned, in passing, the week prior that he was thinking of incorporating a marsh-like environment.

The idea had been that other pokemon, especially the normal and grass-types, could roam through the water. It would be a better habitat for amphibious pokemon than the ponds or lake. He didn't have a solid idea in mind but what Gary had drawn was a good start. In fact, it was a great start.

"Gary, this is really impressive… What location did you have in mind for this?"

Gary opened his eyes and turned to look up at his grandfather. "I hadn't thought much about it, but maybe towards the northeast corner, between ponds six and eight would probably work."

The professor appeared thoughtful for a moment before nodding. "That could work," he mused aloud. "You know, I was going to talk to the habitat designer of the zoo in Lilycove City about designing this when I go to the laboratory accreditation conference in October, but if you had a complete design before then… Getting input on a completed design would be far less expensive than commissioning someone to create a design from scratch."

"You could use that money for the actual habitat… Or, better, you could get me a new surfboard for Christmas," Gary added with a grin.

Professor Oak chuckled and handed the notepad back to Gary. "We'll see."

It suddenly seemed to click in Gary's head that the professor would be leaving Pallet again and he frowned. "Wait a minute; accreditation conference? The lab's accredited though, it has to be to hand out the starters and to keep this many pokemon."

"And it automatically brings in money from certain grants. I go to the conference every year, Gary; it's part of the deal, along with working with the Pokemon League and doing full necropsies on any pokemon that dies on the reserve."

"I know," Gary sighed. "When in October?"

Normally the prospect of the professor going out of town for a conference wouldn't bother him, but Professor Oak had already left Pallet so many times over the last year. Running the lab came more naturally to Gary each successive time, but he was growing weary of his sister's antics when the professor was gone. This last time, with that nightmare of a party, was very nearly the last straw. The only thing that had kept him from fighting with May that time around was the fact that staying out of school depended solely on his behavior.

"Towards the end of the month. I'll be gone less than a week, the twentieth through the twenty-fifth. Tracey heads back to the Orange Islands the day after. He always goes home for Halloween," he added at Gary's curious look. "So," he smiled as he began again, "Do you think you can manage to design a habitat in about a month?"

Gary looked around at the books that were spread around him and gave a small smirk. "I could probably do it by the end of the week."

"Gary, it's Thursday."

"Oh, yeah." He grinned up at his grandfather with a laugh. "I didn't say it would be any good."

The professor laughed as well and shook his head slightly. "Are you going to answer my question seriously?"

"It won't take me a month, Gramps. Give me a week."

For the first time in the conversation, the professor looked doubtful. "You do know there is more to designing a habitat than just sketching something and finding a place to squeeze it in, right?"

"Of course I know that," Gary replied impatiently. "I'll do some more research and have it to you in a week so that there's time to make changes before you go to Hoenn."

"Ah, excellent. Well, since that's settled, you can go pick up Tracey."

"Right now?"

"Yes, he's coming back today. The ferry should be getting to the harbor in about half an hour."

Gary hesitated for a moment but set about gathering up the books. He hadn't expected such a sudden end to the conversation and he certainly hadn't expected the command from his grandfather. He hadn't even realized that Tracey was returning today. Things still felt a bit uncomfortable between them before Tracey left and they hadn't spoken in the time that the older teen had been gone. Gary didn't know how long it would be before things went back to normal between them but he was certain they weren't quite there yet. Not that it made a difference; either way, he still had to pick up his friend.

As he climbed into his car a few minutes later, Gary decided that he was going to put an end to the awkwardness. Yes, they had kissed, but that had been nearly a month ago and they had each come to the decision not to risk their friendship through acting on their romantic feelings for one another. Yet, here they were, allowing this kiss to create a rift between them.

No more.

There was absolutely no reason for this nonsense, so he was going to put a stop to it.

Of course, he still had yet to figure out what he was going to say or do by the time he reached the harbor to the south of Pallet Town and saw Tracey already waiting on him. His stomach clenched with uncertainty as he climbed out of his car and approached Tracey where he stood on the nearly-deserted fishing pier, bag on the ground beside him and sketchbook in hand – though surprisingly unopened – as he gazed out at the water.

Tracey looked up when he heard Gary's approaching footsteps and smiled faintly when he saw him. Though he looked happy to see him, Gary noticed that he seemed a bit sad. A bit thrown off by this fact, Gary frowned slightly as he leaned against the railing of the pier next to Tracey.

"What's wrong?" he asked as soon as he was next to his friend.

"Who says anything is wrong?" Tracey asked, glancing over at Gary and giving him a wry smile.

Gary sighed softly and turned to face him. "Come on, Tracey, I know you."

Tracey let out a breath and nodded his head. "Yeah, you do," he agreed reluctantly. "Sometimes it's just harder to leave home than others… and now is one of those times."

"I'm sorry," Gary replied earnestly.

A short silence fell over them as they both looked out over the water for a few moments. Neither boy knew what to say next until Tracey finally broke the silence. "How's the lab?"

Gary laughed at the question. "We suck at conversation these days," he said lightly. "The lab's fine."

"No parties? No drunken make out sessions?" Tracey asked, sending a sly glance Gary's way.

"Not with Gramps around," Gary replied, running a hand through his hair. He hesitated a moment before continuing. "You know, that kiss…" he began slowly, glancing around to make sure that no one was within earshot of them.

Tracey gave a small nod, keeping his eyes on the water. "The kiss," he acknowledged, saying nothing more.

Gary let out a breath and ran his hands along the railing in front of him. The topic had been broached, it was the first step. He tightened his grip on the railing and took a deep breath before plunging into the next step. "It actually meant a lot to me." At Tracey's confused glance, he continued. "It was like an acceptance, you know? You tell me all the time that it's okay and I finally got to a point where I can start to be comfortable knowing that it's a part of me but… the kiss actually showed that it was okay and not disgusting or just wrong or anything like that."

Tracey sighed softly and turned to face Gary. "Gary, I –"

"I don't want…" Gary interrupted him. He broke off with another deep exhalation. "Look, our friendship means the world to me, it really does. You've helped me through a lot this past year. I might've been able to do it on my own eventually, but I don't know how much harm I would have done before then. You deserve a lot of credit for my sanity."

He finally looked back at Tracey. "Our relationship means a lot to me," he reiterated. "I don't want anything to happen to that. I want to stay friends and I don't want anything to come between us… Alcohol and hormones and desperation… I wish I could go back and undo the mistakes I made that night, but I can't. I'm not looking for a boyfriend or anything like that; I just don't want to be in this position where we can't even have a normal conversation."

It was true. Though the attraction and the romantic feelings were certainly there, it was their friendship that mattered and it wasn't something that Gary was willing to sacrifice. Much to his relief, Tracey smiled and nodded his agreement.

"No, no romance or anything," he said, giving a short laugh as he felt his heart rate quicken slightly. He, like Gary, felt the pull of attraction and saw the allure of dating each other, but the risk was too large. He couldn't possibly put their relationship and bond on the line. "Friendship is the most important thing."

They faced each other, eyes locked as a faint smile of relief appeared on either boy's face.

"I missed you," Gary admitted suddenly. He broke their eye contact and looked back towards the water. The sun was setting, leaving the sky streaked with oranges, pinks, and reds which reflected off of the calm surface of the bay.

"Yeah," Tracey said, picking up his bag. "I missed you too."

"Ready to go back?"

"I guess so," Tracey replied softly as he turned to face the parking lot. Gary turned back as well and gently took the bag from Tracey, smiling lightly as the elder boy muttered a surprised "thanks".

They headed back to the car in silence, but this time it was comfortable. When they reached Gary's Jeep, he surprised Tracey once again by opening the door for him and waiting for him to climb into the passenger seat. He paused as Tracey settled into the seat. With the way the sun was setting, the light gleamed in such a way that made Tracey look so attractive that it made Gary want to kiss him all over again. He was so handsome and sexy at once that it took considerable effort to not just give in and kiss him.

Tracey looked at Gary questioningly. "What?" he asked softly.

Gary shook his head and grinned. "I'm just glad you're back," he replied before closing the car door and heading over to the driver's side.

Tracey knew without asking that the words had more than one meaning and he had to agree with his younger friend. Being back in Pallet and having their friendship set in stone felt wonderful. He was certainly glad to be back.

… … …